Alpine slide: how to do it yourself

Alpine slides are increasingly appearing in the backyards, public gardens, and recreation areas. Landscape composition of boulders, waterfalls, plants resembles a piece of the mountain landscape, which pleases with bright flowering from spring to autumn. The combination of rough rocks and delicate flowers, emerald grass creates a sense of serenity and parts of exotic wild nature. To build an alpine slide, you do not need the skills of a landscape designer, enough patience and physical strength to lay out rocky structures, plant flowers. You can peep interesting solutions in photos, and then adapt them to the landscape, site design. Creating a rock garden with your own hands is a fascinating process, as the vegetation populates the hill with new ideas, the landscape composition is complemented by lamps, clay pots.

Features

The Alpine hill is an earthen mound with stones of various shapes laid by tiers, between which bushes and low-growing flowers grow. Artificially created relief imitates the elements inherent in the highlands - plateaus, slopes, cliffs. To reproduce a copy of the alpine landscape, a stone flowerbed is planted with mountain plants. Such botanical extreme is not adapted to local conditions, therefore it is often replaced by local tulips, crocuses, lingonberries, periwinkle. Rockery differs from rock garden flat surface, a large number of stones. The stony-gravel ground is formed on a flat terrain, can be located on an area of ​​several tens of meters. Externally, rockeries close to the landscape of the middle belt, planted with steppe and forest vegetation.

Varieties

Rock gardens differ in their relief, before starting to create a picturesque zone, one must take into account the peculiarities of the landscape of the house or park area.

ViewFeaturesRecommendations
1Mountain wallUsed in the construction of terraced slopes. Flowers, creeping junipers are planted in niches and grooves left in the stonework and filled with soil.After creation, the wall is abundantly watered with a spray bottle before the plants are rooted.
2Rocky hillAt the base of the embankment, small stones are laid, the top is created from large fragments, high-mountain plants are planted.A hill of boulders, layered stones combined with paved paths, lawns
3Gorge in the mountainsIn a small ditch or hollow, stones of different heights are laid out on the slopes, plants are planted between them.Landscape composition is suitable for areas with natural ravine, two slopes. To strengthen the ravine boulders break into the ground
4Mountain valleyStones are buried in the ground by three quarters, making paths, creating a grass carpet, planting shrubsThe abundance of herbs and flowers can be supplemented with a fountain or a small pond.
5Rock cliffRecreate fractures of mountainous areas with stone fragments, cliff planted cliffs, creeping plantsWork begins at the base of the slope, the boulders fit tightly
6Mountain CreekThe bottom of the stream is strewn with river stones, pellets are laid on the banks, and moisture-loving plants are planted.The effect of wildlife is planted by ferns with broad feather leaves planted near the stream.
7Alpine gardenThe garden is broken on an inclined or flat surface, using a minimum of stonesThe focus is on shrubs, bright plants
8Japanese motivesThey create the appearance of a collapsed rock, make a picturesque area with basalt, tuff, decorate the area at the base with perlite, fine gravelEmphasize the style of a plant of a gray, yellow-brown shade, muted red color, asymmetrical dwarf shrubs
9Mini rock gardenThe cutting in the large trunk, the ceramic tank, the pelvis is filled with earth, small stones, planted sedums, grains, and the armyPre-do water drain and drainage


   
 

Choice of location

A rock garden on the site is a central element that must be clearly visible, in harmony with garden paths and other decorative details. It is unacceptable to be near the picturesque area of ​​greenhouses, beds, outbuildings. The most successful places for landscape composition - lawns, slopes, hollows, small hills, which are located near places of rest, are isolated from the wind. Negative impact on plants and the stability of stone construction terrain with a high level of groundwater. To drain moisture create a drainage pond, which will drain the water, complement the stone flower garden. Light alpine alpine flora, mountainous fragment is desirable to be located on the east or southeast side, where there are no shading trees. For a partially darkened area, you will have to select the appropriate vegetation. To the rock garden has not lost its attractiveness, should be placed next to the means for watering.


Planning and preparatory work

The developed project will help to carry out an exact marking on a site, to plan works. On paper, you need to schematically identify the main elements with an indication of size.

Preparation of the basis for the alpine hill consists of several stages:

  • the scheme is transferred to the site, they mark the contours, remove the sod with a thickness of at least 40 cm:
  • to protect against excess moisture and gas exchange form a pillow 10-20 cm of rubble, broken bricks;
  • the surface is covered with a layer of coarse sand 5-10 cm, watered;
  • on the prepared drainage they stack and tamp down a mixture of fertile soil, wood chips, humus, and fine gravel.

These stages can not be ignored, drainage not only normalizes the moisture balance, but also works as a foundation. Stone flower garden does not prosesyad over time.

In places where massive stone fragments will be placed, large fragments of bricks are laid, tamped tightly.

Selection of plants for planting

For the alpine hills pick up vegetation with a different flowering period, slow growth. Not all high-mountain plants take root well, so landscape designers often use representatives of forest and steppe flora. The basis of the composition is made up of short juniper, mountain pine, thuja, fern, blueberry, lingonberry. The flowerbed is filled with lavender, fescue, marigold, Badan, juvenile, periwinkle. Around the stony structures looks beautiful pillow from Moricia and grains. In the middle rows planted sunflower phlox. Medicinal and spicy herbs live together with stones: lovage, basil, thyme, sage, oregano, mint. Between the stones, you can arrange indoor cultures in pots. On summer holidays, pelargonium, indoor roses, hydrangea, hippeastrum, aloe are transported to the cottage. Moss give a natural look to mountainous fragments.



Classic rock garden is inhabited by plants characteristic of rocky slopes, alpine meadows, highlands.

  • winter-hardy and unpretentious Boyd willow with fluffy leaves combined with creeping coniferous shrubs and flowering perennials, does not grow to the sides;
  • Cotoneaster bushes with small white inflorescences, red fruits well survive on artificial mounds;
  • Erica blooms from early spring to October;
  • Canadian Derain creates a white-green carpet on an alpine slide;
  • miniature tree zhoster looks beautiful against the background of stones;
  • creeping evergreen euonymus survives in shady places.

For the rock garden choose unpretentious flowers: echinacea, alpine carnation, rocky alissum, young, zatsekhvost. For capricious edelweiss, rock bells is difficult to care for.


   
  

Planting scheme

Visually, the rock garden is divided into tiers, each level is filled with vegetation with similar care conditions.

Tiered filling

TiersRecommendationsPlants
1UpperPlanted light-loving, resistant to wind, lack of moisture, herbs and flowersIberis, young, edelweiss, creeping thyme
2AverageChoose growing in partial shadeWoolly chistits, phlox, sunflower, alpine aster
3LowerFootplate make shade-loving and moisture-loving culturesRhododendrons, ephedra, saxifrage

Rock gardens begin to plant from shrubs, conifers and tall plants that look spectacular at the foot, large stones. Niches for thermophilic saplings are insulated with fine expanded clay.

Choice of stones, option of laying

To make the right choice, you need to know the degree of fragility, porosity of each rock.

  • Sandstone - blocks with a coarse-grained structure is used not only for the decoration of the alpine slide, but also for planting shrubs with fine roots.
  • Granite is used in combination with conifers, heather bushes.
  • Tufa is suitable for high-mountain flora, beautifully overgrown with lichens.
  • Slate stratified on sheets, fits well into the mountain wall, ladder.
  • Dolomite reduces the acidity of the soil, it is easy to process.

Laying option depends on the type of alpine slide. To recreate the valley, the boulders are laid chaotically. For a stony wall, flat fragments of the same height are chosen; irregularities are compensated for by small stones. When laying a hill on a slope, the stones are placed parallel with a slight slope backwards.


 

Step by step laying classic rock garden

The first tier is laid out from large boulders, the gaps are filled with small stones, the empty space is covered with pebbles. For natural shrinkage, the rock structure is formed in the fall. Think over the styling in advance so that it is easy to move around the hill for watering, weeding. To create the effect of naturalness, symmetry and uniformity are avoided. The first tier is laid out from large blocks, deepened them to a third of the volume. The gaps are filled with small stones, between them leave space for plants. The laid row is covered with soil, compacted, watered. In the following tiers place smaller stone fragments. The top of the alpine hill is crowned with a big beautiful stone.

To preserve the naturalness of the rock structure is constructed from a single rock.

Alpine slide irrigation system

If the substrate is properly prepared, mulching is performed, then the flower bed is watered only during the dry season. Mulch retains moisture, sprinkled once a year. For alpine flora suitable cold water, flowering garden and indoor plants like warm watering. Facilitates care for rock garden drip irrigation. The irrigation system is quickly assembled with their own hands from ready-made kits. The kit consists of micro-hoses with droppers, through which water flows from the storage tank to the roots. They develop better, improves the appearance of the conifers, strengthens the immunity of seedlings. When drip irrigation does not form a crust, there is no increased evaporation, which harms flowering plants. The volume of the released water can be regulated by the control unit.

Decorative design

The decor of natural materials, artificial ponds, lights, give the rock garden unique. Mountain landscape complement the dry streams. With proper arrangement, it seems that a stream of water has recently flowed along the dried bed. The source of the streamlet should go out from under a large boulder, the mouth is hidden in green spaces, large leaves. The water surface is imitated with pebbles, small gravel.

Alpine slide with a pond

For the pond they pull out the pit, isolate the walls with a butyl rubber film. A small body of water can be made from a car tire or a special fiberglass liner, which is placed in a pit that repeats the shape of the sides. For a stream running along a stone bed into a pond, a pump is mounted and connected to a water supply hose. For the cascade they take flat stones, fasten them with polyurethane foam, cover the seams with small fragments. Decorate the rock garden, create a cool little fountain. To facilitate the work, buy a pump with a built-in filter. The unit is installed in a container, filled with water, included according to the instructions. To create a fountain without a pump, a water pipe is put into the pond. Water can be diverted to the garden for watering.



  

Highlighting slides

The alpine garden, illuminated by mini-spotlights or led lights on pegs, looks spectacular in the evening. Lamps with a wide scattering angle illuminate the shrubs, directional lights illuminate the flowers and foliage. The easiest option backlight - lights on solar batteries. Lack of cable gives freedom of action, lighting can be installed on each tier, highlight the reservoir, terraces. Ground lights can outline the contour of the picturesque zone or highlight shrubs. Underwater lighting with lamps of different colors visually increases the volume, paints the water. Free-floating solar-powered ball lights move around the pond.

Replace the lights, highlight the contour of the alpine slide stones and pebbles, covered with fluorescent paint.



Arrangement of a reading or tea drinking area

Behind a fragment of the mountain nature allocate a lawn for rest. For coziness, the two sides are framed by a green wall of deciduous shrubs, short cypress and thuja varieties that reach 80-90 cm. The rock garden combines a platform with smooth contours, covered with gravel or paved with the same material as the walkways. The recreation area is equipped with garden furniture made of rattan. For a table, a slab (large-size slab) of rock is laid on the base of the blocks. Original tables and benches are made of gabions and boards. Such options create a sense of harmony and wholeness. For reading at the pond, you can put a pallet on the stones. Will warm, will decorate a site the stone street center.


    

Care Rules and Tips

To care for the alpine slide, do not need special skills. Grasses, shrubs, flowers develop well on a mulched soil mixture, which was provided during the preparation of the stone flower garden. Properly planted on the tiers of plantings do not need frequent watering. Abundantly watered the "rock garden" population only after landing. There is enough fertilizer for several years in the planting substrate of hvoynik from nurseries. On the Internet, you need to see how to properly water, cut, feed, plant every plant.

The care for landscape composition varies by season.

  • After the spring thaw, the shelter is removed from the slide, fertilizing is introduced, gravel mulch is renewed, cracked stones are replaced and the loose stones are strengthened, the cracks are filled up.
  • In the summer, they remove the remains of peduncles, damaged leaves, cut off shoots, and transplant plants in May or August. Instead of weeding, weed treatment with chemicals is allowed. The diluted product is injected at the growth point of the weed with a syringe or onto the leaves.
  • Late autumn, leaves are removed so that the stony ecosystem does not freeze, cover with fir branches. On clay soil make branches for melt water.
  • In winter, if there is little snow, pour snow on their own.

Conclusion

To build an alpine slide, it is necessary to lay the drainage base. It will prevent subsidence of the stone structure and stagnation of water. It is necessary to tune in to long-term work on site preparation, planting seedlings, seedlings, creating conditions for survival of the populated ecosystem. Even with an independent composition device, a lot of money is spent on dwarf trees, boulders. To save in the country, the territory of a country house, you can create an imitation of a mountain landscape from scrap materials. Along the perimeter of the cultivated fields, stones are selected, fragrant grass seeds are collected in the woods in the meadows, blueberry bushes and lingonberries are brought from the forest. At the new place, periwinkle, ferns, tansy, forget-me-nots, lungfish, crocuses, snowdrops quickly take root. Painstaking work and imagination will help create a unique composition. The main thing - do not overdo it with the decor, rock garden is not decorated with artificial materials.

Watch the video: Mieders Alpine Coaster with no brakes!! (March 2024).

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