The creation of an alpine slide is a fashionable entourage for a suburban area. Now there are many landscape designers who offer their services in this direction. But the price of their work goes off scale. Therefore, I decided to create this masterpiece on my own.
Breakdown of work into stages
After reading a bunch of material, I concluded that the creation of an alpine slide can be divided into 5 main stages:
- choice of location;
- drawing up a plan for the location of stones and vegetation;
- digging of the site with the removal of weeds and the addition of compost, if necessary, the organization of drainage;
- placing stones according to plan;
- planting plants.
Seat selection
The selection of the location of the rock garden should meet the following requirements: be in a sunny area and be visible from all sides, creating a beautiful accent for your garden.
It is better if the direction of the slide is in the south or southwest.
The shade of trees or buildings is not suitable for her. Although they can be the background or the highest point, from which a wave of plants and stones will descend. A good place is a small slope with elevation differences.
Planning the placement of the main components of the rock garden
So, the place has been chosen. Now we need to draw up a plan for the location of stones and plants. Draw a scale diagram of the slide.
The stones should be placed naturally and not piled up.
Plain trees or shrubs should be placed in the background, the variegation will distract from the general perception.
When planning, you need to decide which type of rock garden is suitable for the chosen place. If its location is on a steep slope, then a "rock" (boulders at the base, small stones closer to the top), "mountain slope" (large ones - from above, as they go down, their size decreases) will do. A gentle descent implies a stepped location, the so-called "terraced slope".
If you want to create a horizontal composition, then stones of different sizes are located freely - "mountain valley".
You can make a "rocky wall" by using flat stones in the form of a border or organize a new fashion trend - "Czech wall" from slabs of various shapes.
When planning an alpine slide in the depths of the garden, it is necessary to include paths in the scheme that will lead to it.
A stone winding path or an impromptu stream made of small pebbles looks spectacular. You can place a bench nearby to enjoy the result.
The slide should end with a flower garden, lawn or gravel perfume.
Soil preparation
An important point in arranging a rock garden is the preparation of the base, that is, the soil where the plants will be located. These works are best done in the fall.
You can just dig up the soil, remove weeds, but still, in order for the slide to last longer, you need to provide a drainage system. To do this, remove the top layer of soil by 20-30 cm, put gravel, expanded clay, crushed brick 10 cm high.Then pour 5 cm of sand, on top of it about 15 cm of fertile soil, consisting of equal parts of turf, peat, compost and sand. Spill well with water. Spray the soil with herbicides to control fungi and weeds.
Compositional work with stones
At this stage, the location of the main stones takes place. It is better to choose from one material of various sizes. Its appearance must be treated very carefully. For example, granite is not only expensive, but leads to soil deoxidation, which many plants do not like. Due to limestone, it increases the amount of alkali, and it is necessary to plant crops that prefer a high pH level. It is better to prefer neutral sandstones, the delivery of which can be ordered from the quarry along with the sand.
Use flat stones to act as steps to walk along the slide when caring for it.
Start at the bottom with large rocks. Make about 3-5 tiers.
A mistake, if you adhere to some pattern, arrange the stones in a chaotic order, as they lie in natural conditions.
Each boulder goes deep into the soil, about a third. Then it is sprinkled with fertile soil.
When the stones are placed, the workpiece is left for half a month to shrink.
Planting plants
The final stage. You need to start planting no earlier than 2-3 weeks after laying the stones, and it is better to do this in the spring. Let the slide survive the winter.
Cultures should be selected based on their ability to grow between stones. It is necessary to adhere to the color scheme so that the alpine slide is not a colorful patch.
Low-growing shrubs, conifers are the best crops for alpine slides. These are common lingonberry, Lydian gorse, horizontal cotoneaster, Cossack juniper, dwarf spruce, thuja.
From flowers, choose an unpretentious ground cover or low growing. For example: rejuvenated, saxifrage, badan, muscari, periwinkle, obrieta, dwarf phlox, primrose, lavender, hosta.
Plant the plants in the holes between the stones, mulch the soil.
