Magical transformation of the garden: which plants are suitable for an alpine slide
Content
What is a rock garden
Rock garden – it is an area filled with stones at one or more levels, with plants growing in between. Such a slide can be as impressive (1.5–2 m high) and miniature (total 40–50 cm).
To arrange such a flower garden with your own hands, first of all you need to choose the right place. It should be well lit and beautiful. It is more expedient to place a round hill in the center of the garden, one-sided one can adjoin a fence or a house. The rock garden next to the pond looks good. If it is not there, you can dig a small reservoir next to the hill itself and even add a waterfall or fountain to the composition.
Step-by-step instructions for creating a rock garden:
- Remove weeds from the selected location. If the groundwater on the site is close to the surface, you need to lay a drainage layer of 30–40 cm.
- Place the ring on the first circle of massive stones. They should be unprocessed, of the same type, but of different sizes. Suitable for granite, sandstone, limestone, shale.
- Inside the circle, you need to make an earthen embankment. To increase the height, you can use clay shards and safe construction waste, such as boards, broken bricks.
- Place the top stones. Drive them in deeper to prevent them from rolling or falling.
- Fill the space between the stones with a mixture of garden soil, sand and peat.
Video«DIY alpine slide»
This video demonstrates in detail the process of building a rock garden, and also describes the rules for choosing and planting plants.
Plants for planting
Previously, it was alpine plants that were used in such compositions, but now the list of acceptable options has grown significantly. Let's consider the most popular ones.
Conifers
Conifers give the slide a special atmosphere.
Mountain pine is an evergreen perennial plant with a dense, fluffy crown. The needles are located on small shoots. For a small slide, dwarf spherical varieties with a height of 50–70 see for example Winter gold and Mors. For a large rock garden fit varieties up to 1.5 m tall, for exampleMughus and Gnom.
The evergreen juniper shrub is a photophilous plant that is resistant to drought and unfavorable conditions. Due to its unpretentiousness, it is suitable for beginner gardeners. Purifies the air, sometimes used in cooking. Leaves are needle-like, scaly. The crown, depending on the species, can be spreading, creeping, columnar, conical. For small slides, the varieties Green Carpet and Andorra Variegata with a height of 70 cm are suitable. On average, rock gardens will look harmoniously tall varieties: Blue Star, Gold Coast, Gold Star.
Thuja, depending on the species, can be a tree or a shrub. The needles of the plant are scaly, in young plants they are light, in adults - dark–green. The plant is light-loving, but in hot midday hours it needs shade. Thuja care necessarily includes pruning. Globular varieties Danica, Little Dorrit, Hoseri are suitable for small slides. For large slides, the Elwangerlana Aurea variety is often used.
The spruce crown is conical. The color of the needles depends on the species, so it can be dark, light, bluish.For growing in the country, it is better to choose frost-resistant and unpretentious varieties: ordinary, Serbian, Canadian and prickly. For small slides, Little Gem, Echiniformis varieties are used, for large – Conica, Nidiformis, Will's Zwerg.
Groundcover
Ground cover plants do not just decorate the hill - they protect the soil from drying out, prevent weeds from developing and help to fix the composition. Moreover, many of them are blooming.
Most species can be planted on slides of any size.
Saxifrage - pasthenia, which mmaybe one– and perennial. ColorT from May to August. Bushs form a dense carpet. Flowers can be blue, white, red, pink, yellow. A hardy and unpretentious plant, propagates well with rosettes.
Molodilo - withukkulent, better known as named stone rose. Dense leaves form a rosette, which, in theandThe species can be green, pink, burgundy or crimson. The sockets reproduce in a vegetative way, fill up rather quickly the space allotted to them.
Aubrieta - mannual a plant that creates a dense, profusely flowering carpet up to 30 cm high.Flowering begins in May and continues 5–7 weeks.
Both flowers and leaves look decorative Arabis, which isvetet in May–June. In the sun more buds appear, and in the shadows faster than growthbends... Growth flower need to be controlled.
Blooming
The bright flowers contrast beautifully with both the roughness of the stones and the monochromatic background of green conifers. Usually they serve as the main decoration of the slide.
The following options are suitable for all types of rock gardens.
Carnation–grass reaches a height of 10–15 cm. Blooms from late June or early July to mid-autumn. The leaves are small, elongated. Flowers up to 1.5 cm, can be white and red.
Periwinkle flowerssmall, blue, and leaves are thick, bright–green. Flowering continuesTXia all summer until late autumn. The plant is unpretentious to light, tolerates sun and shade well.
Marigolds - Ivivid aboutannualandki that arefrom the beginning of June until the very frost. There are many varieties in different shades.
Roses in rock gardens withthey look unusual, but very elegant. Usually require solo landing. Coniferous plants and decorative elements serve as a good background for them.inny cereals. For slides, creeping and miniature varieties, including floribundas, are more often used.
In addition to the listed plants, herbs can also be planted on the hill, including those that usually grow in the garden: rosemary, thyme, etc.
Moss can also be grown on stones. To do this, it must be crushed and mixed with kefir, then the resulting composition is applied with a brush to the stones.
Basic rules of care
Plants need frequent watering for the first time after planting. If the soil subsides, add it.
Adult conifers are usually watered 3–4 times per season, flowers – every 7–10 days. For watering, it is better to use special devices with moisture sprays – the water jet can erode the soil. Top dressing applied mainly in the spring, during the period of active growth.
Prune your ground cover plants as needed to keep them from crowding out your neighbors.
As you can see, you can build a stylish rock garden even in a small yard. You can how to recreate the given example circuits seating arrangementsso and what–then change as part of or location plants.