Do-it-yourself Alpine slide in the country: what plants are needed

10.04.2016 Interesting ideas

Alpine slides are small copies of the Alps that are covered with emerald green grass and many flowers. And now in landscape design it has become fashionable to erect rock gardens. To do this, hire specialized designers. But many people want to build this beautiful masterpiece with their own hands at their estate, and they don’t know how to do it and which plants to use. So let's find out how to make an alpine slide with our own hands: what plants are needed and let's figure out where to start building.

To start building it, you need to choose the territory where it will be located. When you select it, then start to drain. Many people wonder: what is it?

Drainage for an alpine hill can still be called its foundation. And now you will learn how to make a drain.

1) We make a drainage system

When you have chosen a place for your slide, you need to dig around the entire perimeter of the foundation pit, approximately three bayonets deep in the shovel. This will be the bottom layer, for which it is fashionable to use slag, broken brick or gravel. After covering it with sand, and prepare the soil. To do this, take clay soil and mix it with peat, while you take three parts of the soil and one part of peat, around which we lay geotextiles or tarpaulins and put small stones on the edges.

Then you do the drainage yourself. It is done very simply. Pour crushed stone 1-2 cm thick onto geotextile or tarpaulin, and sprinkle with previously prepared soil on top.

2) We select stones for our hill

To do this, you need to consider some factors:

The size of your stones should be proportional to the rock garden.
Its design should be natural.
Also, the color of the stones should be combined and in harmony with the whole picture.
Use stones of the same breed, if possible.

After we have made the selection of stones, we proceed to their laying. It is best to lay in tiers to make it look natural. Large stones will serve as the foundation. But before you put smaller stones on them, you need to sprinkle large boulders with moist earth and do this with each layer. And do not forget to bury large stones in half in the ground, and also check their stability before laying another layer.

3) Choose plants

In spring, it is better to plant bulbous plants.
But in the summer, varieties of all flowering plants go for planting.
In autumn you need to plant colchicum.
Well, for the winter will go conifers.

In order for your slide to look absolutely wonderful, you need to decorate it with flowers, but first pick them up. Since you do not make a slide for one year, the flowers should be perennial and better undersized, as they grow longer. In no case, do not plant pine or dogwood, because they grow quickly and take up the whole place. Plant better dwarf conifers and shrubs. Try to plant plants such as potentilla, spiraea, or herbaceous perennials. Now I’ll tell you a little about them.

Bloodroot. It is also called a five-leafed leaf. It grows from 10 cm to 1.5 meters; it can grow up to thirty years. This plant is not considered moody and looks decorative, but is afraid of the cold wind. It is watered no more than once a month, and in a drought no more than two times, so you don’t have to bother a lot with this plant.

Spirea. It belongs to the classification of shrubs and is considered quite popular among gardeners.It grows well in absolutely any conditions and is not whimsical at all. Spirea grows up to 60 cm high. And it also goes well with coniferous trees and shrubs.

Herbaceous perennials include ordinary perennials. For example, lavender, swimsuit or lily of the valley. But try to choose plants that bloom all summer. Such are pansies, phloxes, gentians, and many other flowers. On the top of your alpine hill you can plant an edelweiss, because this plant is a symbol of the alpine mountains. Also, it is not whimsical at all and reaches a height of 25 cm. Be sure to plants should cover the entire territory of your slide, so that there are no bald spots.

Now you know how to make a rock garden with your own hands and how to choose plants. You can safely begin to create an alpine hill on your site and enjoy its beauty all summer. More interesting ideas can be found on our website at this article.