Mountain landscapes have always attracted people with their simple and natural beauty. Being on a mountain plateau or standing on a rocky cliff overgrown with grass, small plants And the most delicate flowers, you feel an inexplicable freedom, a special unity with pure, untouched nature. And I really want to keep these wonderful feelings in my soul for longer. Will help with this alpine slide, which you can create with your own hands on garden plot. It will become not only a small island of harmony, but also a magnificent decoration of the garden, an object of universal admiration.
An alpine slide or rock garden is a reduced model of a mountain landscape, as close as possible to the natural one, which provides harmonious combination stones and plants of alpine and subalpine mountainous areas. Between themselves, these two concepts differ only in scale: a rock garden is a large composition, and an alpine slide can be quite small.
The rock garden is very close to the alpine hill, as they both represent a composition of plants and stones. But these two types of flower beds should not be confused. Rockeries are an imitation of a mountain plateau or scree, located mainly on flat terrain and are not limited in the selection of plants. A rock garden is always hills and slopes, and the selection of plants is limited to the alpine zone.
The art of creating alpine slides came to us from England, but then it was undeservedly forgotten. Now the fashion for such flower beds has returned, although they have changed a little. For example, in modern rock gardens you can use almost any flowers that can grow on stones and blend harmoniously with the mountain landscape. The emphasis in this composition has shifted from stones to ornamental plants.
Since the alpine slide is a rather complex composition, its creation requires very careful planning, as well as a large amount of work. Therefore, this project is always expensive. And building an alpine slide with your own hands will require enormous physical and time expenditure.
But despite these disadvantages, the rock garden also has undeniable advantages.
If you are not afraid of difficulties, then first we will choose suitable look rock garden, so that you can start working in early autumn.
When deciding how to make an alpine slide at your dacha, you should get acquainted with the existing types of such flower beds.
Based on the type of placement of stones, the following types are distinguished:
Mountain slope or scree
mountain valley
mountain waterfall
And specialists will be able to help arrange even a miniature mountain waterfall, since this will require the installation of a water pump.
Mountain waterfall diagram
Czech rock (skalka) 
If traditional device alpine slides are impossible for some reason, then as an alternative you can equip a flat rock garden, which is a raised flower bed. First, a fence is formed, drainage is arranged between the walls, covered with fertile soil mixture, and then plants are planted. Such a flower bed can be arranged in the form of small multi-level terraces. Hanging plants, as well as slow-growing ones, look very beautiful on such terraces. This flower garden takes up little space and is very decorative.
Multi-level terrace
We have not named all models of rock gardens. Despite the differences, all existing alpine slides are very beautiful and can adequately decorate any landscape.
It is impossible to imagine the landscape design of an individual or summer cottage without picturesque corners intended to decorate the garden and so pleasing to the eyes of their owners. A “highlight” that can instantly transform the appearance of a garden landscape is an exotic guest for our latitudes, originally from the Mediterranean - an alpine slide created in the form of an island wildlife Alpine mountains, made of rock with bright splashes of lush vegetation. We invite you to figure out how this design works.
Armed with patience and imagination, you can easily create a rock garden with your own hands. Let's look at how to properly plan and lay an alpine slide without involving specialized specialists. Please note that the main component in the construction of a rock garden is a group of stones of various types. different sizes, the “gray silence” of which is diluted with representatives of the flora characteristic of the alpine area - conifers, cover plants and saxifrage plants. Creating a rock garden at or near the dacha country house, you are forming a mountainous fragment of nature that resembles a natural one, so both stones and plants need to be placed in a chaotic, natural way.
The rock garden serves bright decoration garden, standing out against the green lawn
Depending on the principle by which the stones are selected and placed, rock gardens come in the following types:
Sometimes an alpine slide is called. In fact, a rock garden differs from a rock garden in the selection of stones - when laying it, not only rocks are used, but also round river boulders or large pebbles.
An original solution for decorating a fence could be a rock garden in the form of a rocky wall made of layered stone
When choosing a place to create a rock garden on your plot of land, you need to take into account that you are creating an accent designed to decorate your garden, therefore, you need to place the alpine slide in an open space so that it is an area with good review from all sides. As a rule, an alpine slide is laid out in the center or on the edge of a grass lawn. It is best to orient the rock garden to the south or southwest - this way it will be well lit by the sun and receive a sufficient amount of heat.
An alpine slide in the center of a green lawn will become a dominant element in the landscape design of your site
The terraced alpine slide will harmoniously fit into the natural topography of the garden
When laying an alpine slide, it is necessary to avoid places adjacent to buildings and in the shade massive trees However, shrubs or trees may be present in the background, at some distance, to create a backdrop for the spectacular perception of the rock garden. It’s not bad when the rock garden fits into the existing landscape land plot, located on a gentle slope or in a ravine, fitting into the natural differences in elevation - lowlands and hills of the site.
Strive to ensure that the trees and shrubs in the background of the rock garden are uniform in color. A colorful background will distract from the integral perception of the alpine hill as an accent element of the landscape of the site.
The staircase leading up the slope can be beautifully complemented by an alpine slide that imitates a rocky landscape
The starting point for creating a rocky slide can be a diagram of a rock garden, drawn to scale, where you will first plan the placement of stones and planting. If the rock garden is supposed to be placed in the depths of the garden, you need to think through the paths and paths leading to it.
A bench, lost in the depths of the garden, surrounded by a wild corner of nature originally from the Alps, can be a wonderful place for a secluded relaxation
It looks spectacular when an alpine hill is crossed by a rocky winding path or a dry stream of small stones, and nearby there is a bench or grotto with a bench, from where you can admire the result of your landscape creativity.
The rock garden looks great in tandem with a small lake overgrown with reeds and water lilies
A rock garden with a pond looks very harmonious, especially if it is a slightly swampy body of water with characteristic moisture-loving plants planted along the shore. Interesting solution pond design can be planting a large tree or bush coniferous species on a tiny “patch” of land adjacent to the water. This technique will visually expand the boundaries of the site.
A rock garden created from huge stone blocks in combination with a small waterfall will truly decorate your garden
An effective accent of an alpine slide combined with a pond can be a small waterfall falling from an artificial gorge or a stone wall.
Using a pre-created rock garden plan, start laying it by marking the selected area - determine the diameter of the slide, its height and the location of large accent stones. The height of the slide is calculated based on the diameter of its base - 1 m of base is equal to 10-20 cm of height. The height of the rock garden is optimally within 0.5-1.5 meters.
Create a diagram of an alpine slide, indicating its dimensions and placement of the main elements of the composition
Shape the slopes of the alpine hill so that one of them is flatter and oriented to the south
Many people wonder how to make a rock garden resistant to natural processes destruction due to wind, groundwater and precipitation? It is best to start arranging a rock garden in the fall and carefully prepare the foundation for it. Soil preparation prior to the creation of an alpine hill consists of clearing the site and removing the top layer of soil to a depth of 20-30 cm.
Before laying the rock garden, form a drainage layer to drain water
This recess is necessary for drainage - drainage of water from the rock garden, for which it is filled with gravel, expanded clay, crushed brick or construction waste to a height of 10 cm. A 5-centimeter layer of coarse sand is poured on top, then a 15-centimeter layer of soil, onto which, subsequently , stones are laid and plants are planted.
When arranging a terraced rock garden, a large stone is laid at the base of each tier
When preparing a site for a rock garden, pay Special attention weeding to get rid of perennial weeds such as wheatgrass, which, when germinating, can destroy the hill from the inside. It is advisable to additionally treat the area for planting the rock garden with herbicides.
Start creating a composition of stones by laying large blocks at the base of the alpine hill
A composition of stones is the basis of any rock garden. It is important to select stones of the same type, but of different sizes, for the entire hill - several large boulders, medium and small stones. Provide flat stones - they will serve as a kind of steps for movement when caring for the alpine slide. You need to start laying stones from the bottom up - from large to small, grouping and distributing them. It would be a mistake to lay the stones in a regular manner, maintaining equal distances between them. Rock garden stones should be placed randomly, as close as possible to the natural mountain landscape.
When arranging an alpine hill, the stones need to be slightly buried in the soil
When laying an alpine slide, the stones are buried to 1/2 or 1/3 of their height, and then additionally filled up fertile soil, which contains equal parts of turf soil, peat, humus and sand. After the gaps between the stones are covered, the earth is compacted and watered with a spray jet so that the soil is not washed away. It is not recommended to plant plants immediately after arranging the composition of stones - the slide needs to be given about 2-3 weeks for it to settle and sag a little. It is best if the hill survives the winter, and in the spring you can start planting.
Another point - when you form a composition of stones, periodically move away from the slide at a distance of 3-5 meters to assess its harmony and integrity.
Having overwintered, the rock garden is ready for planting in the spring. Typically, these are plants characteristic of the highlands of the Alps. First, shrubs are planted, then herbaceous plant species, and finally, ground cover “alpines”. Plants for a rock garden should be selected in such a way that the slide looks spectacular at any time of the year, pleasing the eye with the blooming of spring primroses, the bright foliage of ground cover flora and evergreen conifers.
To plant a plant, a hole is dug in the ground between the stones, the bottom of which is reinforced with gravel, where the plant is then placed. After planting, the ground around is compacted and mulched with fine gravel.
Proper placement of plants will promote their growth and enhance the aesthetic appearance of the alpine slide
The center of a coniferous rock garden composition can be a dwarf weeping tree
It is important to know that it is a fairly unpretentious option landscape design can become a rock garden of conifers when the stone composition is diluted with evergreen shrubs and trees.
When choosing a stone for a rock garden, you need to pay attention to its size, shape and surface features. Considering that the rock garden imitates a mountain landscape, where the stones are polished by precipitation and winds, they have an irregular, but natural shape, for an alpine slide it is undesirable to use a rounded stone of river origin or scrap stone with sharp edges.
A good choice for a rock garden would be limestone or sandstone. Suitable dolomite - sedimentary rock, slate with a layered structure, basalt, travertine, calcareous tuff, light gneiss. A forest boulder overgrown with moss and lichen will be a particularly valuable specimen for a rock garden.
To form an alpine slide, it is necessary to select stones of different sizes - from huge blocks to fine gravel
An excellent choice for an alpine slide would be sandstone - a layered stone of light beige tones.
Stone options for creating a rock garden:
If you use limestone to create a rock garden, then the soil poured between the stones will have an alkaline reaction, unsuitable for some plants, so the soil will have to be acidified.
Shade-tolerant alpine plants that are planted on the northern slope of the rock garden:
An effective solution for a rock garden in the form of a stone fence - a variegated flower cover
Periwinkle and carnation are traditional inhabitants of alpine hills
Light-loving alpine plants that are planted on the southern slope of the alpine hill:
The combination of cover plants with saxifrage and primroses creates a harmonious plant composition of the rock garden
Universal plants for alpine hills:
An interesting move in the design of a rocky path is the combination wooden steps and coniferous rock garden
Evergreen plants that harmoniously and naturally complement the rock ensemble of the alpine hill:
Shrubs forming an intermediate layer between low trees and ground cover crops in rock gardens:
Forest boulders overgrown with lichen located on the shore of a reservoir - original idea for decorating a rock garden
Caring for a rock garden involves weeding, removing dried inflorescences and rare watering. The alpine hill is fertilized with phosphate and potassium fertilizers, but not often - only to prepare for winter. To protect against frost in winter time plants are covered with shavings, spruce branches or burlap. When snow falls, snow cover is constantly maintained on the hill to help the plants survive the winter.
Arranging a rock garden is an incredibly exciting activity that requires a creative approach. In the process, a great abundance of possibilities opens up before you, the main thing is to show imagination and imagination.
What is an alpine slide? In essence, this is an imitation of a mountain landscape with perfectly selected beautiful flowers and plants. Such a composition in the garden should harmoniously fit into the overall landscape, complementing it favorably.
Creating a rock garden is a step-by-step process that requires attention to nuances. First of all, you need to think about the size of the slide itself, optimal location transitions, paths, steps and the structure as a whole.
It is very important that the location of the rock garden is well lit. Alpine plants are light-loving: exactly the quantity sunlight affects their growth and development. If we talk about soil, rocky soils with a limited amount of water will be optimal. Excess moisture is extremely destructive for mountain flora, so it is important to prevent stagnation of water in the drainage.
In garden plots, quite a lot of shapeless varieties of stones often form, which owners sometimes use for a future rock garden. IN in this case there is a risk instead beautiful design get a meaningless and ridiculous mountain of stones. Here, experienced landscape designers still recommend carefully selecting pebbles according to appearance, size and shape to create an exquisite mountain landscape.
For your future rock garden, try to select stones of no more than two species of the same size and same structure as possible.
Also consider characteristics plants and flowers that you are planning for the slide. As a rule, they take root well on calcareous rocks with a porous structure, which facilitates the penetration of the roots inside. But such soil needs to be acidified periodically, since it has alkaline reaction. It is advisable to embellish the gaps between plants and stones marble chips or crushed stone. So, the rock garden will take on a beautiful finished look.
Tip: buy stones in special stores. This is the only way you will be confident in the quality of the material, because the stones must be environmentally friendly and have a heterogeneous structure.
The most suitable rocks are granite, travertine, limestone, slate and sandstone. Use stones of the same type weighing about 100 kg and showing signs of erosion. Optimal height rock garden - up to 1.5 meters.
The most common and simplest type is a rocky cliff. Naturally, it is possible if there is a steep slope. In this case, work begins from the base, where large blocks of stone are laid, and then various plants are planted.
The next type is a mountain composition that transforms the design into a unique place of extraordinary beauty. To create such beauty, stone blocks are hidden two-thirds into the ground and chaotic paths are arranged, forming a stunning mountain landscape.
The maximum effect in creating a rock garden can be achieved by a skillful game of color transitions.
Combinations of three shades are considered luxurious. For example, yellow harmonizes perfectly with pinkish, or lilac flowers. Thus, yellow is balanced by two similar shades.
You can visually bring any object closer by combining yellow and orange, and move it away using of blue color. Take a closer look at any landscape design. Surely you will notice that the blue and blue flowers almost invisible, and plants with warm shades, on the contrary, they visually bring objects closer.
Since ancient times, designers have been using the game of contrasts in order to, thanks to one element, emphasize the splendor and uniqueness of another. One large plant looks much brighter and more expressive if it is surrounded on all sides by low-growing species. But compositions with whole and dissected leaves look most advantageous against each other.
The rock garden will look much more elegant if it is dominated by a bright dominant element. These can be the most spectacular flowers or plants, original stone or stream. This accent must be visible from all sides, because it is what gives final completeness to the design, and the landscape is perceived as one whole.
When choosing plantings, it is necessary to take into account their sensitivity to light in the place where the rock garden is planned. Remember, not all plants are suitable for a hill and are combined with stones or other types of plantings.
So, for example, the location of the rock garden in the northern part suggests shade-tolerant types. They will also need enough moisture. These include primrose, bergenia, fern and hosta. Light-loving plants, for which soil drainage is less important, are much easier to choose. These are tulip, young, thyme, iris, etc.
There are also many universal varieties that are perfect for both sun and shade - violet, bellflower, crocus, muscari, phlox.
IN winter period looks good Canadian spruce, mountain pine, juniper. The most impressive are variegated and evergreen plantings.
In general, there are no absolutely two identical rock gardens, since each owner of the site tries to bring something new and individual to the design. By the way, many people believe that The best decision for a mountain composition - an option without any construction work(cement, brickwork etc.). This approach provides the opportunity to rework the entire structure in the future and significantly facilitates the work process.
Do you decorate yours? personal plot? Tell us which version of the alpine slide design did you like the most?
Reading time ≈ 12 minutes
An alpine slide is a spectacular element of landscape design, but somewhat labor-intensive to create, implying many nuances and rules. Today we will look at a step-by-step guide to building an alpine slide with your own hands out of the blue with photos and diagrams.
Rock garden with a stream of rounded stones.
An alpine slide, or rock garden, is an element of landscape design in the form of a slide, built of stones with high-altitude 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 of:
Rock gardens are also often called rock gardens. The structure of such an element involves several tiers or levels. If element large sizes, it is usually called a rock garden, and structures with more modest dimensions, designed on a small area, are called an alpine slide. It is obvious that high mountain flowers and plants require special conditions, and since rock gardens have become widespread, the plants are not selected to be truly alpine, but based on the climate of the area. We’ll talk in more detail about choosing flora for a rock garden later.
In the photo below you can see a simple but very picturesque alpine hill with stones in the country, which is easy to repeat with your own hands:
Rocky garden on the site.
It is believed that rock gardens first began to be built more than a thousand years ago in Japan. Due to the acute shortage of free space, the Japanese have learned to build real masterpieces on limited space. Stone gardens were also popular in China and other South Asian countries. Around the 16th century, the fashion for building rocky gardens came to Europe, and a couple of centuries later it became popular in Russia.
The main beauty and charm of alpine slides lies in their maximum proximity to natural contours. Lack of symmetry, slight carelessness, exclusively natural materials create an extraordinary atmosphere.
Alpine slide with massive stones.
There are many varieties of rock gardens. Here are some of the most common types of slides:
Types of alpine slides.
Important! It is necessary to distinguish rock gardens from rockeries - these are two different elements of landscape design, although both use stones and plants.
Typically, rock gardens are much larger in scale, unlike, and also have a greater height (sometimes up to 2-3 m compared to maximum height rockery 1 m). Another distinctive feature - vegetation - can be used minimally or not at all in rock gardens, while in rock gardens it is a mandatory element.
The construction 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 - the most simple options, which you can repeat with your own hands, as well as complex compositions with a fountain, a pond and 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.
Large alpine hill with a stream.
Even small streams and ponds can transform an area:
Rock garden with waterfall and pond.
In the photo below you see how you can arrange a rock garden near your house:
Rock garden near the house.
For construction you can use the following schemes:
Rock garden diagram.
Scheme No. 2:
Scheme of an alpine slide.
Scheme No. 3:
Alpine slide option.
Scheme No. 4:
Slide with a pond.
To arrange a beautiful rocky garden on your site, you must initially choose a suitable location.
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 have any changes, it’s okay - you can arrange a rocky garden on flat ground, but in this case you will have to put in a little more effort. It is important that during an artificial construction 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:
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 appearance. As for the size of the slide, there are no strict boundaries or standards; you need 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 the dacha or country house.
Another important point– selection of vegetation for the slide.
IN classic version When arranging a rock garden, unpretentious, perennial alpine plants, resistant to harsh climates, and compact in size (ground cover or low-growing) are selected.
However, with the growing popularity of rock gardens, the range of plants used in their design has also increased. When arranging a hill, the following groups of flowers are planted:
It is important to select plants based on the conditions on your hill - soil type, light-to-shade ratio, protection from wind, etc. All plants should have more or less similar requirements for conditions. Also be guided by the size of the hill - the larger its dimensions, the taller plants can be planted. For compact rock gardens, select low crops.
Let's list which specific types are best used for slides:
In the photo below you can see what plants are needed to set up a rock garden:
Plants for alpine hills.
When choosing and arranging stones for a slide, it is necessary to start from the basic principle - naturalness. Based on this, using several types of stones that do not occur together in nature will not be a very good solution.
The following types are most often used for arranging slides:
For a natural-looking slide, it is necessary to use irregularly shaped cobblestones of various sizes. Place smaller ones between large specimens. For flatter areas, you can choose smooth stones (not perfectly rounded), and for steep slopes– lumpy.
In addition to the listed types, you can also use shell rock and slate. Gravel and crushed stone are used to create drainage; pebbles are usually used to lay out alpine slides with real or dry streams.
In the photo below you can see an alpine slide, created with your own hands at the dacha from scrap materials:
Alpine slide made from scrap materials.
So, when we have discussed the main aspects of making a rock garden, we can proceed directly to work. We will give step-by-step guidance and show in photos and diagrams the process of building an alpine slide with your own hands out of the blue.
Important! Just pouring a pile of stones, filling the gaps with soil and planting flowers does not mean creating a rock garden. With this approach, the stones can quickly move, causing the shape to disintegrate and the decorative effect to be lost.
If we talk about the time frame for creating a rock garden, it will take from two weeks to a month. The exact timing depends on the rate of soil shrinkage.
After you have chosen the size and shape for the slide, these parameters must be transferred to the site. It is worth fencing it around the perimeter with rope and pegs, clearing it of debris and stones, and uprooting plants. Next you need to do the drainage:
At this stage, there should be approximately 30-40 cm left to the soil level - we will fill them with soil.
Construction of an alpine slide.
To prepare soil for a rock garden, you can use one of the “recipes”:
Important! The soil for a rock garden must be thoroughly cleared of weeds and rhizomes, otherwise it will be more difficult to care for the hill.
The resulting mixture is poured on top of the sand around the perimeter of the future rock garden. The thickness of the soil layer can reach 1 m - this will be an excellent basis for stones. Next, you should wait about 1.5-2 weeks until the soil settles. Sometimes you have to wait up to 5 weeks.
Construction of a rock garden step by step.
In addition to the diagram above, we attach step by step photo process:
Now let's get to important stage– laying stones. We tell you step by step how to make an alpine slide with your own hands near your house:
Avoid a symmetrical arrangement - try to arrange the stones a little chaotically so that the composition has a natural look.
This is the final stage of designing an alpine slide. First, plant trees and shrubs, then fill the main volume with perennials.
Important! A little accumulates at the bottom of the slide more moisture, therefore it is better to plant moisture-loving species here.
The process of planting plants in an alpine hill.
The advantage of rock gardens is that, despite all their decorativeness, they require incomparably less attention than flower beds and flower beds. But some care is still required:
For the winter, the composition must be covered with agrofibre. In the spring, the film is removed, dead plants are removed (if this happens), loose stones are corrected, and leaves are raked. Next, you need to renew the layer of soil and mulch and add new plants.
Now you understand that creating an alpine slide with your own hands, even on level ground, is not difficult if you follow step by step guide with photos and diagrams.
Video: how to quickly and easily make a rock garden.
