Alpine slide in the courtyard of a private house. Garden slides (42 photos): layout, size, shape and technology for constructing a rock garden

Many interesting ideas and concepts have been developed in landscape design. Many of them can be easily implemented on your site. One of the most beautiful ideas is an alpine slide. The elegant structure is a composition that reproduces a mountain landscape; stones of different sizes are scattered on its slope and various plants, shrubs, and flowers are planted, and one or several stones flaunt at the top, like a cherry on the cake. Below you can find information on how to build a beautiful alpine slide on the site of a private house or dacha.

You can create an alpine slide with your own hands at your dacha or plot at any time of the year, with the exception of winter. But landscape designers still recommend doing this in the fall, when there is no rain or cold yet. Autumn construction has undeniable advantages: firstly, during the autumn and winter the earth will settle and the resulting voids can be corrected with a new embankment of earth, secondly, you can once again evaluate the composition and add new stones, remove or move old ones, and begin in spring, planting plants and flowers.

Selecting a location

Of course, you can erect the structure with your own hands in any place convenient for you, but remember that the final result largely depends on the chosen location.

There are general rules for choosing a place for an alpine slide, which will allow you to achieve maximum beauty and convenience:

A place with natural unevenness is ideal. This choice will help save energy and resources.
It is best to choose a place that is clearly visible, for example, the center of the site. This will allow you to admire the rock garden in different areas garden from different angles.
The slope should be placed on the south and east side so that the plants can receive the necessary sunlight and grow normally.
The place must be protected from strong winds.
The structure should not be built against the background of buildings, fences, or fences. The slide looks most advantageous and interesting against the backdrop of vegetation and trees.
Various buildings, a swimming pool, and a playground should not be located nearby.
Also, you should not place the composition next to trees, bright and lush flower beds, otherwise they will overshadow the rock garden and make it nondescript.
It is necessary to provide a place to which convenient paths can be made.

Advice! If you do not have the opportunity to place a slope on the south or east side, then plant shade and moisture-loving plants who will be comfortable on the north side.

What stones to use

Stones are the basis of an alpine slide. At first glance it seems that everything is simple, but there are some features in terms of choosing the right material.

The following stones are ideal for the design:

tuff (travertine);

granite;

sandstone;

limestone;

gneiss;

basalt.

But no matter which of the stones listed above you decide to use, you need to remember the following recommendations:

You need to choose stones for the design different sizes to imitate natural naturalness.
Also desirable are materials that are heterogeneous in structure and shape.
Place the stones securely so that they do not accidentally roll off.
Stones can be quite heavy in weight, so when creating a structure you need to call relatives or friends for help.
Some landscape designers advise using the same type of material, which is as similar in color as possible to each other, thanks to this you can achieve a natural look. But this is not at all necessary, you can be guided by your taste.

Many people often have a question about where to get stones to decorate a composition. You can buy stones in specialized construction stores, markets, and garden centers.

What plants and flowers are suitable for an alpine slide

When choosing plants for decorating a composition with your own hands, you should be guided by these rules:

First of all, you should choose perennials;
they should be short and compact;
unpretentious and not capricious;
moderately growing;
if you are interested in the beauty of the structure in winter, you should plant coniferous trees;
plant plants that bloom in different terms, this will allow the rock garden to look beautiful continuously;
choose cultures that will live peacefully with each other.

Video: plants that are optimal to use for an alpine slide.

Step-by-step instructions for creating a rock garden

There are different schemes DIY rock garden devices. It is difficult to say which of them is better, because they are all interesting and attractive in their own way. Let's consider one of the instructions for creating an alpine slide using the example of the most classic and popular scheme.

Before you study the step-by-step instructions in detail, pay attention to the stages of creating an alpine slide with your own hands:

Planning (drawing a sketch, drawing up a diagram).
Selection of stone materials and flowers, plants.
Site selection.
Marking of the future building.
Creation of drainage.
Laying stones.
Planting plants.

Step by step instructions on how to create an alpine slide will help any summer resident and gardener create a wonderful composition on their site. And now we can move on to a more detailed description.

Marking the future structure

Ideally, you need to make a sketch of the future composition. It will help you understand how well the location was chosen and how organically the slide will fit into the site. Using a sketch diagram, you need to decide how much space the structure will take up, what its height will be, and also roughly calculate how much material will be needed - stones, substrate, sand.

When you decide on the shapes and boundaries of the composition, you can make markings. To do this, it is best to use a thick rope or make markings using lines made of some material (for example, sand, crushed chalk).

Preparing the site

If the soil in the place you choose is sandy, then you don’t have to make a drainage base, but in other cases you can’t do without drainage.

Creating a drainage base involves the following steps:

It is necessary to make a depression at the selected location of at least thirty centimeters (optimally 50 cm) and fill the hole with drainage material ( optimal thickness drainage - 10 centimeters, and if the soil is very dense, then the layer can be made thicker). Crushed stone is ideal broken brick, stones of moderate parameters, gravel.
It is recommended to pour sand about 5 centimeters thick on top of this layer.
After this, the material needs to be slightly compacted and covered with excavated soil to the level of the rest of the ground. But before laying the soil, it is imperative to clear it of weeds.
Then it is necessary to water this place abundantly so that the earth settles down.

The drainage layer will protect the area from stagnation of moisture and ensure normal air permeability in the soil. Thanks to this, the plants will be able to develop and grow normally, delighting with their beauty.

Installation of stones

Now you can proceed to installing the stones. The ideal shape for an alpine slide is pyramidal. The stones are laid in tiers (usually from three to six tiers). That is, you need to lay stones in tiers like a pyramid to imitate a slope.

The following sequence of work should be followed when arranging stones:

1) The largest stones are laid first. It will be better if you bury them a little into the ground (for maximum reliability and naturalness).

2) Then the space between the installed boulders is filled with soil. As soil, you can use a mixture of garden soil, peat, sand (mix in the same ratio).

Important! The stones should not be stacked too tightly, otherwise there will be no room left for plants and the normal development of their root system. Between the stones there should be free space filled with earth.

3) After this, you need to lay down a second row of stones, which is smaller in size than the first row, and also fill the empty space with soil. Please note that to make a rock garden slope, each subsequent row must be smaller than the previous one.

4) After you have installed required quantity rows (and the required number is determined by your desires), you should complete the top of the composition - you can install one large or several not very large stones on the top.

Let's consider the classic schemes for creating an alpine slide and the arrangement of stones:

Pay attention! It is recommended to water the structure after laying each level. This also needs to be done after planting the vegetation.

Video: instructions on how to make an alpine slide with your own hands.

Planting

There are several excellent options for planting plants; surely everyone can find the ideal option for their dacha or garden. To make a real alpine slope with your own hands, you should choose suitable plants.

Below you can study several popular schemes for planting plants on an alpine hill and choose best option for yourself:

How to care for a rock garden

The rock garden will delight you with its beauty and elegance only with proper and timely care. Otherwise, the exotic corner will turn into a bulky structure with overgrown weeds and withered plants. The following steps will help avoid this:

Proper watering . After planting, you need to water generously for the first 7-10 days. In the future, it is necessary to water in a timely manner as necessary, depending on the characteristics of the planted crops. This must be done carefully so that the water pressure does not expose the root system.
Weeding. The presence of weeds can disrupt the entire aesthetics of the composition, “steal” the necessary substances in the soil from planted plants and suppress their growth. Therefore, you need to regularly remove weeds.
Mulching. Tree bark, peat, and sawdust can be used as mulching material. Mulch maintains optimal moisture in the soil and helps prevent the growth of weeds.
Stone care. Over time, the destruction of stones is possible, because they crack and crumble. It is not recommended to allow complete destruction of the material on the structure, as this can cause damage to the roots and subsidence of the soil. Simply replace damaged stones with new, intact material.
Feeding and fertilizing. In order for plants to grow normally and delight with lush flowers, it is necessary to feed them sometimes. But you shouldn’t overuse fertilizing.

Video: how to weed a rock garden.

Recommendations to help create the perfect rock garden

In addition to the basic instructions and features of choosing stones and vegetation, there are other features of creating a rock garden. When designing a composition, pay attention to the following recommendations:

It is not enough to simply decorate an alpine slide in a country house or on the site of a private house; you need to regularly care for it so that it does not lose its beautiful and tidy appearance. Read below about how to properly care for your rock garden.
You should not strive for symmetrical, ideal forms; a stone structure will look more lively and interesting with natural irregularities and asymmetry.
Very good decision how to build an alpine slide with your own hands — make a small recreation area next to it. You can place a table and several chairs on it and enjoy relaxing with your family or friends while drinking delicious tea.
Don't overdo the stones. If there are too many of them, the entire emphasis will be on the stones, which will ruin the whole concept. Flowers and stones should look natural and harmonious together, so use moderation.
If you want to make a large structure, then you can take large stones, but if you want to make a small and compact slide, then it is appropriate to use small-sized material.
An alpine slide with an artificial waterfall, stream, and lake looks great. If you have the opportunity, you can create an artificial pond.

The photographs show a wonderful example of an alpine slide with a pond:

Photo gallery for ideas and inspiration

Visual images can help us decide what we want to see in our summer cottage. Therefore, before making a composition with your own hands, it is recommended to study photographs of different rock gardens; they will help to form final idea and become a source of inspiration.

A rock garden is a rather labor-intensive structure that requires earthworks, hence, proper planning and serious preparation. Get to know the “pitfalls” of building an alpine slide that can spoil the impression of the result. Find out how to choose the right material and plants for a wildlife corner in the garden, and what difficulties you should take care of in advance. Learn the rules of care that will help preserve the composition for many years.

What is a rock garden and rock garden?

There are often cases when the owner of a site conceives a rock garden, draws a sketch, compares it with images found in magazines and discovers that he is going to build a rock garden. To avoid confusion in concepts, let’s figure out how a rock garden differs from an alpine slide.

The best stone flower beds give the impression that no human hand has touched them

Rock garden - an artificial rocky hill, laid in tiers and planted with continuously flowering herbs and low bushes. The classic slide is decorated with plants from Central Europe (Alps, Carpathians), although there is a Japanese version that involves planting Far Eastern species, and even a Mexican one with cacti.

Alpine coaster styles

A rockery is a garden made of stones, often on a flat topography. Large and small stones, gravel areas, waves of sand - each detail has its own sacred purpose. Single plants are emphasized as much as possible. In Japanese rockeries there may be no plants at all, in European and English versions species native to middle zone.

The design of a rock garden is based on contrasts in the texture and size of the stones, while on an alpine hill the main characters are plants. The second basic difference is that a rock garden involves working with a deliberately uneven terrain, while a rock garden can also be flat.

Rockery in Japanese style– emphasis on inanimate nature

Making an alpine slide with your own hands

When developing a rock garden plan, you need to remember the main features of such landscape design structures:

tiering;
the presence of open stone surfaces;
predominance of low-growing plant forms;
combination of contrasting views.

Scheme of a terraced composition

When determining the length and width of the composition, a ratio of 5:1 is usually used, the height is taken from 1 to 3 m, while remembering that the size of the rock garden should be in harmony with the dimensions of the site. It is advisable to depict the project to scale, in as much detail as possible, from all sides and in color, and also to think through seasonal changes in the habit and color of the plants planned for planting.

A carefully executed project in color makes further work much easier

A simple alpine slide for beginners - possible difficulties

Having simple diagram, it’s not difficult to make an alpine slide with your own hands using scrap materials. However, any error made on initial stage, will lead to the composition having to be rebuilt. To avoid this, consider the following issues:

Water stagnation. A combination of factors such as low-lying area, abundance of snow and melt water, heavy showers and clay soil will quickly deprive the structure of its decorative effect. Rock gardens are built with good drainage.
Soil subsidence. Before building the slide, the soil underneath is compacted, otherwise the stones will fall through, tilt, or even slide down the slope.
Weeds. The Alpine hill will have to be protected from their penetration from two fronts: from under the soil and from the air. To prevent the rhizomes remaining at depth from sprouting upward, the bottom of the pit is covered with geotextiles. If the seeds are carried by the wind, the weeds are pulled out by hand.
Burrowing animals. Sabotage by moles and shrews is prevented by a fine-mesh galvanized steel mesh, which is placed under geotextiles.

Elegant rock garden-flower bed

The effect of these negative factors is enhanced in the case of arranging a rock garden, the relief of which is more easily subject to deformation. Particularly against weeds experienced designers two to three weeks before planting, treat the soil with herbicides.

Choosing a location for an alpine slide

To obtain the maximum aesthetic effect, the rock garden on the site is formed in such a place that it can be viewed from at least three sides. It’s a good idea to consider accommodation nearby comfortable bench under an awning or dense tree crown.

Construction is often started in order to hide a lack of relief: a ravine, a hill, a slope, the top of a moraine boulder peeking out of the ground, which cannot be dug out due to its size. The existing height difference will allow you to supplement the rock garden with a stream and even a waterfall. The best neighbors for a rock garden in landscape design are open lawns and thickets of bushes, the worst are metal fences.

The grasses of alpine meadows, accustomed to living without forest canopy, are sun-loving and require full lighting. Rockeries can also be placed with light shading, but then the species composition of the plants must be corrected.

Mini rock garden is relevant for small courtyards

How to choose and where to get suitable stones

Properly selected stones mean the beauty and durability of a rock garden. Each breed has its own special qualities, on which its resistance to precipitation and winter freezing. The most popular breeds are:

shell rock and limestone are rough, which allows mosses and lichens to cling to them, absorb moisture and gradually release it to plants, but are destroyed by acid rain and become polluted;
sandstone – has a beautiful layered structure, slightly weathered;
granite and basalt are massive, almost impossible to process with home tools, but they are resistant to any impact;
slate - forms thin, even tiles, great for creating deliberately careless stairs.

Large beige stones are an excellent background for lush greenery

In nature, there are fragmented stones with uneven edges and smooth stones - rounded by the sea or river. Debris looks natural on rock gardens, especially with pronounced signs of erosion. But if the plan provides for a pond, then its banks can also be lined with smoothies.

Excessive diversity disfigures alpine hills, so it is recommended to limit yourself to one or two types of rocks. The largest boulder forms the center of the composition, the rest will complement the landscape, provided there is a balance between orderly and chaotic placement.

There are two ways to purchase stones. If you have a truck or passenger car with a trailer, they collect the cobblestones they like on the bank of the nearest river or in a quarry. It is easier, but more expensive, to order them with delivery to the site from organizations that sell natural stone, or to negotiate with the workers of a quarry, if there is one nearby.

Rock garden arrangement

Arrangement of a small rock garden and its construction

Before planting the plants, the rock garden must settle, so work on creating it with your own hands is carried out early autumn. Let's look at them step by step using the example of building a mini-rock garden about 1 m high.

Pit. The soil is removed from the contour outlined with twine to a depth of 30-35 cm. A metal mesh against burrowing animals and geotextiles are laid at the bottom.
Drainage. Made from expanded clay, broken tiles or bricks. 10 cm of coarse sand is poured onto 10 cm of drainage and spilled with water to prevent the formation of cavities.
The device of the lower tier. To prevent large elements from sagging, several rubble stones are placed on the lower tier, and the volume between them is filled with crushed stone. In this form, the slide is allowed to stand for about a month: during this time, the foundation stones will gain stability.
Formation. The composition of stones is laid out in accordance with the sketch, leaving gaps for soil and roots. Soft rocks such as shell rock and tuff allow you to drill holes into them the right size under flower pots.
Making an earthen mixture. The soil removed from the pit is sorted out, removing weed rhizomes from it. Add equal shares of river sand, expanded clay and humus. A granite hill allows the use of peat, but if limestone is used, acidic additives are avoided.
Filling with earth mixture. This operation is performed on each tier, carefully filling the voids. It is necessary to water the soil with a spray jet, otherwise the water will wash it out of the recesses.

In this form, the rock garden will have to survive the first winter in its life.

The finished slide is left to winter. In the spring, if necessary, they correct it and begin decorating with plants.

Video instructions for beginners

So as not to miss a single one important point When creating an alpine slide with stones at your dacha with your own hands, you can use the video instructions.

Experienced landscape design The artist, who decorated dozens of luxurious estates and ordinary dachas, will tell and show how:

get by with a minimum of material, money and hard work;
do not make mistakes when laying blocks and planting flowers;
properly care for the rock garden so that the decorative effect does not disappear over time.

Video: Instructions for building an alpine slide

Using the instructions, even a beginner will turn the shortcomings of his site into a rock garden or rock garden worthy of admiring glances.

The arrangement of plants has its own order: herbs should not be blocked by bushes

Alpine slide with a waterfall - a duet of water and mountain landscape

The highest aerobatics of mastery in relation to stone structures that imitate natural ones is the combination of rock garden and water in landscape design. The rustle of streams or a yellow leaf slowly floating along a stream adds European romanticism or Eastern philosophy to the composition.

Maximum naturalness

What to consider for a composition with a pond

If it is possible to add a pond or even a waterfall to the rock garden, you will have to take into account the following nuances:

the bottom of the reservoir should not allow water to pass into the ground;
for the pump that lifts the water, you will need to lay an electrical wire;
when selecting plants, the difference in humidity along the banks and at the top is taken into account;
The pond will have to be cleaned periodically and drained in the winter.

Bright fish in mysterious water give the composition a special charm

In the summer, Japanese koi carp look spectacular in the reservoir, but for them you will have to create a wintering hole at least 80 cm deep and aerate it after it hardens on the ice surface.

Creating a reservoir bowl - how to avoid disappointments

They begin to make the pond at the same time as the slide in order to immediately remove the soil from under both objects. At this stage, the depth of the pond is determined, which rarely exceeds 30 cm: a shallow pond is easier to clean, and the pebbles at its bottom become especially expressive. The section of the bottom intended for installation of the pump should be deepened. At the same stage, an electric cable is connected to the pond to power the pump.

Waterfall diagram

It is advisable to place the pond in the northeast of the hill so that it is in its shade for several hours every day, otherwise the water will bloom too quickly. It is better to leave the walls with a slope, this will make it easier to place stones on them.

The bottom of the pond is covered with a layer of sand 10 cm thick and compacted thoroughly. Geotextiles are first placed on top of the sand, and on top of it is a waterproofing film made of butyl rubber, the service life of which is 20-30 years. For reliability, the edges of the film should protrude 30-40 cm beyond the pit. Subsequently, they are buried in the ground, but by the time the bowl is filled with water, the edges of the film are left free.

Rock garden with a pond – great solution for hilly area

Technical equipment and artistic decoration of the waterfall

A pump for a small waterfall is purchased with a power of 70 W. It is installed in the bowl of a reservoir on a special stand to minimize contact with bottom silt. The device itself, as well as the hoses that take in water and push it out, are masked with stones. Be sure to check the safety of the connection to the electrical wire.

By this time, the slide should be laid out to the point from which the water begins to fall. The ejector hose is brought to this point, hiding its tip among the stones.

Pumping equipment carefully camouflaged

Decoration of the waterfall is carried out using rough flagstone, which prevents slipping on wet stones. Sometimes it is appropriate to use large ceramics in decoration, for example, an old jug, which can be slightly buried when lying on its side.

The presence of water dust in the air will affect the selection of vegetation: ferns, mosses, bergenia, and bergenia will take root near the mirror of the pond. Potted specimens also look good if they are planted in wide flowerpots, reminiscent of flagstone in color and texture.

Placement and combinations of plants

What plants are needed to decorate a garden composition?

To ensure that the rock garden always has a well-groomed appearance, plants for it are selected taking into account their flowering time. They must enter the best time of life one by one and permanently create joyful variegation. In this case, the appearance and range of colors will change along with the seasons of the year. General rule This is: the clump of any plant should not grow rapidly and thereby suppress neighboring species.

Sometimes it makes sense to plant plants in pots

The second factor influencing the choice of flora is the tier and direction of the slope. The northern part is populated with sedums, spurges, violets, and saxifrages. Iberis, thyme, alyssum, pike, and cat's paw are ideal for the southern slope and summit. In the lower tier it is allowed to plant such favorites of landscape design as tagetes, highlanders, and hosta.

Plant placement scheme

Support the decorativeness of the rock garden all year round allows a bush of low-growing juniper, whose elegant greenery will be emphasized by the snow that has fallen on the stones. When the flowers bloom again, this dark conifer will highlight their beauty.

Plant selection

Alpine slide care

A rock garden requires less attention than, for example, a flower bed or bed, but you shouldn’t forget about it either.

Maintaining attractiveness depends on the well-being of the plants planted in the rock garden.

Open areas, heated rocks and free winds tend to dry out the soil, so alpine grasses need gentle but systematic watering with a spray stream. The frequency of watering depends on the weather, but it should not be done more than once a day to avoid rotting of the roots.
Plants are fed at least once a month complex fertilizer, introducing it at the root along the moist soil and preventing the liquid from flowing down the slopes.
During the summer, dead shoots are cut out, unwanted insects and their larvae are monitored, mulch is added if necessary, weeds are pulled out and leaves blown by the wind are removed. If the rockery contains crushed stone laid in waves or ridges, it will need to be adjusted from time to time with a rake.

Wide areas of open land are mulched

Preparing for winter - how to protect your design corner

Before the onset of winter, care should be taken to ensure that the plants can survive bad weather. Species for which the winter temperatures of the region are unacceptable are dug up and transferred to protected ground. The remaining plants are covered with agrofibre - a material that does not allow damping. The conifers are completely wrapped in it and tied on top with twine.

To protect from wind and frost, the hill must be well covered with snow. Shields placed around will help to hold it: old doors, remnants of corrugated sheets and slate. In order not to spoil the aesthetics of a snow-covered alpine hill, you can weave special fences from willow twigs with your own hands.

The pond located at the rock garden is drained or several children's rubber balls are thrown into it, which will absorb the pressure of the ice. The pump and hoses are removed and stored in the house.

Spring work – cleaning up the consequences of winter weather

The most extensive work on caring for the rock garden is planned for spring, since at this time of year it will be necessary to restore the masterpiece after snowfalls, blizzards and an abundance of melt water. It is usually discovered that some of the plants have died, some stones have slipped, and the entire structure is covered with unattractive, rotten foliage. After carefully removing the covering material, perform the following operations in the spring:

remove dead plant debris with a fan rake;
return the “escaped” stones to their place;
add soil and mulch;
Plants that have overwintered in the warmth are planted and new ones are added.

At the same time, they draw conclusions about what mistakes were made when preparing the rock garden for winter, so that the upcoming cold season did not become so destructive.

So that a rock garden, rock garden or other stone and flower arrangement becomes a genuine decoration country estate, follow the three golden rules:

Divide the volume of the slide into zones to create a plateau, scree, rock, staircase. This will allow the eye to never get tired when contemplating an object.
Avoid excessive variegation. 3-4 different-sized spots of color look ideal on a dense green background of ground covers.
Do not buy flashy, tacky jewelry made of ceramics and plastic.

We bring to your attention beautiful examples designing alpine slides and rockeries in the garden plot. Of course, each of them is tied to a specific area, so when transferring the idea to your hundred square meters, adjustments will have to be made to the sketch.

It’s worth designing an alpine slide with your own hands, if only because it maximally reflects the character and mood of the author. Rock gardens are unique, each has its own flavor, unique design, inimitable compositional notes. Building a slide with your own hands is an amazing compromise between the severity of the garden and the indomitable riot of pristine nature.

Today we will talk about one of the richest traditions in gardening and landscape design. Alpine slide or rock garden is a beautiful composition of plants and stones in a garden plot. As you can easily guess from the name, this composition is created to imitate the picturesque slopes of the Alps - central position occupied by a rock, but it is all almost hidden by various tall and low plants (unlike a rock garden, where the stones come to the fore).

In this article you will learn how to make an alpine slide with your own hands and what plants are best suited for it. For your attention - step-by-step instructions and 35 photos!

Beautiful alpine slide in the country or in the garden

The creation of alpine slides today is expressed in a variety of styles and forms, including slides with artificial ponds and waterfalls. But the main secret of their attractiveness remains the combination various plants, which contrast with each other in height, color and texture of the leaves. Quite often, for a more expressive effect, a dwarf trees and shrubs, especially conifers. In general, the flowers and plants chosen are unpretentious, often found in the mountains. They love rocky soil and sunny places, need good drainage, but are not afraid of drought.

A small alpine slide is created with your own hands in several stages:

Selection of plants and stones (actually thinking through the design of the slide);
Selection of ideal drainage and soil;
Directly creating an alpine slide at a dacha or on the site of a private house.

The best time to start this business is just mid-autumn. It is worth installing stones, filling up drainage and soil right now, so that they have time to “settle” over the winter and be ready for planting in the spring.

Plants for alpine hills: photos and names

As we said above, plants for an alpine hill should contrast and emphasize each other’s beauty. But so that your garden composition does not turn out to be clumsy and inharmonious, you should limit yourself to 3-5 types of plants and flowers.

Here is an example of a popular combination of 5 alpine plants that are widely used in gardening around the world:

Molodilo is a perennial mountain plant with a pinkish-purple hue;
Sedum 'Weichenstephaner Gold' is a plant with showy reddish stems that bears golden flowers in late summer;
Saxifraga - fluffy low bushes with purple flowers (in spring);
Alpine lumbago - has attractively textured leaves and white flowers in spring followed by feathery fruit;
Alliums are relatively tall flowers for an alpine hill with white, yellow or pink-violet petals.

If you want the alpine hill to transform throughout the season from spring to winter, then you can plant flowers on it that bloom in different times year.

Common spring-flowering plants for alpine hills:

Anemone is tender;
Sieber saffron;
The corydalis is dense;
Iris;
Cyclamen Caucasian;
Grouse;
Daffodils;
Tulips;
Mountain-loving onion;
Colchicum and others.

Flowers for alpine hills that bloom in summer and autumn:

Colchicum Agrippa;
Autumn crocuses;
Sternbergia yellow;
Cloves and thyme;
Saxifrage;
Lumbago,
Sedum.

All of them are quite unpretentious in care and easily take root in almost any soil. But, as elsewhere, the choice of soil and drainage for these plants has its own nuances, which we will discuss in more detail later.

How to make an alpine slide (step by step instructions)

You are already familiar with the main features of slides and plants for them, now it’s time to find out how you can make an alpine slide with your own hands.

Important point: Most alpine plants hate excess moisture. They tolerate summer heat much better than May thunderstorms. Therefore, you need to choose in advance suitable place and drainage for an alpine slide. Ideally, such a place would be the southern slope of an earthen embankment near your house or cottage.

High drainage will allow water to flow down the slope faster, and will also give plant roots good aeration and sufficient nutrients. The best drainage for your alpine slide may be gravel, pumice, coarse sand or perlite. Note that drainage and decorative stones should make up at least 50% of your rock garden, or even 90%.

As for the soil where you will plant the plants, there are no tricks here. Use the same soil that you have in your garden or garden, mixing it if possible with peat moss, rotted leaves, bark, compost or other organic amendment.

What you will need to make an alpine slide with your own hands:

Container under the slide (if necessary);
Large shovel for filling soil;
A spatula or small spatula for planting;
Crowbar for maneuvering heavy stones (if necessary);
Drainage;
Stones of all sizes;
Priming;
Compost;
Plants for alpine hills.

By following the further step-by-step instructions, you can make a beautiful alpine slide in your country house or near a private house with your own hands.

Step 1: choosing a location for a rock garden

A rock garden can be built on level ground or on a slope. In the first case, you will either have to artificially create a small hill, or dig a downward slope, as in the photo below.

Alternatively, you can set up a miniature alpine garden in a stone trough, pot, garden vase or other container that has drainage holes. To prevent them from becoming clogged over time, they are filled with shards from old broken pots.

Step 2: cleaning the soil from weeds

This point must be completed if you use land from your own plot and do not buy it separately.

Step 3: laying the base and stones

Dig a hole at least 30 cm deep and lay a foundation of crushed stone or large stones in it. For reliability, the perimeter of the pit can be bricked (if you do not use large stones).

It should be filled going from the largest “ingredients” to the smallest. A layer of gravel is laid on the crushed stone, then soil with compost. Small pebbles or mulch can also be used to decorate. top layer alpine slide.

Using several large rocks as a base for your alpine slide will allow you to use less gravel and other components in the future.

Step 4: backfilling of soil

When filling your alpine garden with soil, use some of the small rocks to create “pockets” for plants. They should resemble a horseshoe that will hold the soil and compost mixture. If possible, immediately mark these places with flags, since the top layer of the alpine hill - small pebbles or mulch - can hide them from your eyes.

Step 5: planting

Water the plant while it is still in its pot. Then remove it and carefully free some of the roots - especially if they are wrapped around a ball of soil. Place the plant in the planting pocket and cover the roots with soil. As a finishing touch, sprinkle small pebbles or sand on top, which will protect your DIY alpine slide from falling leaves and weeds.

Alpine slides (photo) - DIY landscape design

Finally, we invite you to take a look at some beautiful alpine slides in the photo. Who doesn't need a dose of inspiration to take on their own landscaping project? Thank you for reading Dekorin!

Also read:

In magazines garden design Photos of alpine slides are very common. This is not surprising; this attribute is becoming increasingly popular.

The reason for this is his unusual shape and diversity color solutions. Such an “island” on the site helps to create an elegant and aristocratic atmosphere.

Rock garden in the landscape

The creation of alpine slides is beginning to gain momentum. Along with them, rockeries, which are a continuation of rocky gardens, are gaining popularity. Such garden attributes look good with ponds, rivers, bridges, paths, lanterns, etc.

As a rule, plantings on such objects do not require special care.

The main advantage of such projects is that you can make an alpine slide with your own hands, and without much expense.

Depending on where the slide will be located, it can occupy a central place in the design or be an addition to any overall composition. This versatility allows this attribute to be used in any environment. The slides look quite organic and do not look alien.

How to choose a place?

Before you start creating a rock garden, you need to choose the right place for it. The best area will be one that is clearly visible from anywhere in the garden.

The slide will look good on open area, which will not be shaded by trees. This is especially important if there is a pond nearby; leaves from trees falling into it will quickly spoil the water. It is also important to choose a place where there will be no strong winds.

The configuration of the slide will need to be provided so that it accommodates the necessary plants that are suitable for the general style of the site.

Slides can be combined well with different styles areas in which transitions from one zone to another are provided in the form of paths, rocky paths with lanterns and bridges.

Stones

Before you make an alpine slide, you need to choose the right stones. We will need rocks:

Granite;
Basalt;
Limestone;
Sandstone;

You should not use porous rocks; they absorb moisture well and will begin to deteriorate over time due to watering of plants and precipitation.

The shape of the stones is also of great importance - there is no need to choose round or acute-angled stones. As a rule, stones of the same type that have different shapes look best.

Place the stones on the hill in the most chaotic manner. The largest and heaviest boulders should be at the base.

If there are defects on the stones, they can be masked using the soil on which the plants will be planted. The most important thing is to achieve natural look, so you should avoid industrially manufactured boulders.

Plants

Due to the fact that the hill will be located in an open place, the plants on it must be resistant to constant sun and aridity. As a rule, miniature trees, shrubs, herbs and unpretentious flowers are planted on the hills.

Among the most popular crops are the following:

Lavender;
Geranium;
Sedum;

Plants can be planted in small groups and they will do well. Here are some of them:

Crocuses;
Hyacinths;
Miniature tulips.

In addition to flowers, you can plant conifers. They look beautiful all year round and harmonize well with bright and lush flowers:

Pines;
Junipers.

The best option would be to plant ornamental, perennial plants. They are not particularly demanding to care for and look good throughout the year. By choosing the right types, the rock garden will look beautiful all season long:

Day-lily;
Badan;
Reed.

It is also important to take into account the height of the plants. If some species shade others, this should not affect their development. They should do well in the shade.

Flowers with the brightest bloom should be placed at the front of the composition.

So, most important rules Creating a rock garden is a matter of choosing the right place, stones and plants. It can be placed in almost any area.

Even if you're not big suburban area, an alpine slide at the dacha will look great. This will be a neat decorative corner that will easily surprise your neighbors.

Photo of an alpine slide

Kirill Sysoev

Calloused hands never get bored!

Content

In your garden or summer cottage, it’s easy to create an atmosphere of pristine nature with the help of an alpine slide - a beautiful composition of stones and plants. It has long been actively used by landscape designers. Such a solution will not only hide any unevenness or ledge in the garden plot, but will also allow you to bring all your creative ideas to life.

Alpine slide in the country

Admiration for the harmony of a professional rock garden in pictures is often replaced by bewilderment: how to build an alpine slide with your own hands and where to get this material? In fact, anyone can create such a masterpiece in a country house or in an apartment using any available materials. Even if the cost of creating a professional rock garden turns out to be prohibitive, a flower bed surrounded by a random arrangement of stones would be a great idea. If everything is done correctly, then the maintenance of the alpine slide will be minimal, and you will admire your rocky garden for many years.

Rock garden design

The name itself indicates that the landscape design is reminiscent of the views of the Alpine mountains. The rock garden at the dacha should be a small copy of the area where gorges, rocks, plains, waterfalls and beautiful mountain plants are located. It is impossible to find two identical alpine slides, since each is the result of the invention of one person.

How to make an alpine slide without resorting to the expensive services of landscape designers? You should know what types they are divided into:

Rocks. They are made from ordinary stone boulders. Placed in areas located on slopes.
Mountain valley. You need large stones covered with moss or covered with bark.
Lawn. Ideal for flat areas. Often this design is complemented by a mountain valley and rocks.
Ravine. Great for small crevices. Looks beautiful with a small artificial waterfall or pond.
Gorge. It acts as the main component of a landscape with several elements.
Stone garden. Performed on a flat area in the style of a Japanese garden.

How to create an alpine slide with your own hands

It cannot be said that creating an alpine slide with your own hands at the dacha is easy. Landscaping the hill should begin with choosing a place for the rock garden. To do this, certain conditions must be met:

find open place so that the slide is visible from all sides;
place the flower garden in a sunny, bright place, not shaded by trees;
It is better to build a rocky hill and conifers in a space sheltered from the wind;
high level groundwater reduced by drainage.

Alpine slide drainage device

How to make an alpine slide so that it is inexpensive? Do all types of work yourself, starting with drainage. To do this you need:

pre-mark the future rock garden using pegs and a cord;
dig a pit, which should be slightly larger in size than the rock garden, and the depth should be at least 0.8 m;
fill the hole with pebbles, crushed stone or broken bricks to a height of 0.3 m, and fill each layer of backfill with water;
pour 5-10 cm on top of the gravel layer sand and gravel mixture, which is also filled with water and thoroughly compacted;
dug and cleaned soil is poured on top of all drainage layers;
to lay the rock garden you need to wait for the drainage to shrink, and this will take 2-3 weeks;
an alpine slide of stones, as a rule, begins to be created in the fall so that the soil settles naturally by spring.

Stones for an alpine slide

After the base shrinks, it is laid out around the perimeter supporting structure, which is created from the largest stones. Their depth is about 60% of the volume. Small pebbles are placed next to large ones so that the rains cannot wash them away, otherwise the entire structure will be damaged. Between the stones you need to leave space for planting a flower bed, placing a home pond, fountain and other elements of the garden that are provided for according to the plan.

To avoid paying for stones high price, they are looked for in local quarries or quarries. Often in frequent courtyards or on farms people want to remove unnecessary stones. The required material is found at construction sites or abandoned sites. True, the choice is limited and you will have to take what is available. therefore, it is better to purchase stones of the same type for the rock garden, which belong to a common type.

Do-it-yourself rock garden - which plants to choose

For a rock garden, choose special vegetation. Flowers need to be selected taking into account the timing of flowering, the neighborhood different plants and other factors. How to make an alpine slide correctly so that it pleases the eye luxurious flowering not only in summer, but also in the autumn season? For arrangement beautiful flower bed You need to select only low-growing plants that bloom alternately. Low coniferous specimens (dwarf pine, cypress, juniper) look beautiful and natural. For an accent, you can plant a couple of decorative evergreen shrubs (boxwoods, barberries).

It is better to choose perennials, because the flower garden is created for many years. Preferred for the flowerbed are delicate small flowers that are associated with the mountain landscape: armeria, erinus, salvia, primroses, daisies and other varieties. Their choice is very wide, so it’s difficult not to overdo it with the variety of colors. In order not to violate the concept of the rock garden, it is better to first draw its diagram (drawing), which will indicate the flowering dates of the selected plants.

How to make an alpine slide in the garden yourself according to the diagram

The phased creation of an alpine slide requires a certain sequence of actions. When planning, it is taken into account that the rock garden looks most natural when its height does not exceed 1 meter. Alpine slide schemes make the tasks easier. Step-by-step instructions on how to design a rock garden:

Site selection. The south or southwest side of the plot is preferable.
Site preparation. Provides for the installation of a high-quality drainage system.
Purchase and laying of soil. If the price allows, it is better to buy good soil. Make it yourself by mixing clay soil with peat 3:1.
Selection and placement of stones. Depends on the chosen style. It can be shell rock, granite, basalt, limestone, sandstone and others. The color and texture of the stones should be in harmony with the big picture. To make them look natural, arrange them randomly.
Selection and planting of plants. Place them so that they do not block the stones and the view of the entire composition. Flowers are planted in front, then low-growing shrubs, and dwarf trees in the background. Flowers of the same color are planted in groups.
Paths and steps. They are designed to provide access to the flower garden for care. Avoid sharp corners or straight lines, because they do not exist in nature. For paving, strong and flat stones are selected, which are firmly fixed. Ground cover perennials or lawn grass must be sown between them.