How to make a flower bed alpine slide. Alpine slide. Drainage is essential for soil health

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Alpine slide- a spectacular element of landscape design, however, it is somewhat laborious to create, implying many nuances and rules. Today we will consider a step-by-step guide on how to build an alpine slide with our own hands out of the blue with photos and diagrams.

Rock garden with a stream of rounded stones.

Features and device

An alpine slide, or rock garden, is an element of landscape design in the form of a slide, built of stones with alpine plants planted on it, growing in the Alps. In other words, this is an artificially created miniature of a mountainous area with its inherent relief elements. So, a rock garden can be created in the form:

• gorges;
• plateau;
• valleys;
• cliff;
• slope, etc.

Rock gardens are also often called rocky gardens. The device of such an element implies several tiers or levels. If the element large sizes, it is usually called a rock garden, and structures with more modest dimensions, decorated on small area, called an alpine slide. Obviously, high-mountainous flowers and plants require special conditions, and since rock gardens have become ubiquitous, the plants are not selected truly alpine, but based on the climate of the area. We will talk in more detail about the choice of flora for a rock garden later.

In the photo below you can see a simple, but very picturesque alpine slide with stones in the country, which is easy to repeat with your own hands:

Rocky garden on the site.

It is believed that for the first time rock gardens began to be built over a thousand years ago in Japan. In view of the acute shortage of free space, the Japanese have learned to build real masterpieces in a limited space. Stone gardens were also popular in China and other South Asian countries. Around the 16th century, the fashion for the construction of rocky gardens came to Europe, and a couple of centuries later it became popular in Russia.

The main charm and charm of the alpine slides lies in their maximum proximity to natural, natural outlines. Lack of symmetry, slight negligence, exclusively natural materials create an extraordinary atmosphere.

Alpine slide with massive stones.

Varieties

There are many types of rock gardens. Here are some of the most common types of slides:

1. Valley. From the name it can be assumed that such a slide should be similar to a mountain plateau. For decoration, large lump stones, deeply embedded in the soil, are used. The space between them is filled with flowers and herbs.
2. Cliff. This variety looks like a steep slope. For its implementation, large stones of any shape are used, stacked on top of each other in a dry way. The imitation of a cliff will be harmoniously complemented by shrubs.
3. Meadow. A great emphasis in this type of rock garden is placed on vegetation - undersized spirits and colorful flowers will look very fresh in the garden.
4. Ravine. This type of rock garden looks very unusual, at least because it is necessary to make not a hill, but, on the contrary, a deepening. Its slopes are decorated with stones, coniferous crops are planted. Great idea there will be a trickle at the bottom of the ravine.
5. Cascade stream. Rocky hill with many thin streams cascading down, it looks incredibly picturesque and peaceful. When constructing this variety, special attention should be paid to the choice of plants - it is better to plant moisture-loving crops.

Types of alpine slides.

Important! Rockeries should be distinguished from rockeries - these are two different elements of landscape design, although both stones and plants are used.

Usually, rock gardens are much larger in size, in contrast to, they also have a greater height (sometimes up to 2-3 m in comparison with the maximum height of rockeries of 1 m). Another distinctive feature - vegetation - in rockeries can be used minimally or not at all, while in rock gardens this is a mandatory element.

Schemes

The device of an alpine slide is limited only by your imagination and the characteristics of the site. The compositions can be completely different. To make it easier for you to choose, consider some examples of photos of alpine slides in the garden - as the most simple options, which you can repeat with your own hands, as well as complex compositions with a fountain, with a pond and with a bridge.

Rock garden with a bridge.

Rock gardens with ponds will bring freshness to the garden design. It is better to place such an element near the recreation area.

A large alpine slide with a stream.

Even small streams and ponds can transform the territory:

Rock garden with a waterfall and a pond.

In the photo below you can see how you can arrange a rock garden near the house:

Rock garden near the house.

For construction, you can use the following schemes:

Rock garden scheme.

Scheme No. 2:

Alpine slide scheme.

Scheme No. 3:

Alpine slide option.

Scheme No. 4:

A slide with a pond.

Seat selection

To equip a beautiful rocky garden on your site, you must first choose a suitable place.

Advice: if there are natural uneven terrain on the site, it is advisable to use them for arranging an alpine slide.

If the site does not differ in differences, it's okay - you can equip a rocky garden on flat terrain, but in this case, you will have to put in a little more effort. It is important that with an artificial structure, this element harmoniously and smoothly transitions into the rest of the flat landscape.

Rock garden on a natural slope along the steps.

In addition, there are other criteria for choosing a location:

1. Accessible review. An alpine slide is a very picturesque and colorful element of the garden, therefore it is important that it be visible and provide an opportunity to admire from many points of the site. Therefore, it is advisable to place the slides near the house, gazebo or other resting place.
2. Distance from tall trees, massive shrubs - in contrast to the trees, the slide may lose its scale.
3. Sunny area, sheltered from the wind. This will ensure good conditions for most plants used in the construction of rocky gardens. Ideally, if the main side of the rock garden will be oriented to the south, east or southeast.
4. Neighborhood with a reservoir. If there is an artificial pond or waterfall on the site, it is logical to place a rock garden nearby.

It is not recommended to build large-scale rocky gardens directly in the center of a large empty space - this will give the landscape element a very implausible look. As for the size of the slide - there are no strict boundaries and norms, it is necessary to choose the dimensions based on the area of ​​the site. After all, it is not the size of the rock garden itself that is important, but its harmonious combination with the design of the territory of a summer house or a country house.

Plant selection

Another important point is the choice of vegetation for the slide.

V classic version arrangement of a rock garden, unpretentious, perennial alpine plants are selected that are resistant to a harsh climate, compact in size (ground covers or undersized).

However, with the growing popularity of rock gardens, the range of plants used in their design has also increased. When arranging the slide, the following color groups are planted:

• compact low-growing conifers or deciduous shrubs are often chosen for the basis of the composition;
• ground cover crops are used to fill the rock garden space;
• perennial herbs;
• bulbous flowers - they look very impressive during the flowering period. Slides revive the view in spring.

It is important to select plants based on the conditions on your slide - the type of soil, the ratio of light and shade, protection from the wind, etc. All plants should have more or less similar requirements for conditions. Also, be guided by the size of the slide - the larger its dimensions, the taller the plants can be planted. For compact rock gardens, select low crops.

We list which specific types are best used for a slide:

1. Perennials: edelweiss, alyssum, rejuvenated, echinacea, seaside armeria, carnations.
2. Annuals and bulbous plants: crocuses, muscari, redwoods, snowdrops, haretail, dimorphoteca, marigolds, saxifrage.
3. Conifers: thuja, juniper, black pine, miniature spruce.
4. Deciduous shrubs: barberry, spirea, cotoneaster, chaenomeles.

In the photo below you can see what plants are needed to equip a rock garden:

Plants for an alpine slide.

Slide stones

When choosing and arranging stones for the slide, it is necessary to build on the basic principle - naturalness. Based on this, the use of several types of stones that do not occur together in nature will not be a very good solution.

For the arrangement of slides, the following types are most often used:

1. Granite. It has beautiful view, heavy, so working with it is difficult. It has a low level of moisture absorption. Most often used with ephedra and heather.
2. Sandstone. It has a porous structure (that is, plants with a specific root system can grow directly in it), and there is also a large palette of shades in nature, which allows you to design rocky hills in different ways.
3. Lime stones. They pass water well, gradually overgrow with moss, as a result of which they begin to become only more beautiful and more picturesque over time.

For the natural look of the slide, it is necessary to use cobblestones of various sizes irregular shape... Place smaller ones between large specimens. For shallower areas, you can choose smooth stones (not perfectly rounded), and for steep slopes- lumpy.

In addition to the listed species, you can also use shell rock, slate. Gravel and crushed stone are used to create drainage; alpine slides with real or dry streams are usually laid out with pebbles.

In the photo below you can see an alpine slide created with your own hands in the country from scrap materials:

Alpine slide from scrap materials.

Manufacturing

So, when we discussed the main aspects in the manufacture of a rock garden, you can go directly to work. We will give a step-by-step guide and show in the photos and diagrams the process of erecting an alpine slide with our own hands out of the blue.

Important! Just pouring a pile of stones, filling the gaps with soil and planting flowers does not mean equipping a rock garden. With this approach, the stones can quickly move, as a result of which the form disintegrates and the decorative effect is lost.

If we talk about the time frame en creating a rocky garden, it will take from two weeks to a month. The exact timing depends on the rate of soil shrinkage.

Preparation and drainage

After you have chosen the size and shape for the slide, these parameters must be transferred to the site. Along the perimeter, it is worth protecting it with rope and pegs, clearing it of debris and stones, and uprooting plants. Next, you need to make drainage:

1. Remove the soil layer from the selected area. The depth depends on the area of ​​the rock garden - for wide elements, you will need to remove the soil to a depth of 70-80 cm and even up to 1 m.In this case, you will get good drainage with excellent moisture removal, which will also serve as the foundation for the composition and ensure its durability.
2. The bottom must be filled with drainage material: expanded clay, construction waste (broken bricks, parts of concrete, etc., wood cannot be used). The thickness of this layer is 35 cm.
3. The next layer is sandy. Sand must be laid with a thickness of 35 cm, compacted and leveled, and then pour water to shrink.

At this stage, approximately 30-40 cm should remain to the soil level - we will fill them with soil.

Alpine slide device.

Laying soil and stones

To prepare soil for a rock garden, you can use one of the "recipes":

1. We mix coarse sand with peat and humus in a 1: 1: 1 ratio.
2. We mix peat and clay soil in a ratio of 1: 3. Gravel can be added to this mixture in the amount of 5: 1.

Important! The soil for the rock garden must be thoroughly cleared of weeds and rhizomes, otherwise it will be more difficult to care for the slide.

The resulting mixture is poured over the sand around the perimeter of the future rock garden. The soil layer can be up to 1 m thick - it will be an excellent base for stones. Next, you should wait about 1.5-2 weeks until the soil settles down. Sometimes you have to wait up to 5 weeks.

Rock garden device step by step.

In addition to the diagram above, we attach a step-by-step photo of the process:

Now we will start an important stage - laying stones. We will tell you step by step how to make an alpine slide with your own hands near the house:

1. Start with the largest pieces according to the chosen pattern. If they fall unstable, use sand, soil, gravel to strengthen them. It is very important that they are securely fixed.
2. Next, install medium-sized specimens, and only then - the smallest ones.
3. Do not place stones close to each other - there should be a place for planting vegetation between them.

Avoid symmetrical placement - try to arrange the stones a little chaotically so that the composition has a natural look.

Colonization of plants

This is the final stage in the design of the alpine slide. First, plant trees and shrubs, then fill the main volume with perennials.

Important! A little more moisture accumulates at the bottom of the slide, therefore it is better to plant moisture-loving species here.

The process of planting plants in an alpine slide.

How to care

The advantage of rock gardens is that, with all their decorativeness, they require incomparably less attention than flower beds and flower beds. But still some care is required:

• the soil in rock gardens dries out faster than on ordinary beds due to the elevation, heated stones and wind, therefore the plants should be regularly watered from a hose with a fine nozzle;
• plants need to be fed regularly at the root (about once a month);
• during the entire flowering period, regularly remove faded shoots, add mulch if it was washed off by rain or watering, check the plants for diseases and pests.

For the winter, the composition must be covered with agrofibre. In the spring, the film is removed, the dead plants are removed (if this happened), the stones that have moved down are corrected, and the foliage is raked up. Next, you need to renew the layer of soil and mulch, add new plants.

Now you understand that it is not difficult to create an alpine slide with your own hands, even out of the blue, if you follow the step-by-step guide with photos and diagrams.

Video: how to quickly and easily make a rock garden.

An element such as an alpine slide has long become a familiar element in the design of garden plots. Even small rock gardens add variety to the standard garden design. And, showing quite a bit of imagination, you can create a real work of art from a generally ordinary element of landscape design.

About the history of the emergence of alpine slides

The first rock gardens were supposed to imitate rock fragments of the terrain, so plants were far from their main element. Over time, there was a gradual lurch towards more intensive use of plants in the design of the slide.

As for the idea of ​​using alpine slides in gardens, it owes its origin to chance. The fact is that at the beginning of the century before last, travelers began to actively bring plants outlandish in those days, for example, thyme or adonis, to England. But they simply refused to grow in seemingly such fertile soil.

It was then that the gardeners of that time came up with the idea to use stony soil, more familiar to plants. Over time, the idea of ​​using stone in gardens was appreciated in other countries, and the new fashion began to actively spread around the world.

The design of the slide in the garden has undergone several major changes since its inception.

Of course, these changes took place smoothly, but 3 characteristic stages of development can be distinguished:

• dominance of stone- at the initial stage, large boulders and even whole stone grottoes were actively used. Plants peeped out modestly from the cracks between the stones and were used only to emphasize the age of the stone structure;

• gradually the greens took back positions from the stone and soon it was possible to fix the parity. The stone was still the basis of the composition, but a lot of attention was paid to the plants;
• in the end, the triumph of life came - modern alpine slides Is a riot of colors and greenery, slightly diluted with lifeless gray stone. Moreover, it is not necessary to use only one stone to create it. Soil is also suitable, the excess of which was formed, for example, after digging a pit under.

Note!
For small areas, the last 2 types of slides are suitable, large stone structures or individual boulders will look ridiculous in a small garden area.

Homemade Alpine Slide - Action Guide

A do-it-yourself slide in the garden always looks impressive, but many refuse it because of the apparent complexity and laboriousness of the work.

In fact, there is nothing complicated about this, but the main attention should be paid to several points:

• choose the correct location on the site;
• do not miss the size, the rock garden should not be lost on the site, but it should not suppress with its greatness either;
• avoid symmetry when filling the body of the slide and decorating it with stones;

• to choose the right plants is still not a flower bed and not, therefore, not all types of flowers are suitable.

Layout

Ideally, it is the location of the slide on the site that should be dominant. That is, when drawing up a plan, you first need to place the rock garden in the optimal place and already based on this, lay paths, break the flower beds and think over the further design.

In reality, this is not always the case, so it will not be superfluous to know a few rules for choosing a place for a rock garden:

• the place must be dry, and the groundwater must lie as deep as possible;

Note!
It is advisable to place alpine slides in the garden on a hill.
This guarantees protection against groundwater, and with heavy precipitation, the water will not stagnate at the foot of the rock garden.

• it is highly undesirable to place the slide directly at the fence or at the house, most of the effect will simply be lost. If such placement is necessary, then you need to create a favorable background, for this a low shrub is suitable. For the same reason, it is necessary to avoid the neighborhood of a rock garden and tall thick trees;

• the area should be well lit.

Preparatory stage

Here you will need to decide on the type of materials, think over in general terms the design of the future rock garden.

The instruction at this stage looks like this:

• the area of ​​the base of the rock garden is determined;
• good drainage must be provided in this area, for this sod (a layer of vegetative soil 20-30 cm thick) is removed, and the vacated space is filled with any well-draining material. Not only crushed stone or gravel will work, but also common construction waste such as broken brick or pieces of concrete.

Note!
In this case, it is better not to use the removed fertile layer for filling the slide itself.
Over time, the grass stems and roots will rot and the structure will shrink quite well, which can destroy the entire composition.

You can combine normal soil and gravel. That is, the body of the slide is poured out of gravel or crushed stone. Then there is a layer of soil and only then the structure is decorated with stones. There are many options for solving the question of how to build an alpine slide in a garden plot, the main thing is to provide good drainage.

About the size, shape and technology of the construction of the rock garden

The general rule when designing an alpine slide is asymmetry. There is no need to try to make it in the form of a perfectly regular geometric shape. Indeed, in nature, symmetry occurs only as an exception.

The stepped shape is quite popular, this allows you to group plants of different species on separate tiers. In this case, decorative stones act as miniature retaining walls and prevent the soil from floating over time.

Note!
The sizes of the ledges are selected individually for each specific case, but you can focus on the average height of the ledge in the range of 0.2 - 0.3 m.

As for the collection of stones, the use of boulders with noticeable inclusions of other rocks can be considered ideal. Small defects(for example, chipped areas) is also an advantage - plants can be planted in them. All boulders should be of the same type, that is, a smooth, rolled stone should not be adjacent to chipped granite.

The size, as a rule, decreases from bottom to top, and the top of the hill is finished with a group of small stones, or one large one. Correct selection stones are very important, especially since the price of the structure does not practically change from this.

Note!
It is allowed to use large elongated stones.
They are usually simply dug into the ground, and the hill itself is placed around such stones.

As for the construction technology, it is necessary to start laying boulders some time after the body of the slide has been dumped. During this time, under the influence of its own weight and moistening with precipitation, shrinkage will end.

Selection of plants

It used to be considered a sign of bad taste to make rock gardens unnecessarily bright and catchy. Currently, there is some deviation from this rule, but still it is impossible to advise turning the hill into an ordinary flower bed. That not to list by name all types of plants, we will break suitable types into groups.

It is allowed to use:

• herbaceous perennials;
• small shrub, both coniferous and deciduous;
• bulbous (planted in a small area);
• ground cover species - fill all the free space.

When planting in the ground, you need to make a small hole around the stem and fill it with fine gravel. The hole will collect needed by the plant water, and rubble will drown out weeds.

Summarizing

Even the simplest rock garden diversifies the design of any garden. You should not be afraid of an unfamiliar name, even a novice summer resident will cope with the construction of an alpine slide. The tips in this article will help you avoid common beginner mistakes.

The video in this article shows an example of a simple alpine slide device with minimal financial costs.

Anyone who has ever seen an alpine meadow in bloom will have an indelible impression forever. You want to go there again and again. You can, of course, go on vacation to Kabarda or Karachay-Cherkessia (above in the figure), instead of splashing in the sea or the pool of the water park at a popular resort, experiencing sensations that would find the most lively response from kilka in a bank. You can, ignoring the indignant cries of the wallet, swing at Switzerland or Nepal, it is below in Fig. But you always want blooming mountains, and an alpine slide or rock garden, although it does not completely replace them, will clearly remind you. You just need to build and plant it correctly, which is what this article is about.

Note: the material presented concerns rock gardens in the country or a personal plot. Rock gardens home, desktop, balcony, window, seasonal require each separate description.

The construction and gardening of a rock garden is quite laborious, but does not require complex skills and a special tool, as well as expensive materials or, for example, bulky concrete works absorbing a lot of water. It makes perfect sense to build an alpine slide with your own hands, because custom-made, in comparison with the complexity of the structure, roads. The same applies to plants; we will return to them later. It is quite possible to plant your own, unique and inimitable rock garden with plants taken from nature, or purchased in ordinary, non-specialized nurseries at a price that is an order of magnitude lower. In this regard, some recommendations may seem unusual, but the material is focused on inexpensive or completely free samples of domestic flora, and we will leave those pampered by intensive selection of a special variety to landscape design marketers.

General information

Alpine slides can be seen with a separate border (pos. 1 in the figure) and seemingly randomly sketched, pos. 2, from angular blocks or rounded boulders of dense stone or from porous limestone, pos. 1-4, clearly terraced from the plateau at the summit, pos. 4, or naturally chaotic. Is all this diversity built at random? Far from it, far from it. The device of an alpine slide obeys simple, but well-defined rules.

Time and place

They build a rock garden in early autumn, before the rains begin, to "settle down" by the spring: precipitate and complete the formation of the substrate. In the spring, the hill is landscaped and in the summer it is already admired. This publication describes how to make an alpine slide with a stable biocenosis that can live for many years with minimal maintenance or even independently.

To create a rock garden, an area of ​​about 2 sq. m. If there is 20-50 sq. m free, very good: this is the optimal value for labor costs for the maximum effect; you can't take a look at a big slide with one glance. A mini-alpine slide is enough for 0.25-0.7 sq. m, but the range of plants will have to be limited, which, however, with skillful selection, will not reduce its decorative effect. It is advisable to build a rock garden in the garden, providing some shading from the north and northeast; this will greatly expand the possible plant diversity on the slide. The soil on the site for the rock garden can be infertile or completely wasteful; powerful humus will only be a hindrance.

Rock garden and water

Best of all, having conceived a rock garden, build at the same time and. The excavated earth will provide an excellent backfill for the hill, and the water will bring coolness and moisture into the air, which will allow planting some of the native plants of the mountains. There is no need to talk about the aesthetic effect of a rock garden with a pond, see at least a picture:

If there is not enough space, the mini-pond is included in the structure of the slide. Bowls for ponds are available in volumes from 30 liters, which may be too much for a small slide. In this case, useless faience plumbing will fit into the creation of a reservoir: a sink or even a toilet bowl. Do not hesitate: further it will be described how to process such a product to give it a completely natural look. More natural and durable than a purchased plastic bowl, anyway.

The rock garden absolutely does not tolerate a constant flow into itself: it will float, creep, and the plants in the sour soil will wither. Therefore, the container for an alpine slide with a reservoir must be closed and waterproof; in bowls made of second-hand earthenware, this is ensured by sealing the drain / outlet with concrete with a high content of crushed stone or (worse) silicone. But in this case, the water in the pond will stagnate, which can be seen in pos. 1 fig., And the small area of ​​its mirror will not create the desired microclimate in the vicinity.

Exit - a reservoir on an alpine slide with a fountain, pos. 2. Constant spraying will freshen the air for near-water plants, see below, and drops saturated with oxygen to the limit, falling back, will not allow the water to stagnate. When using unusable household utensils with a capacity of 5-20 liters based on an inexpensive aquarium pump.

A rock garden with a waterfall is a different matter. He has beauty, no doubt about it. But even through a small, low one, as in pos. 3, a waterfall, water flows from 1 cu. m / h when lifting it by at least 0.5-1.5 m, which, taking into account the losses in the hydraulic system, will require a pressure of 1.5-3 m. The pressure tank, which would allow the use of a periodic pump, does not fit into the design of the rock garden , therefore, the only possible option for feeding the waterfall is with a continuous submersible pump in the lower accumulator, see Fig.

As a result, we come to a conclusion that is disappointing for low-income owners: we need a special expensive pump for artificial waterfalls. The aquarium pump will not raise the water to the desired height, and the household submersible pump pumps too hard and high, but periodically. Vibrating pump water supply can still be adapted to a waterfall by turning it on through a thyristor regulator, but its service life will then be reduced to 1-5 years.

Sad consequences of the second order - waterfall pumps take from the network from about 350 W, or even all 1.5-2 kW, which the meter will "wind" all summer. And the waterfall evaporates several times more water than a fountain with the same flow rate, so you will have to pay a lot for water to top up the reservoir. The capacity of the reservoir itself should be from 3-hour water consumption, and its depth - from 1.5 heights of the fall of the cascade, i.e. and a pond for a waterfall needs a big, deep, expensive and complex one.

How to build a rock garden?

Diagrams of the most common types of alpine slides are shown in Fig. Pos. A - rock garden in a pit with a retaining wall. The wall is actually a foundation of blocks, so a properly built slide of this type can hold and live for many years, up to centuries, even if it was abandoned. If the wall is brought out flush with the ground surface, superstructure An alpine slide can be any of the ones described below, but it takes a lot of labor, and there are a lot of costs: blocks of durable resistant stone (granite, basalt, diorite, gabbro, diabase) with a size of about 400x400x400 mm are taken on the wall. It is advisable to fasten the underground wall belts masonry mortar, as when laying a foundation from blocks.

A step-by-step instruction for the construction of a rock garden base with a retaining wall looks like this:

1. Determine the depth of the wall as the standard freezing depth in a given area minus 0.5 of the height of the hill. V Middle Lane RF is about 1m;
2. Stones are selected by size and shape;
3. The wall is laid out on the side on the ground on a dry slide along the contour, large blocks are allowed on the lower belt (belts);
4. In the process of dry laying, the stones are adjusted to each other and checked for stability: the wall should stand indestructible when removing any 2 stones from it, incl. adjacent;
5. Transfer the resulting contour into place, for which it is convenient to use a long rail with stuffed crossbars;
6. A pit is dug along the contour of the hill to a depth of placement plus 0.3-0.5 m and with a margin along the contour of about 0.3 m. Humus and continental soil (underlying, mother) are stored separately;
7. Lay out the wall in the pit, if necessary - already on the solution;
8. The bottom of the pit is covered with geotextiles and ordinary sand-gravel drainage with a thickness of 0.3-0.5 m is poured;
9. Drainage is poured in layers of 10-15 cm, carefully ramming with wetting, as when laying garden paths;
10. Layer-by-layer parallel, in layers of 20-25 cm, with wetting and tamping, backfill the external stock and foundation pit. From the outside, they fall asleep with the removed mother, and inside with a binder, it is half-and-half with rubble.

Note: if the underlying rock is sandy, gravelly or light sandy loam, then nothing can be done - you need to look for loam for a binder. Loose moving soils will not bind anything, only they will creep through the stones themselves.

About stones

The stones for the alpine slide can be used in a variety of chemically neutral. Strong, dense and resistant rocks will give the slide durability, but the substrate for the plants on their surface will have to be created using the accelerated method described below. Slabs - sandstone, quartzite - are also suitable, in contrast to the lining of the pond, because in a rock garden, it will not be constantly saturated with moisture, and its small frost is unlikely and will not damage the slide. Only rocks that are prone to karst and shift the pH of the soil should be avoided: limestone, dolomite. Nevertheless, there are types of rock gardens, fundamentally created from carbonate rocks, see below. The shell rock is definitely not suitable: rock gardens from it begin to collapse for 2-5 years.

Slide

A rock garden made of boulders can be built without a wall, right on the ground, pos. B in Fig. higher with slides, but its life will be no more than 30-40 years; most likely - 10-15 years. The principle of construction is the same: the higher the stones, the smaller, but you can lay them out immediately in place in layers. The stones of the next layer are driven and checked if they are loose, then the filler is poured (with wetting!), The next layer is laid out, etc. Humus is introduced into deep pockets when laying layers, and finally on outer surface in the spring.

To build an alpine slide correctly, you need to know the nature of the underlying soil. On light permeable rocks such as sandy loam, pos. B1, it is enough to remove the humus. On clays and heavy loams, you need to additionally dig a shallow, 30-60 cm, foundation pit, and fill it with sand-gravel drainage, pos. B2. This is necessary to surface runoff from the rock garden did not wash out the territory adjacent to it.

Terraces and slopes

Terracing an alpine slide with the creation of artificial plateaus on it gives considerable advantages:

• It is possible to clearly divide the rock garden into zones suitable for different types of plants.
• The runoff from the hill is streamlined and the danger of its erosion by rains is practically reduced to naught.
• Filling the plateau with gravel weeds makes rooting difficult, and makes it easier for the gardener to fight them.
• It also makes it easier to care for the slide, because after winter rainfall, you can walk on the plateau.

The easiest way to terrace the rock garden on the slope, pos. In, but according to the same scheme, slides are also zoned, which are like mountains. The slopes of the terraces are laid out of quartzite or sandstone, its porosity will make the underground runoff uniform. The ultimate goal of zoning is to get 3 zones of soil moisture, pos. D. Taking into account the orientation to the cardinal points, this will give 12 sectors with different conditions, and if there is shading on either side, the number of sectors increases even more.

Path and lawn

Decorative and technological plates at pos. G and the bypass path around them are designed to approach the slide. The rock garden looks much more attractive on the lawn, but without solid paths of approach and exit, the grass will soon be trampled. The design of the surrounding area slide must, of course, be linked to that of the rock garden. Artificial paving slabs, for example, do not fit with a piece of mountains; if there is no suitable stone on the paths / approaches, then it is better to cover everything with rubble without a lawn.

What is not a slide

To do away with roller coaster schemes, let's turn to common mistakes when creating them. The structure at pos. D is not a rock garden, but either a flower bed, or a dug-in rabatka. Plant irises, petunias, marigolds, pelargoniums there, it will be good. But it is bad for plants for slides, and they will not show all their special beauty. And the fact that at pos. E, a pile of earth with stuck stones, is generally not suitable for ornamental gardening. If you don’t believe it, make it even small and see what happens to it after the first rain.

About limestone

Natural limestone for a rock garden is good not only because it gives a ready-made substrate and a uniform runoff, but also because a very small alpine slide can be successfully terraced with it. It is only necessary to lay the slabs with a slight inward slope, see fig. on the right, so that the runoff during precipitation does not go along the slope, but goes inland. Then the slide and without the wall will, although it sink a little, but become stronger at the same time.

What is a Czech rolling pin?

In this case, the rolling pin is not utensils for rolling out the dough and finding out who is the owner (hostess) in the house, but a very specific type of rock garden, imitating the lime-dolomite cliffs of the Tatras broken by vertical cracks. Czechs from their rolling pins, i.e. small rocks, crazy, but in Central Europe rolling pins are not very common, and in a continental climate all their shortcomings are especially pronounced:

1. It is difficult and expensive to build: you need a carefully selected thin flagstone, a deep pit and careful filling of the gaps between the slabs of only 2-5 cm with clay, pos. 1 in fig. below.
2. Carbonate rocks shift the pH of the soil towards the alkaline side, which very few plants tolerate.
3. In narrow vertical crevices, almost no vegetation takes root, and vertical hollows remain on the finished slide, which can be easily turned into deep gullies even with a little rain, pos. 2.
4. Caring for a Czech rolling pin is difficult and it itself is short-lived, because on outdoors karst-prone rocks become very fragile.

Mini slides

A miniature rock garden, in principle, can be just a bunch of stones up to 1 sq. m, pos. 1 per next. fig., but the choice of plants for it will be extremely limited, because there is no need to talk about terracing and zoning for soil moistening. If you have at least 2-3 squares at your disposal, then a mini alpine slide can be built in bulk, i.e. without a wall, having arranged inside a surface water distribution and accumulative drainage, pos. 2. It will, as it were, suck out moisture from the dry zone, keep it in itself and give it to wet areas little by little. On light soils under such a hill, you need to arrange a clay castle.

It is still not possible to plant any suitable plants on a mini-slide in open ground; more suitable aboriginal herbaceous and small shrubs. A well-known scheme for landscaping a mini-rock garden with herbs is shown in Fig. on right.

In places with enough mild winter, in the black earth zone and to the south, rock garden plants can be kept in a pot (container) culture, pos. 3. This will make it possible to regulate the water regime of each individually, but there remains the danger of freezing in winter even for plants that safely survive the same frosts in the open ground.

From various debris

The face stones for the rock garden need to be taken to choose from, so they will cost much more than the usual buta. Is it possible to replace them with something; preferably porous, but more resistant than quartzite or sandstone? It is possible, but "slides" of bottles, tires, etc. let's go further: they go to the mountains from civilization, and not for its waste, even if it is utilized and ennobled.

For a good alpine slide made of scrap materials, there is enough stone construction waste: broken bricks, paving slabs, concrete fragments. The trick to make them "more natural than natural" is in a fermenting sourdough for substrate producers. For a brick, kefir or rice water will go, but it is best to prepare it from bird droppings.

First of all, the dried raw materials are fermented: abundantly, 3-4 times against the dry mass by volume, they are poured with water in a chemically neutral container and allowed to ferment. The vessel-"reactor" is kept away from the dwelling: the "dukhan" will make a vigorous one out of it. When the process is over (the foam will settle and the stench will decrease), the liquid is poured from above into the sewer or directly into the cesspool, and the sediment is diluted with water by volume 10-20 times for soaking or 2-3 times for surface treatment.

Construction waste for the slide is soaked before use for 5-15 minutes (brick / concrete, respectively), and earthenware plumbing is treated on top, having previously prepared it. To prepare, firstly, they carefully beat off the excess: the lugs of the toilet seat, the shelf of the sink. Then the glaze is also carefully and carefully "wrapped" with the back of a light hammer, and the entire surface is passed with a grinder with a 120-140 sandpaper or a drill with a flexible grinding wheel.

Processing is done even in the autumn heat, 1-2 weeks before the rains. Before frost, the surface will become obsolete, as on the left in the figure, but this is only the beginning of "naturalization". Discharge of mosses and lichens will loosen upper layer and create a substrate for which the roots of creeping and cover plants can "catch on", see below. After 1-3 years, the slide will look like the one on the right in Fig. and will acquire the strength of a monolith. Trust the person who has walked a lot of mountains - there are completely natural slopes, more similar to construction waste and less strong.

The main beauty is plants and flowers for an alpine slide

Although a good rock garden should look bare in winter, the main thing on the hill is still plants. Designers with florists, I must give them their due, try their best for them, but the situation is similar to that with cars: there are more and more brands, and fewer and fewer samples stand out in the general stream. The reason, one must think, is in the very organization of the post-industrial society: marketers figure out what more can be sold, social engineers brainwash the solvent mass properly, then the shaft is chased to the consumer's taste until the brand fizzles out, and then all over again in a circle.

As for rock gardens, with this approach, with a great variety of plant varieties bred specifically for them, they simply lose their individuality. If you want a rock garden "like everyone else's", with appropriate, but certainly steeper than your neighbor's, costs, then please, in the video below, the recommendations of experts on the choice of plants.

Video: choosing plants for a standard rock garden

And don't worry: the specialists are competent, the recommendations are well-grounded, the plants are specially bred for the growing conditions on the hill. When purchasing for at least so many, the florist's departure for planting is free, and for the care of the slide there is a discount.

We will go the other way. We will select plants for the alpine slide from the domestic flora, or rather, from places of growth with similar conditions: poor soil, warmed earth, a stone in the path of roots and shoots. The names are also given in Latin below: not all of what has been described can be found in the vicinity, but they are in ordinary nurseries and botanical gardens. The exact scientific name will eliminate confusion when communicating with specialists.

Note: plants marked with "!" are protected. Their unauthorized collection for any purpose is tantamount to poaching, but they are available in nurseries, and are much cheaper than the "special contingent" for rock gardens. Buyers are usually given planting instructions, and general information about planting plants from nurseries is given in the following video:

Video: self-planting plants from a nursery

Condition

In addition to accessibility, our Aboriginal requirements for an alpine slide - if possible, they should give beautiful flowers or be colorful themselves, like in an alpine meadow. Which, by the way, is lacking in many expensive imported varieties. their breeding for mass sale turns out to be more profitable. In particular, roller coaster florists practically ignore ericoid plants, i.e. heather and heather-like, and some of them are simply amazing and deliberately created for rock gardens.

The second important condition is that our plants on a hill, with a minimum of moisture, on heavy, poor, fragile soil, either themselves give dwarf forms, or they can be obtained using the technique of raising bonsai: bending, twisting a garter and pruning shoots. If the tree is higher than the hill, then what are the associations with the mountains, which have already been or have not yet been. And since we are building a rock garden for ourselves, then decorating it with plants is far from the hardest, but the most enjoyable and creative part of the work. For the same reason, we will avoid flowers with high peduncles.

Some of the things described below will come across to you in the trade catalogs, so what? It would be strange if the pros did not know their business. But we - recall - are not bound by profitability, so our choice and classification are not typical. In particular, we subdivide cover (ground cover) plants into:

• Carpets - from the name it is clear, cover the soil with a solid carpet.
• Creeping - a carpet with visible gaps, but more puffy.
• Curly / Climbing - fill cracks, holes, climb slopes.
• Ampel - hanging from above in a veil.
• Curtains - form clones / bushes of indefinite shape.
• Pillows - cushion curtains.

Note: some of the described species, depending on the growing conditions, can change their group affiliation.

Carpets

Common types of stonecrop on the slides (Sedum aizoon - hardy stonecrop, hernia grass, cat's feet, grass for 40 diseases, item 1 in the figure) are unpretentious, available, but the carpet is somewhat loose. The creeping carnation (Dianthus repens, pos. 2) is very effective in the rock garden, especially during flowering, but the carpet from it is formed by the fusion of individual pillow individuals and therefore turns out to be uneven. But the Lapland diapence (Diapensia lapponica!, Pos. 3) grows on the northern slopes with moderate moisture with a solid glossy carpet and blooms beautifully, like its fellow northerners, Loiseleria recumbent (Loiseleuria procumbens!, Pos. 4) and blue phyllodoce (Phyllodoce caer !, pos. 5) Successful culture of these tundra ericoids is possible, as a rule, not to the south of the Moscow region. Up to Voronezh and even Rostov-on-Don, an eight-petal dryad (Dryas octopetala!, Pos. 6) can grow on shaded hills, but its carpet is somewhat loose.

A rather loose, but beautiful carpet that fills cracks and climbs the slopes is produced by medicinal smoke (Fumaria officinalis, pos. 7). This is a common plant of middle latitudes and does not require special conditions for itself, as does the alpine poppy (Papaver alpinum, pos. 8) or Burser poppy (Papaver burseri), if they are taken from the nursery. Mountain poppies rugs give small, but fluffy and delicate. They need adequate hydration.

A very good dense carpet gives a prince or a clearing (Rubus arcticus, pos. 9). On the hill, its leaves are shrinking, but, unlike the decorative strawberry duchenia, the princess blooms beautifully, and its berries are tasty and healthy.

On large slides, dense, rather high growth is provided by the magnificent Asian swimsuit (Trollius asiaticus, pos. 1 on the next figure) and other types of swimsuits. It can also cover the entire terrace with a fluffy carpet of a thin-leaved peony, or Maryin root, (Paeonia tenuifolia, pos. 2). If you can get hold of planting material prince of Siberian (Atragene sibirica, pos. 3), then you will also get a climbing plant with spectacular flowers, but the prince needs a lot of moisture and shading.

Curtains

Separate, not merging into a common cover, bushes on the hill will grow adonis (adonis) spring (Adonis vernalis, pos. 1 in the fig.) And legumes woolly spiked fish (Oxytropis lanata pos. 2) and arctic pennyweed (Hedysarum arcticum, pos. 3 ), despite the name, grows well in Ryazan. Adonis, like all thin-leaved ones, need enough moisture and a little shade, and legumes, like all legumes, are dry-tolerant and photophilous.

Cushions

With pillow plants in humid mid-latitudes, I must say, a problem. It can be solved with the help of conifers, about which later, and of the deciduous aborigines, more or less decent pillows on the hills are formed by the Crimean cistus (Cistus tauricus, pos. 1 in the figure), but its culture north of the Black Earth Region is rarely and with difficulty: this plant is unpretentious to moisture and soil, but light and heat-loving; blooms with beautiful pink flowers.

More like a green hedgehog than a pillow, it looks like many-leaved gauze (Chenopodium foliosum, common gminda, pos. 2). This weed in a culture on a hill is very decorative, especially in autumn, when the bush is dotted with red berries.

Tapeworms

Among the plant tapeworms, there are many spectacular species suitable for rock garden. For example, a common woodland (liverwort) noble (Hepatica nobilis, pos. 1 in the fig.); she needs shade and moisture, like the mountain violet two-color (Viola biflora, pos. 2). She is with a fragrant violet - the ancestor of pansies. It is better to plant a two-color violet near a pond with a fountain.

Chess grouse (Tritillaria miliagris, pos. 3), two-flowered tulip (Tulipa biflora, pos. 4) and Foster's tulip (Tulipa fosteriana, pos. 5) did not grow, therefore, little is known in the cultivation on a flower bed or for cutting, but for a rock garden are quite suitable; however, Foster's tulip southerners and north of Rostov-on-Don may not take root.

It will go up the hill with tapeworm and some of the orchids. This is a huge tropical-exotic family only in stores, but in general, orchids grow from tundra to tundra. The aborigines of the middle latitudes will agree to the conditions of the rock garden: the helmeted orchis (Orchis militaris, pos. 6) and the purple orchis (Orchis purpurea, pos. 7). The first one is sleeker and smaller, the second one is higher and stronger, so that you can choose the view to the size of the slide.

Sockets

A separate variety of single plants is rosette. Of these, fatty succulents are the decoration of any alpine slide and are sold in many varieties and types. But for yourself it is better to take a rather unpretentious hare cabbage, or a young roofing cabbage (Sempervivum tectorum!, Pos. 1) in fig.:

On the other hand, the tapeworm was very relative rejuvenated: it lets out horizontal creeping shoots - stolons - on which daughter rosettes are formed. The dignity was young, in addition to accessibility, in that, having planted it, we will get a chance to see on the site the now rare and most beautiful butterfly of Europe - the swallowtail, see fig. on right.

Not succulent, but graceful dove-gray rosettes are given by the common forest primrose, or powdery primrose (Primula farinosa, pos. 2); it blooms beautifully in early spring. Even more original is mountain soldanella (Soldanella montana!, Pos. 3), but demanding: moisture, shade, coolness. Carved gray rosettes are formed by the Armenian leontice (Leontice armeniaca, pos. 4); well-groomed in the culture on the slide, it is not catchy, but attractive.

Spring-autumn

Some early or late flowering plants are also suitable for rock garden. On the northern slope near the reservoir, Siberian snowdrop or blue snowdrop (Scilla sibirica!, Pos. 1 in the figure) will take root in the wet zone, magnificent colchicum (Colchicum speciosus, pos. 2) and other crocuses, among which there are various colors blooming in spring or autumn ... However, all colchicums are very poisonous: you need to work with them with rubber gloves, which are then immediately thrown away, do not allow children and pets to visit them. Therefore, instead of crocuses, it is better to plant saffron (crocuses) that are almost as good as them, among which there are also spring and autumn flowering ones; on pos. 3 - beautiful saffron (Crocus speciosus), an aborigine of the temperate zone.

Okolivodnye

A number of plants on an alpine slide will acquire full beauty only by a reservoir with a fountain or waterfall. For example, the marsh marigold (Caltha palustris, pos. 1 in the figure) does not tolerate dryness at all. Mother-and-stepmother (Tussilago farfara) on rocky ground near the water grows into a compact, attractive bush, pos. 2, and its flowers are willingly visited by another beautiful butterfly - the daytime peacock, pos. 3. Also, in humid air, the great periwinkle (Vinca major, pos. 4) develops well and densely braids the slopes.

Separately, it should be said about saxifrage. Any of the temperate latitudes can be recommended for the rock garden, as long as there is a body of water nearby. Saxifrags are habitually (in appearance) very diverse; ex. on pos. 5-7 brook (Saxifraga rivularis), Siberian (Saxifraga sibirica) and stiff-leaved (Saxifraga aizoides).

As a seasonal semi-aquatic in the rock garden, the usual Zebra Tradescantia (Tradescantia zebrina, pos. 8), or simply zebrina, will be appropriate. True, in daylight its leaves will turn bright green, but they will not lose their grace. Zebrina, so to speak, is a semi-amphibian plant. Having reached the water, its lashes continue to grow there, revitalizing the reservoir, which is important with its small capacity. Zebrina will not survive winter on the street, but it easily reproduces vegetatively, and in a room culture it is extremely unpretentious, so in the spring the cuttings are simply rooted and planted. Zebrina grows quickly, and its lashes will begin to swim even before summer.

Bushes

The ericoids and cistus described above are in fact already bushes, tk. their branches are lignified. But in the rock garden I want to see "real" bushes, only small ones. First of all, Mahonia aquifolium is suitable for this: in ordinary gardens it grows up to St. Petersburg, and the monks managed to grow it on Solovki. Mahonia holly in the rock garden itself grows dwarf and is very decorative, especially in autumn, pos. 1 in fig. on right. In winter, it retains green foliage.

To the south of about Tver in the rock garden, you can grow a mini-form of the Swedish cotoneaster (Cornus suecica, pos. 2). Its berries, in contrast to the southern varieties, are not tasty and are not suitable for jam, but the view is all the same wherever.

Trees

With trees for an alpine slide, you can already do without Latin: the everyday names of suitable ones are quite well established. Specimens of natural origin suitable for an alpine slide must be sought in inconveniences: in a swamp, clay cliffs, in ravines, on stony placers. You need to take very tiny sprouts, not higher than the palm of your hand. However, their age in conditions on the brink of survival may turn out to be solid, therefore, when digging, be careful with the roots; it is better to dig in deeper and take with a lump of earth, especially since the trees for the alpine slide form mycorrhiza.

The easiest way to miniaturize in the bonsai technique is birch. In nature, under extreme conditions, she herself often forms bizarre dwarf forms, pos. 1 in fig. Willow, willow, willow, willow on lean ground with minimal watering also grow dwarfs by themselves, pos. 2, but they are "bonded" even lighter than birch, which makes it possible to obtain bizarre shapes in 1-3 years, pos. 3.

Little known in the culture growing from China to Chukotka Chozenia. It is unpretentious, itself miniaturized with a lack of moisture in heavy soil. In summer, in temperate latitudes, its foliage is openwork yellowish-green; a dark trunk and branches shine through it, which gives a stunning visual effect, pos. 4. In the fall of the chozenia it turns red almost like a maple, pos. 5.

Unfortunately, no one has ever managed to dilute the Chosenia vegetatively in any way. Each tree has to be grown from seed or sought out in nature, so planting material for Chozeni is not cheap.

Pine trees in nature also often come across dwarf, pos. 6. The pine tree in the rock garden is a welcome settler, but it must be transplanted with double care. How exactly - see the video:

Video: how to transplant a pine tree correctly

Cultivated conifers

Actually conifers have long taken root on slides and there are many varieties of them for rock gardens on sale. For an overview of conifers for the alpine slides, see below:

Video: conifers for alpine slides

And how to plant cultivated conifers - here:

Video: planting cultivated conifers

We will dwell here on certain points that are significant from the point of view set out above.

Juniper, pos. 7, fills cracks / gaps well, but grows very slowly, selection and shaping is difficult and therefore expensive. Tui are available different kind and habitually, and in color, pos. 8-10. They can form pillows that are not inferior to kachim and teresken, pos. 14a, but they are quite thermophilic and therefore are rare in the amateur culture to the north of Moscow.

The best cultivated conifer for a homemade alpine slide is fir. It grows anywhere, from the Crimea to the Kola Peninsula. The variety of varieties of garden fir is difficult to describe at pos. 11-14 are just some examples. Moreover, garden firs, due to their unpretentiousness and rapid growth, are inexpensive: a chic specimen ready for planting can be found for 200-250 rubles. There are many dwarf varieties, at the age of 10-20 years, not exceeding 30 cm, which is also suitable for a mini-rock garden.

Editor Rock garden and rockery 7208

Blooming from early spring to late autumn, an alpine slide is a source of pride and trouble for a gardener. Beauty revived by your own hands seems simple and natural, but behind this there is labor multiplied by creativity. The more natural the alpine slide looks at the dacha, the more effort the creator put in it.

The idea to create a corner in the country wildlife very tempting. The ideal composition is a combination of stones and plants. The well-chosen variations are reminiscent of a mountainous landscape. There are certain rules for arranging alpine slides with your own hands, but this only applies to the laying technology. The visible top is a personal creation process. The gardener can rely on the recommendations, however, he will receive exclusively his final result. No two alpine slides are alike. It is always a manifestation of individuality. The presence of one or more large stones is a prerequisite for the composition. This emphasizes the desire to resemble a mountain peak. Country slide can be no more than two meters high. The slopes are planted with low-growing evergreens and seasonally flowering plants.

The main misconception of novice gardeners is the idea that a pile of stones, half covered with fertile soil and covered with a vegetable carpet, can already claim the title of an alpine slide. I would like to emphasize once again that making an organic composition with your own hands is a creative time-consuming process associated with financial costs.

The rock garden has a history

The mention of the Alps suggests that the idea was born to create a mountain landscape in the garden somewhere in Europe. But this is not the case. The Japanese are rightfully considered the founders of stone gardens. It was they who discovered the art of combining the hardness of stone with the tenderness of colors to the world. Spectacular rock gardens on distant islands The rising sun known and described thousands of years ago. This idea came to civilized Europe in the 16th century, and to Russia only in the 17th century.

What is rockery?

Rockery is a composition of stones and plants, where hard rock plays the main role, and herbs and flowers serve as a background. Only one kind of stones are used here. They are arranged chaotically or folded with their own hands in parallel rows in low walls. The illusion of a rocky mountain environment arises.

Plants play the main role in the rock garden. It is their beauty among the stones that attracts the eye.

You should not confuse these concepts and know exactly what you want: rock garden or rockery.

The main green components of the rock garden

Feature for all herbs and flowers:

• unpretentious care;
• short stature;
• survivability in unfavorable conditions: with excess water and in case of drought.

You can change the image of the flower bed every year by planting annuals with your own hands. But it is better to immediately focus on perennial specimens. Then every year the appearance will become more and more attractive. It is necessary to take into account the seasonality of flowering of each inhabitant of the flower bed and select a variety of specimens.

In the natural environment, there are several representatives of the wild flora that have long been cultivated as garden plants.

Suitable for an alpine slide:

• edelweiss; romantic symbol of love that overcomes all obstacles; frost-resistant perennial; spreads on the ground in small rugs; flowering season - early and mid-summer;
• rejuvenated or stone rose; a flower with earthy fleshy leaves; grows quickly between stones; flowers are light purple; resistant to any weather changes;
• lumbago; small perennial from the buttercup family; blooms very first; grows well;
• sedum; presented in several varieties; perfectly spreads on the ground with creeping stems, destroys weeds around itself; changes color under the influence of the sun;
• saxifrage; loves northern or shaded slopes; weaves a green flowering rug even over stones;
• crocus; small bulbous stars of a wide variety of colors; bloom from March to May; reproduce well;
• dwarf barberry; refers to the type of shrubs; spreads along the ground; suitable for the lower tier; in spring it pleases with flowering, in autumn with red berries;
• juniper; evergreen undersized bush; can serve as the center of the composition; unpretentious and stable.

Alpine aster, dwarf barberry, aquilegia are also used; phlox; Japanese spirea. All plants need time to express themselves in all their glory. Applying multi-tiered plantings, you will be able to achieve the best result.

Seat selection

It is advisable to define a spacious well-lit corner for the rock garden. The flower bed should be visible from all sides. DIY beauty needs a showcase.

The composition looks more natural in spacious places: in the center of the garden, between the paths, like an independent flower bed. The location in the corner, between trees and buildings will not allow you to fully show all the beauty of the creation.

If one of the slopes of the slide is shaded, this is not a reason to be upset. We'll have to pick up plants for which such conditions are the most comfortable.

Drainage is essential for soil health

The nature of the soil must be taken into account. Sandy soil is nicer and natural drainage. There will be no problems with excess moisture. For clay soil and clean, oily chernozem, an obligatory drainage layer from any comfortable materials... The work is simple, done by hand.

You can place the drainage system around the entire perimeter of the base. If the problem of fluid accumulation is not for your area, it is enough to dig a few holes.

The equipment technology is simple:

• remove the soil layer to a depth of 30 cm;
• fill in crushed stone or gravel by 20 cm, any small construction waste will do;
• ideally, it is better to cover the drainage with a layer of geosynthetic textiles; it allows water to pass through, but does not allow even the smallest particles of soil to leave with the liquid; separates layers, prevents them from mixing; subsidence of the soil is excluded;
• then a 10 cm layer of sand is poured;
• layer of earth.

Each slice of this pie needs to be watered well after backfilling.

Soil mix

To form a better natural base, cleaned and sifted earth, coarse sand and dry humus are combined in equal parts.

If this is the first experience at the base of the rock garden, then its height is desirable no more than 1 m.

Stacking stones

Three tiers are enough. At the stage of the formation of an earthen hill, large specimens are laid in the lower tier so that they look out of the ground.

After that, you need to take a break from work for two weeks. During this time, the soil will settle and be compacted. Problematic places will appear.

Then the creative process of laying stones in tiers with your own hands begins. Remember that a natural environment is being formed. The stones should not lie on the surface, but as if they look out of the ground, making up a single whole with it. You should not rush and observe symmetry. Change, move, flip until you get what you like.

The principle of placing tiers is a pyramid. Small samples should reliably rest on the lower large ones. Depends on taste, but it is advisable to select specimens that are uniform in structure and color.

You can draw a top view of an alpine slide. Then it will be easier to do what you want in practice with your own hands.

Summit construction

This is the final stage of construction work. There are several options:

• hoist to the top, massive beautiful stone; it will protect the slide from surface erosion;
• create a mini-pyramid with your own hands with a hollow middle and plant flowers there;
• create a crown of small but attractive designs.

After the completion of construction, it is better to wait a week. Next, proceed to disembarking green inhabitants.

And some more tips:

• do not use in the decoration of the slide artificial materials, garden sculptures, and unsuitable plants; the task is to get a corner natural nature should be paramount;
• mountain compositions look great on the edge of lawns;
• it is more convenient to fill the slide with flowers from above;
• fertilizers should be applied in limited quantities, especially when planting; plants should take root on their own; feeding is necessary after the third year;
• small voids and dips will form periodically; fill them with a mixture of clay soil and peat;
• always water the slide from the foot; impregnated lower layers will not allow soil and microelements to be washed out from above.

Many summer residents, when arranging their plots, install a decorative element in the garden like an alpine slide.

It is an excellent decoration for a garden or a park. The slide gives the suburban area coziness, beauty and a sense of nature.

Choosing a place for the slide

When choosing a place for an alpine slide, the following factors must be taken into account:

• The slide should be in the most visible place of the site so that guests and all family members can admire it.
• It should be in the sun, in places not covered by trees.
• It is recommended to protect the alpine slide from contact with the wind.

When installing the slide, the landscape design of the site is also taken into account, on which a lot depends. When organizing an alpine slide on your own, it is best to refuse the services of an architect and do everything as you like and it will be inexpensive for finances.

You can make such a slide yourself by studying many forums and articles on the Internet.

The beginning of the installation of the Alpine slide

The first step is to determine the location, near it, do not allow the presence of trees, bushes and other vegetation. It is also necessary to correctly choose the location of the slide at the summer cottage.

It should be located where the soil moisture level is not very high, this can affect the quality of the slide. Humidity is controlled by using a drainage cover, which is poured down the hill and protects it from excess water.

Slide Construction Ideas

It is necessary to schematically represent the view of the alpine slide, the location of all the decorations. To build a slide you need:

• stones different types and shapes, for example - pebbles;
• sand, you can also use different (with or without pebbles);
• various types of ornamental plants and flowers, dwarf trees also look great;
• to create the atmosphere of the forest there should be - moss;

From improvised tools and things, you can create a work of landscape art. The alpine slide will delight you with its appearance every day.

Choosing stones to decorate the alpine slide.

For the construction of such a decorative slide, stones of various types are used. Usually they are stones such as: basalt, granite, sandstone.

Often, landscape designers and architects use stones of one specific breed, as they look harmonious and it is more convenient to work with them.

When building a slide, stones must be laid in a scattered form in order to avoid the same type of arrangement of stones, thereby giving the structure a natural look.

For these purposes, industrially mined stones are not suitable. They try to lay stones that have cracks, chips, hiding defects so that they do not spoil the overall picture of the slide.

Arrangement of an alpine slide with flowers and plants

In order for the slide to have a pleasant and attractive design, many varieties of vegetation are used during its construction.

Their number and types may be different, which please the owners of the suburban area. When choosing them, you should pay attention to the weather conditions, the type of plants that grow in that area, and many more factors.

And also, before purchasing plants or flowers, it is necessary to contact a person with knowledge in botany, and it is recommended to contact landscape designers, only they have experience in this area.

If you choose plants yourself, you run the risk of simply ruining the plants. Also, when forming an alpine slide, you can use small ornamental trees. You need to use bright saturated flowers that look great on the site, delighting with their beautiful appearance.

Proper care of an alpine slide

For the first time in years of using a slide, you need to take care of the plants, water, feed them with fertilizers and, as necessary, add earth.

When operating the slide, it is not recommended to use nitrogen fertilizers for plants, as they accompany the active growth of plants. Plants and flowers need to be cut, dried leaves must be removed. When watering, you need to monitor the stream of water, it should not erode the soil.

Plants are also susceptible to pests, so they need to be treated. Stones that loosen over time need to be strengthened.

Application of alpine slides in the field of design

With the help of such slides, they decorate not only summer cottages and vegetable gardens, they are also used in the arrangement of parks and squares.

Alpine slides are also widely used to decorate aquariums and terrariums. The Alpine slide will not only transform the summer cottage, but will delight all guests with its beauty, create an atmosphere of nature and comfort.

Photo of an alpine slide at their summer cottage