How to arrange an alpine slide near the house. Beautiful flowers for a slide - the key to a spectacular design

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Alpine slide in the country, made by hand, is a composition with stones stacked as in the photo along with flowers in a picturesque flower bed. This type of landscape decoration appeared relatively recently. Rock garden is often arranged in the garden, on the territory country house and on lawns. Even the humblest piece of land can be transformed with a luxurious combination of stones and plants.

Alpine hill in the garden with picturesque forbs

Alps in the garden

Alpine slide is an imitation of rocky natural formations, mountain cuts and steep stone climbs. The whole structure is located on a small hill, formed by the sole-base, a beautiful slope, a picturesque peak and variegated herbs.

Varieties of stone slides:

A beautiful neat lawn or small flower beds will be a chic addition to the slide. At the sole of the rock garden looks luxurious, a stream and a cascading mini-waterfall surrounded by multi-colored stones and decorative boulders.

What should be the rock garden on the site:

Any natural uneven terrain can save the owner of the site strength and time, so it is worth building an alpine hill on your own in these places.

Place for an alpine slide

Most often, for the construction of a rock garden, they choose the most favorite landscaped area in the summer cottage.

Most relevant ideas:

If the chosen place is on the north side, you will have to specially select shade-tolerant species plants and flowers, well tolerated high humidity(for example, ferns).

To form a personal rock garden, you will need to meet some conditions:

• disembarkation different plants for cultivation on slopes.
• It is desirable that the relief of the site has irregularities. In any case, artificial embankments and hills can be erected.
• It is extremely important to correctly form a drainage system with sand, gravel and brick chips.
• We'll have to find and pick up beautiful boulders of unusual shape.

The dominant element of the alpine slide, made by hand in the country, are plants, forming a mountainous area with stones, as in the photo. However, the arrangement of boulders, cobblestones and small stones is also important for creating a beautiful imitation.

How to choose flowers

Everyone wants the alpine hill to resemble a real slope of the majestic Alps, replete with wild vegetation. Mostly decorative and drought-resistant plants are used for rock garden. However, if you want to decorate the mountain slope in the country with flowers, planted in containers will do:

• Daffodils.
• Violets.
• Forget-me-nots.
• Saxifrage.
• Primrose.
• Saffron.
• Edelweiss.
• Carnation is short.

The flowers between the stone layers look very elegant, adding bright accents to the overall landscape.

Dwarf rare plants are also suitable for decorating an alpine garden:

• Ramond.
• Haberley.
• Yankee.
• Bulb type narcissus.

A blooming composition of stone blocks, plants, sunlight, floral scents is the personification of a harmonious combination of five elements: earth, water, air, fire and ether.

Flowers among the stones on the slope

To create a believable imitation of a mountain range, the following are suitable:

• Soldanella.
• Cyclamen.
• Dryad.
• Corydalis.
• Lumbago.

The best soil is a mixture of turf with peat and sand. In such soil, plants will feel calm and comfortable. Also, experts advise to equip automatic watering, so as not to worry about the state of plantings during their absence in the country.

Soil for plantings in the rock garden

• It is important to take into account the flowering time of plants so that the planting looks beautiful from spring to autumn and is not bare.
• Conifers are also suitable for planting in rock gardens. This evergreen vegetation is able to maintain the aesthetics of the slide in any season. Representatives are: mountain pine, thuja, juniper. They are unpretentious in care, withstand prolonged absence moisture in the soil and do not need regular watering.

In the absence of flowering, you can use pots with flowers or other decor, placing them between stones to fill voids.

Pot with ornamental plantings

Secrets of the layout of stones

The combination of rocks, textures and shades of stones in combination with flowering plants creates the atmosphere of a real mountain range. Flowers dilute the severity and coldness of boulders, delighting gardeners with their beauty. Landscape designers prefer to decorate gardens and slides with various stones with different reliefs and breeds, but the most popular of them are:

When laying out stones, symmetry should not be observed, this will ruin the whole idea of ​​\u200b\u200bdesigning an alpine mountain garden.

What should be the stones:

All artificial relief irregularities in the form of hollows, depressions, hills and hillocks must be formed manually, laying out stones according to a certain pattern. The layout will depend on the selected rock garden model:

1. Gorge (valley with a steep slope).
2. Plateau (plain on a hill).
3. Terrace (horizontal ledge).
4. A mountain with a flat top.
5. Cliff (sheer cliff).
6. Step slope.

To create more interesting composition wild stones are suitable, on which there are no fresh chips. Voids are usually filled with crushed shale, gravel or small pebbles.

Cascading arrangement of stones

Alpine slide for beginners

It is better to lay a rock garden in early autumn, so that the soil between the stones sits down by the onset of spring. There will be some gravel or pebbles left to add to the pockets and empty areas that have formed, and there will also be time to adjust the location of the stone blocks to create a beautiful composition.

Stages of laying an alpine slide:

1. Design. At this stage, you should calculate the amount of materials and plantings, estimate the area, analyze the soil topography, develop a concept and idea.
2. Selection of plants and flowers, as well as rocks.
3. Location selection.
4. Border marking and shape definition.
5. Works on the organization of the drainage system.
6. Laying stones according to the plan.
7. Equipment for an artificial reservoir or mini-waterfall (if necessary).
8. Planting plants and flowers.
9. Finish decor.

At the end of production, the gardener will only need to regularly take care of the alpine slide, ennobling it and renewing the plants.

Required materials and tools:

• Stones of the same breed, gravel, river sand, soil, humus, peat, plants for planting.
• Construction tape measure and scissors.
• Wooden pegs.
• Bayonet and garden shovel on a long handle.
• Scrap metal.
• Tight cord.

Step-by-step instruction:

Decoration and care

We must not forget about the decor and ennoblement of your stone garden. To create a real art object in your patio, you can build a decorative artificial pond that fits into the landscape design. An equally successful solution would be to create a multi-level backlight in the area shading desired angles and buildings.

Popular ideas:

The rock garden is a kind of flower garden, so live plantings occupy it most. Plants, on the other hand, need care and attention to good flowering, growth and development.

Rules for caring for a small alpine slide in the garden:

It looks like an alpine slide with a pond, erected in the country with their own hands with stones different sizes(video with a photo selection below), it seems to be a complex design. However, by following the step-by-step instructions, you can create a great composition without the involvement of landscape designers.

Quick navigation through the material

Beautiful, well-kept area business card any area. It is good when among all kinds of plantings in the garden there is central element standing out from the general background.

This element can be a rock garden - a rocky elevation, decorated with flowers and plants and imitating a fragment of a mountain landscape.

Often summer residents confuse two similar concepts - rock garden and rockery. In fact, they are not too wrong, because rockery is common name rocky gardens, and the alpine slide is one of its varieties. At the same time, many landscape designers are accustomed to defining rockeries only as a flat composition.

A rock garden, unlike a rockery, is an elevated composition, necessarily tiered, with slopes and a peak.

Alpine hill against the backdrop of a log house

Compared with rockeries, it is more difficult to make an alpine slide with your own hands, but it has a more pronounced relief, attracts more attention due to its height, and makes the landscape noticeably more picturesque not only in summer, but also in winter.

And you can also zone a summer cottage with a rock garden, for example, visually separate the working area from the front door. In addition, a rocky hill will allow you to beautifully beat embankments unsuitable for planting.

From this article you will learn how to make an alpine slide with your own hands and draw landscape design ideas from 50 photos of rock gardens.

Planning the composition and design of the alpine slide

So, how to compose a composition, how to choose and arrange plants and stones? Full answers to these questions will not fit within the framework of one article, but in short, here are a few main rules and principles that must be followed:

• According to the canons, an alpine slide should not consist of boulders and run-in stones (with the exception of rock gardens near water bodies), but of rough and broken ones. For example, it can be: tuff, sandstone, limestone, granite or slate.
• In one composition, it is desirable to combine no more than 2 breeds, otherwise the rock garden will look unnatural.
• As a rule, the height of the alpine slide is 3-5 tiers (it is better that the number of tiers be odd). It is better not to make country rock gardens too high - they optimal height- 50-80 cm.

In choosing the design of an alpine slide, be guided by a sense of proportion - the composition should look natural and fit organically into the landscape. Cliffs and rocks (see photo below) in summer cottages most often seem foreign. But simple imitations of a slope or a mountain valley without a pronounced peak are appropriate everywhere.

On a small suburban area high views rock gardens as in this photo are not very appropriate

Now let's talk about the choice of plants for the alpine slide. If you build a rock garden strictly according to the rules, then the flora for it must be selected strictly of alpine origin: miniature conifers, shrubs, ground cover, bulbous and herbaceous perennials.

However, real "Alpines" are not so easy to find and grow in middle lane, so you can choose any plants that are characterized by squat (height up to 60 cm), unpretentiousness and, of course, decorative. On the northern slope it is better to plant shade tolerant plants: tenacious, periwinkle, fern, bergenia and others. On the southern slope, respectively, light-loving plants grow better: lavender, barberry, adonis, iris, acena and others. Evergreens such as mountain pine, Canadian spruce, juniper and others will fit very harmoniously into the "mountain ensemble".

It is desirable that the plants of your rock garden retain their decorative effect throughout the season, otherwise the withered leaves will spoil the whole composition, and it is unlikely that it will be possible to hide them behind the flowering "neighbors". For this reason, it is good to use flyers in the design of an alpine slide. Although they are not quite “canonical”, they will decorate a rocky garden for a long time.

Step by step instruction of 8 steps

Having roughly imagined what our rock garden will be like, we can begin to create an alpine slide with our own hands.

The technology for creating an alpine slide consists of the following steps:

1. Choose a place, determine the size;
2. We draw a rock garden scheme;
3. We designate the contour, remove the sod;
4. We make a drainage layer;
5. We prepare fertile soil and fill it up;
6. We erect the core of the hill, pour the soil;
7. Planting plants;
8. Let's put the finishing touches on.

And now let's talk about each stage in more detail.

Step 1. Draw a plan for an alpine slide

Creating even the simplest alpine slide is best to start with the development of the project. The simplest option is a schematic sketch, observing the approximate sizes of stones and plants relative to each other. For example, it could be something like this.

1 - Mountain pine, 2 - Creeping thyme, 3 - Canadian phlox, 4 - Evers stonecrop, 5 - Gray fescue, 6 - Rocky alissum, 7 - Angustifolia lavender, 8 - Stonecrop, 9 - Fragrant rue, 10 - Steller's wormwood. Note: the scheme of the alpine slide is shown without taking into account the flowering time of plants

Ideally, a slide, especially a large and multi-tiered one, should be designed on a scale of, say, 1:50 or 1:25 (1 cm on paper corresponds to 50 or 25 "natural" centimeters) and with a grid with 2 × 2 cm cells (that is, with transferring the grid to nature, the cells will correspond to cells of 50 × 50 cm at a scale of 1:25).

Step 2. Choose a place

Here are some tips for choosing a place for an alpine slide:

• It is desirable that the rock garden is located in a sunny place, and the slope is oriented to the east and south. Of course, you can choose a shaded place, but then the choice of flora will be limited - you will have to plant only shade-tolerant plants.
• Well, if the composition was placed so that it could be seen from different sides.
• The arrangement of an alpine slide near a house or other buildings is undesirable, since from the melting of snow or drops, the flower garden can sag and be damaged.
• Rock garden on the background of the fence - not best idea, but if you can’t find another place, then bushes planted along the fence, or lianas, as in the photo below, will help to ennoble the background of the slide.

An example of an alpine hill against the backdrop of a fence. By the way, here the rock garden is designed to hide water communications This small alpine slide would look much better if the fence was wrapped in vines or planted with shrubs.

• You should not build an alpine slide under the trees (deciduous and flower), otherwise every autumn you will have to clear the rocky garden from fallen leaves.
• If the site has uneven terrain created by nature, then this the best option for rock climbing.

Suitable places:

• Front area of ​​the site;
• Entrance area;
• Recreation area (in the barbecue area, at the gazebo, pool, pond);
• Backyard;
• Near any rocky retaining walls.

Step 3. Remove the sod

In accordance with the plan, we designate the contour of the future slide in the selected area: we drive in the pegs and stretch the twine through them.

Next, we remove the sod to a depth of just over 30 cm and leave it aside for a while. Later, on its basis, we will prepare the soil substrate. Pursuing land works, do not forget to remove the rhizomes of weeds.

Step 4. Prepare the base

So, we got a "pit" rock garden. Now we need to fill it with a "sandwich" of drainage and soil. Broken bricks, pebbles, crushed stone or medium-sized gravel can be used as the first layer of drainage. We fill it with a thickness of 10-15 cm, depending on the size of the stones. Next, we fill up a layer of sand 5-10 cm thick, ram it well and fill it with water to achieve maximum density.

• To prevent the destruction of the composition from the raids of moles and shrews (if they are found in the vicinity of your dacha), you need to lay a fine metal mesh on the bottom of the pit.
• If you arrange a rock garden on a slope with dry and loose sandy soil, then drainage can be omitted.

Step 5. Prepare the soil

When the laying of the drainage layer is completed, you can begin to prepare fertile soil. We will mix it equal parts: previously dug turf, peat, humus and sand.

• Soddy land before preparing the soil substrate must be thoroughly cleaned of weeds and their rhizomes.

Step 6. We erect a hill

The construction of an alpine slide begins with the laying of the most beautiful and largest boulders around the perimeter of the future rock garden.

Stones should lie as stable as possible. To do this, they must, firstly, be placed on the ground with the largest side, and secondly, if necessary, place smaller support stones under them or add gravel or soil. The bottom row of boulders needs to be completely dug a third or two thirds into the ground - this way you will achieve not only stability, but also the desired effect of naturalness.

Having folded the first row of large stones, we fill the prepared soil in the center of the composition and at the same time lay out the medium stones, forming the second tier.

Finally, small cobblestones are placed at the top of the hill and on the slopes where voids need to be filled. At the top of the hill, you can put one large or two medium stones. When erecting an alpine slide, do not forget to refer to your scheme and leave enough space for planting. At the end of the construction of the alpine slide, it must be watered abundantly and left for a couple of weeks to shrink.

• Try to lay the stones so that the planting pockets are horizontal, not sloping, as plantings on a slope are not very easy to water.
• Before laying each new stone, the soil under it is pre-tamped.
• Remember that the rock garden should have as little geometry and symmetry as possible, because it is rare in nature.

Some experts recommend that the core of the hill be formed not from fertile soil, but from sand mixed with a small fraction of crushed stone (the soil is only poured into the planting holes, and then the entire embankment is covered with it to hide light sand). So the elevation will be more reliable and durable. High slides require a core of three layers: gravel (or other rocky placer), sand and soil (see diagram below).

Step 7 Planting the Plants

When the composition of stones suits you, proceed to the most pleasant stage - planting the flora. To do this, first arrange pots with seedlings on the slopes according to your project, starting with large ones and ending with small ones. Planting plants should start from the top, gradually going down. The depth of the planting holes depends on the size of the root systems. specific types. Finally, the finished slide needs to be poured with water, washing the earth off the stones.

• Do not overdo it with fertilizers to avoid unwanted growth of plants in breadth and height.
• The soil substrate (acidity and alkalinity) can be adjusted for each species.

Step 8: Adding the Finishing Touches

Hurray, the alpine slide is ready! Now you can add backfill (pebbles, gravel or rubble) where necessary, or install decor (garden figures, lanterns, etc.)
Finally, we suggest you watch a visual master class on how to make a simple alpine slide with your own hands.

See also the gallery of rock garden ideas in the country.

The flower garden, created in the form of a full-fledged alpine hill, with properly selected green spaces, will not leave indifferent even people who are far from floriculture. As a rule, the design and construction of an attractive combination of plants characteristic of the highlands and uniquely selected stones is carried out by professional landscape designers who have the necessary knowledge, experience and technical means to carry out the work. Do not despair, a simple alpine slide with your own hands, even beginner flower growers can do it, the main thing is your desire and patience, and the presented article will become a kind of instruction. The reward for the time and effort spent will be a small, but at the same time quite spectacular mountain landscape that adorns a personal or summer cottage.

The publication provides an exhaustive answer to the question of how to make an alpine slide with your own hands step by step on your site, without asking for help from specialists. The distinctive features, features of the flower garden are considered and developed practical advice according to the choice, the location of the stones and the green spaces of the rock garden.

The first mixed compositions of wild exotic plants and stones appeared in Europe in the second half of the 18th century. The desire to recreate the natural originality of the wild nature determined the choice of green spaces - the preference was given to representatives of the flora that were not cultivated by breeders. The plants of the mountainous alpine regions were the best suited for this purpose. Meadows, located at an altitude of 2 to 3 thousand meters, abounded in a variety of low-growing vegetation, including ground cover species that form "grass cushions". A little lower, at an altitude of 1.5 to 2 thousand meters, centuries-old coniferous forests grew in the subalpine zone. The brought plants were distinguished by their particular unpretentiousness and frost resistance, since mountainous regions are characterized by rather harsh climatic conditions - the possibility of frosts is not ruled out throughout the year.

rockery Alpine slide

So, thanks to the natural habitat of plants - the alpine mountain range, artificially created compositions of green spaces and stone blocks got their name. The design of the alpine slide is fundamentally different from other areas for growing flowering plants, and the peculiarity is not only in the presence of stones. For example, rockery (rocky hill) also suggests that a significant part of the soil surface is occupied by relatively large stones located in a chaotic manner. Fundamental difference between these two types of flower beds is that the landscape composition of the rock garden imitates a mountain landscape, with a center of a group of stones surrounded by small areas (terraces) with plants characteristic of a mountainous area.

That's right, harmonious selection plants - flowering, shrubs, conifers and their good composition on stone terraces, distinguish the alpine hill from other flower beds.

Do-it-yourself technology for creating an alpine slide

Depending on the area occupied, the rock garden can be very different - starting with miniature fragments, occupying no more than 1 sq. m, ending with the largest, located on dozens of square meters. The size of the flower garden should be proportional to the size of the site and depends on the overall landscape. Its height depends directly on the area of ​​​​the alpine hill - in a small space it makes no sense to imitate mountain slopes. As a rule, in mini-rock gardens with an area of ​​\u200b\u200bup to 3 square meters, a hill is not erected, with an area of ​​\u200b\u200b6-10 square meters - simple alpine slides, height is allowed up to 1 m. process into logical stages, will help to better understand and plan independent device rock garden.

Video "Alpine hill do it yourself"

Site selection and planning

Thinking about how to make an alpine slide with your own hands, it is important to understand that the only requirement that it must meet is an imitation of a mountain landscape and its specific vegetation. And how to achieve this, what means will be needed, what plants to choose - it depends only on your plan and on a particular personal plot. You can build an alpine slide with your own hands in almost any part of the garden, but most often it is placed near the front side of the estate. If you want to grow light-loving species, the chosen place should be well lit. Regardless of the location, the stone composition should be in harmony with the general style of the plot, the main buildings and be clearly visible.

Variety created composition largely depends on the features of the terrain. The ideal option is the presence of natural irregularities or a steep slope on the plot, which will allow you to build tiered terraces that are in harmony with the overall design. If the terrain is flat, an embankment with stones will have to be created artificially. After the final choice of location, it is necessary to determine the size and total area, which is planned for the rock garden. To imagine the future structure directly on the ground, wooden pegs driven around the perimeter and twine stretched between them will help.

Remember

In order for the flower garden not to overwhelm with its size, professional designers It is recommended to proceed from the following ratio - total area plot (0.6 hectares), the area of ​​​​the alpine hill (6-10 square meters), height (60-100 cm).

Selection of stones and earthworks

More often than others, when creating a rock garden with their own hands, they use granite, sandstone or limestone, but it is advisable to choose one type of stone, a maximum of two. Basic Required qualities: strength, moisture resistance, durability and naturalness. It is important to remember that our goal is to recreate a miniature copy of the natural mountain landscape, so from artificial materials better to refuse.

simple alpine slide

Granite is better suited for the design of stone ledges, and if necessary, the construction of terraces or paths, pay attention to layered sandstone slabs.

It is not necessary to complement the mountain composition with perfectly smooth boulders, if the construction of a landscape waterfall is not foreseen.

“Old” stones look very impressive with traces of destruction, cracks and chips, and to emphasize naturalness, they select different sizes and colors.

Creating an attractive rocky flower garden with your own hands requires a long and painstaking preparatory work, including:

A simple alpine slide with your own hands

1. ground preparation,
2. creation of a drainage layer,
3. selection and placement of large stones,
4. preparation of soil mixture,
5. planting vegetation,
6. laying out small stones.

It is advisable to proceed directly to the construction of an alpine slide at the end of spring or in the first half of summer, in which case by the time autumn planting plants, all work will be guaranteed to be completed. When planning the time, do not forget that it will take 3-4 weeks for the natural shrinkage of the soil. Before the beginning earthworks, it is recommended to draw the most detailed plan of the mountain composition with an exact indication of the location of large stones, terraces, paths and green spaces and their sizes.

First step practical work- excavation of soil from the inside of the rock garden marked on the ground. It is enough to dig a pit 20 cm deep, while weed roots are carefully removed from the removed fertile soil layer.

The second step is the device of the drainage layer. As a drainage, you can use crushed stone of a fraction of 20x30 mm, expanded clay or broken brick, the thickness of the created layer is 15-20 cm. planting mix, prepared from excavated soil, peat and small broken stone, mixed in equal parts.

The next step is the most important - the installation of large stones and, if necessary, layered slabs along the perimeter to create terraces. Depending on the height of the created terrace, the slabs can be fastened together cement mortar or sprinkled with earth with the addition of clay.

As a rule, when creating a simple alpine slide with your own hands, 2-3 differences in height are arranged - horizontal or inclined terraces of different levels. On them, in addition to planted plants, small stones are laid out in a chaotic manner, preferably of the same type as the underlying large ones. The free space between the stones is left exactly as much as is necessary for planting groups of plants. Remember, it is important not to overdo the latter when creating a mountain composition. Try to avoid any symmetry and equal distances - a small man-made landscape should match the natural one as much as possible. After filling the sites with soil mixture and the completion of the construction of stone hills, the finished structure is given time to shrink.

Types of laying stones for an alpine slide

Selection and planting of plants

To create an original and spectacular mixed composition of stones and green spaces, you have a fairly wide choice - perennials, annual flowers, shrubs and conifers. When choosing plants for an alpine slide, remember that you are creating a mountain landscape, with vegetation characteristic of difficult climatic conditions. In this case, you are required to make a reasonable compromise between the desire to give the flower garden a colorful brightness and the need to preserve naturalness and originality.

1. the main selection criteria: compliance of plants with a mountain landscape, undemanding care, decorative qualities or a long flowering period;
2. number of species. Considering small size compositions, it is desirable to select 3-4 species of flowering plants, 1-2 shrubs and 1 species of a coniferous or woody representative;
3. plant size. The alpine and subalpine belts are characterized by short, compact plants and creeping groundcovers. It is preferable to decorate the top and upper tiers with drought-resistant undersized perennials;
4. frost resistance. By picking up stones for the alpine slide and leaving space between them for planting, it was assumed that the planted plants were able to endure harsh winters without additional shelter or digging;
5. slow growth. The choice of coniferous or tree species is desirable to be carried out from representatives that grow no more than 10-20 cm per year and grow no higher than 1.5-2 meters.

It is advisable to plant selected plants starting from the top, gradually descending to the lower tiers and ending at the foot. After planting, it is advisable to mulch the soil around the plants with fine gravel. This will not only protect against weeds, but also keep the soil moist.

Possessing necessary knowledge for the construction of a simple alpine slide with your own hands and following the recommendations set out in the publication, you can always independently create a small, but original and attractive mountain landscape on your personal plot.

Alpine hill. What a romantic title! It literally breathes freshness and even smells of emerald green grass, which covers the mountain slopes. The atmosphere of pristine nature can be successfully recreated in a summer cottage. And the rock garden will help in this - an original composition of stones and plants, which in Lately very actively used by masters of landscape design.

Features of the Alpine slide

We can say that the projects of alpine slides are absolutely unique design solutions. Exist general rules their arrangement, but the embodiment of the idea is a completely creative activity. From the same set of source materials, you can create an infinite number of interesting variations.

A mandatory attribute of a rock garden is a large stone (one or more). This is the symbol of the mountain peak. And its conditional slopes are planted with undersized shrubs and plants that are most suitable for the mountain climate.

Do not be naive to believe that a handful of stones and vegetation breaking through between them can claim the proud title of an alpine slide. The arrangement of such a landscape composition will require a lot of effort, financial investments and a flight of fancy. To make it look natural and harmonious, space is needed. The larger the scale, the more organically, as if in a natural environment.

From the history of rock garden

Japan is considered to be the birthplace of stone gardens. Pra-rock gardens began to be built there a thousand years ago. On the islands of the Land of the Rising Sun, there has always been a shortage of free land - probably that is why they liked to create beauty there. small areas. According to the Japanese canons of beauty, the true value lies in natural phenomena. The combination of the hardness of stone and the tenderness of flowers creates an unusually enchanting duet of true beauty.

IN European countries alpine slides appeared only in the 16th century. Then on such flower beds they grew outlandish plants transplanted from natural mountain environment. Fashion for them came to Russia in the 18th century. Today, many gardeners are thinking about how to build an alpine slide with their own hands on their own site. After all, it is very unusual decoration any suburban area.

Rock garden and rockery: similarities and differences

There is often confusion between these two concepts. Let's see why. Rock garden and rockery are two different types of flower beds. More precisely, two methods (or principles) for arranging a flower bed. In both cases stones and plants are used.

However, rockeries can be called a stone garden in the classical sense. The predominant part of such a composition is occupied by stone. And only one breed is used.

The stones are laid out in parallel stripes or in random order. Such a chaotic technique allows you to create the illusion of a natural environment. Rockeries are also supplemented with vegetation, but here it acts as a background, plays a secondary role.

In rock gardens, flowers and grass are always in the foreground. They catch the eye with a variety of colors, surprise with a combination of opposites.

How to choose plants for rock garden

We have already said that it is better to plant on an alpine hill unpretentious plants. In that decorative corner garden will look most harmonious flowers that do not need careful care.

Indeed, in the mountains there is a harsh atmosphere, and each individual stalk has to fight for its place under the sun. Under gusts of wind or blows of heavy rain, only strong plants survive, which are able to fight for their own existence. When planning to break a rock garden, think about what flowers and shrubs you would like to decorate the cottage.

If you want to update every year appearance flower beds, plant annuals. And to get a stable result, give preference perennial herbs bright coloring. Think also about the change in flowering seasons, because some plants please us earlier, others later.

Let's take a few concrete examples. These plants for the alpine slide are literally created by nature itself:

The symbol of the Alps, which fits perfectly into the Russian landscape. This perennial is frost-resistant, no cold to him at all. Edelweiss lines the slopes of the alpine hill with rugs, the diameter of which reaches 20 cm. It blooms in June-July.

There are several varieties of this humble plant. Absolutely unpretentious, securely fixed on any soil with its creeping stems. Under the influence of sunlight, the leaves of stonecrop become brighter, as if sunbathing. It can be used to decorate the edging of the rock garden, as it destroys weeds within the radius of its "rug".

The most popular inhabitant of the Alpine slides. Its fleshy leaves will make any flower bed stand out on its own, and its light purple flowers can compete in modest beauty with many of its congeners.

In the spring, these pretty rugs are literally strewn small flowers. The plant prefers dark areas, even covering stones with its green nets.

An ideal perennial for an alpine slide of the buttercup family. People call it sleep-grass. One of the first to bloom in early spring. Drained soil is favorable for backache, in such conditions it actively grows.

Shrubs and flowers are also suitable for rock garden:

• juniper (various types),
• dwarf barberry,
• Japanese spirea,
• aquilegia,
• aster alpine,
• viola horned,
• crocus,
• Phlox subulate.

By combining different types of plants, you can create an alpine slide whose design will be absolutely unique. Here it is important to create the effect of the atmosphere of the mountains due to the multi-tiered. For example, such an arrangement of shrubs and flowers can claim the title of classic.

An ideal place for arranging a rock garden

Having decided to build a rock garden, try to critically examine your hacienda. Of course, a flower garden can decorate any corner of it. But in this case, it is necessary to choose a spacious area that is well lit by natural rays.

It is also important to think about how the future alpine flower bed will be viewed. After all, such beauty, created with my own hands you will surely want to show your guests.

When choosing a place, consider the nature of the soil. On sandy soil, the arrangement of an alpine slide will be less problematic, since it can be broken right on the ground. But for clay or oily soil, it will be necessary to carry out additional work- prepare drainage.

An indication for the drainage of the site is not only the nature of the soil. Mountain plants do not like when water stagnates, and in order to avoid this, experienced designers recommend making a special base for the rock garden. It is necessary to remove the top soil cover, but you should not go deeper than 30 cm.

You can make not a solid pit, but several pits. Then fill them with gravel (as an option, it will fit perfectly construction garbage, broken brick, fine gravel). Then the sand is poured, on top - the earth. Each layer of the base must be watered and allowed to dry.

Soil mix and stone laying

To form a rock garden mound directly, it is necessary to prepare a specific mixture. In equal proportions, clean soil, coarse sand and crushed humus are combined.

By the way, in order for the alpine slide in the garden to be truly as natural as possible, use the soil that the mole brings to the surface as soil. Such black mounds are often found in forest plantations, in abandoned areas. In the sectional diagram of the rock garden, you can see a mound of soil mixture.

It is marked yellow. As a rule, the height of the slide is on average 1 meter. Guided by this picture, you can create a multi-tiered flower bed using several stones.

After the drainage is done and the mound is formed, you need to take a break in construction work. Two or three weeks should pass so that all layers are slowly compacted and shrink. The stones are arranged in tiered order. They should create the illusion of rock coming to the surface.

To achieve this, you need to bury them in the ground by at least a third. So you get an amazing effect of the meeting of strength and tenderness, which is symbolized by the stone and flowers.

The size of the tiers decreases from the bottom up, according to the pyramid principle. At the lowest point of each individual tier, a massive stone should be laid so that the structure is strong and small stones do not roll down the slope. Making alpine slides with their own hands, amateur designers form an odd number of tiers. Schematically, the placement of stones looks like this:

The figure shows that the stones should not be laid symmetrically, because in the natural environment we do not observe such geometric accuracy. The space between them will be occupied by flowers, so try to leave enough space. An alpine picture will look organic if you use stones similar in texture and color.

Construction of rock garden peak

There are two options for decorating the top of an alpine hill. In the center of the composition, you can hoist the largest, most massive stone. Such a simple technique will protect the rock garden from erosion of the soil under the influence of precipitation. Or decorate the peak with a few small stones. They can be tightly invested nearby, and also to build a pyramid.

Decoration with vegetation

The labor-intensive process - the creation of an alpine slide - ends with magic. But how else can you call that amazing action when a mound of earth is “inhabited” by plant life! This procedure can be carried out both in spring and autumn, up to frost. First you need to add the soil mixture and carefully plant shrubs or flowers. Here you should be guided solely by the rules of your own taste, everyone sees the color scheme of the rock garden in their own way.

Finally, I would like to note that, like a flower bed, an alpine slide cannot be decorated with artificial accessories. For example, glass or plastic, as well as various garden figurines, will simply not be appropriate here. Remember that a flower garden in this style is designed to create a natural atmosphere of the mountains. Stones and plants are completely self-sufficient decorative elements in this case, and do not need a variety of tinsel at all.

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FROM create an original landscape on the territory suburban area an alpine slide with stones in the country with your own hands will help: photos of which can be seen in this review. If there is an unevenness or ledge in the country house, you can try to create a similar design.Alpine slides are made in the form of mountainous slopes, rocky surfaces or plateaus. Composition from unusual plants and stones of the original configuration can be built on your own. At the same time, it can be given any size and shape.

An example of the implementation of an alpine slide with stones

Projects of alpine slides with stones in the country with their own hands, the photos of which are presented below, are non-standard solutions. Exist useful rules when creating these objects, but the embodiment of ideas is only a creative approach.

There are two types of flower beds - rockeries and rock gardens. This different ways arrangement of flower beds. Rockery refers to the classic types of garden. Most of the structure is occupied by stone. An obligatory element of the rock garden is a large stone or even several, which symbolize the mountain peak.

Interesting fact! The birthplace of the alpine slide is Japan. It was in this country that they learned to create beauty and splendor in small areas due to the lack of territories. In Europe, such flower beds arose in the 16th century. At the same time, intricate plants were transplanted from the natural conditions of the mountain environment.

To make an original alpine slide, the following conditions will be required:

• The presence of boulders of attractive shape and different sizes.
• The site should be located on a slope and have uneven terrain.
• It is necessary to form the correct drainage system. For this, crushed stone, broken brick or sand is used.
• Apply various plants that land on the slopes.

If possible, an alpine slide with stones in the country with their own hands, the photos and views of which can be very diverse, should be isolated from the playground and. Such an object should be located near water sources and recreation areas. Do not place a slide near flower beds with lush flowering.

Useful advice! The height of the slide should not contrast strongly with the surrounding landscape. Colors, textures and shapes should be in harmony with all the elements around.

Related article:

Alpine slide with your own hands. Step-by-step photos, drawings and competent planning of your own unique composition at their summer cottage. Recommendations of designers and some tricks in a special material.

Varieties and styles of rockeries and alpine slides

Rockery is a simplified version of the alpine slide. An important difference is the absence of a hill. Behind the alpine slide with stones in the country with their own hands, photos and views of which are presented below, constant care is required.

The following types of rock garden are distinguished:

• A popular option is rocky hill, which is a small hill with scattered stones.

• The landscape rock garden combines a rocky plain, a rocky slope or a waterfall. It is suitable for any architectural structures.

• For the arrangement of the terraced slope, special limestone is used. A similar element consists of supporting walls.

• Rocks and cliffs are considered the original solution of the rock garden. They look great with hilly landscapes.

• The mountain slope is an exact imitation of high mountain areas. In this case, plants in the form of pyramids are used.

• An interesting and stylish composition is the mountain valley.

• Alpine lawn is considered a stylish option. It can look like an alpine meadow between stone blocks standing at a certain distance.

• The composition of the forest ravine can be decorated with a spring or an artificial waterfall.

Do-it-yourself options for an alpine slide with stones in the country can be seen in the photo. In different countries, such structures have their own characteristics.

When planning landscape design on the site, it is worth considering the following areas:

• slide in English style adorned with many ornamental plants. Grasses and coniferous plants are predominant.

• Japanese buildings are decorated with lanterns and various ponds. In this case, source simulations can be used.

• In the Chinese garden, the slide is covered big amount stones. Also, the landscape is complemented by water, which can occupy most of the site and stone bridges and islets.

• The Karelian style is characterized by the use of torn and chipped stones, which are laid in horizontal layers. Of the plants used dwarf spruce.

Useful information! Rockeries can be flat. With their help, the site is divided into functional zones.

Video: 50 examples of an alpine slide for every taste

Installation steps

Previously, such landscape design structures were created on country estates by designers. Now you can use step-by-step instructions to create a beautiful object on your own site yourself.

Site selection

Work on creating a slide begins with marking the area. The place under the structure should be well lit and visible. Suitable sun-drenched south side of the site. It must be borne in mind that a pile of boulders is not suitable for a small area. Do not place a rock garden along or against the backdrop of fruit trees.

Useful information! Designers advise placing a slide near a pond or next to a recreation area.

Preparatory work

Do-it-yourself installation of an alpine slide with stones in the country house, which can be seen in the photo, implies the presence of a high-quality drainage system. Depending on the planned dimensions of the structure, a pit is pulled out. To create the bottom layer, split brick or gravel is used. Then the sand is distributed. All layers are well filled with water. The soil for the structure can be purchased or prepared independently. To do this, the soil mixture must be mixed with peat in a ratio of 3 to 1. Then a little gravel is added to the composition. First, drainage is done, and soil is laid on top.

drainage system

Drainage is performed to protect against excess water. A strong accumulation of water leads to poor plant growth and subsidence of stones. For the drainage layer, crushed stone and pebbles are selected.

Laying out stones

Stones are laid in tiers. In this case, large boulders are used to lay out the base. Smaller stones are laid out on top. For the stability of the composition, large boulders are buried by two thirds in the ground.

When installing stones, some parameters should be considered:

• The dimensions of the boulders are selected in proportion to the dimensions of the rock garden.
• The decor of the slide should look natural.
• The heap is made of stones of a certain breed.

Terraced alpine slide with stones in the country with their own hands: the photo is made from rocks rough relief. The stones are installed on the slope in the form of stone walls and have different lengths and shapes. Polished and smooth stones look good next to an artificial reservoir.

Useful information! On the site with different levels all elements are laid out evenly. When creating a flat structure, the stones are deepened by half. Large stones are the central accent in the composition, while small ones are used to decorate the borders.

Plant selection

A combination of stones with plants will decorate the composition. The natural landscape will help create perennial flowers, conifers and wild grasses. Plants are selected depending on the location and general style design. First, the territory of the structure is compacted and watered, and then you can start planting plants.

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