To date, the classic standards by which landscape design is created have undergone certain changes. Now the owners of the plots, in addition to picturesque flower beds and plaster sculptures, can please themselves, as well as guests with an alpine slide, which is also called a rock garden. Sometimes professionals are called for this. But it’s not at all difficult to make an alpine slide with your own hands. It will be a wonderful scenic area that can become a real decoration of the landscape.
What is this?
Alpine slide came to us from the Mediterranean. This exotic guest is able to instantly transform the appearance of the site, absorbing the features that the wild nature has. Looking at such a piece of landscape, a person will certainly get a real feeling that next to him there is a piece of the Alpine mountains, which includes rocks and lush vegetation. And all this is among the compositions familiar to our eyes.
Do-it-yourself alpine slide -this occupation is unusually fascinating, attracting with its extraordinary and beautiful option. It is impossible to peep a ready-made solution from a neighbor. It is unrealistic to create two identical alpine slides. Even the author himself cannot do this.
What is an alpine slide (see photo below)?
This is a carefully chosen combination of shrubs and plants, as well as organically laid stones. For a rock garden, it is especially important that its appearance does not look like a pile of ordinary stones lying among a green massif. This area should be in harmony with the rest of the landscape.
Choosing a seat
How to make an alpine slide with your own hands? The first point of the planned plan should be the choice of a suitable place. Rock gardens are always in the spotlight so that they have a good overview from any side. In addition, such a zone should be illuminated by the sun for most of the day. That is why the southern side of the site is most suitable for the implementation of the plan.
The most acceptable place is the center of the lawn. However, it all depends on the situation. Sometimes, due to the presence of other garden elements, alpine slides can also be built on the edge of the lawn, near a fountain or artificial reservoir, at the entrance to the gazebo or at the path. The main requirement for this will be good lighting.
Alpine slide in the country should not be placed in the shade of shrubs or trees. It is better if they create only the background. But even here it is necessary to take into account the fact that, with their colorful colors, bushes andtrees should not distract the eye from the rock garden. In this regard, it is recommended to select monochromatic plants for the background.
The bulges, slopes and elevation changes available on the site are very well beaten with an alpine slide. It is located on natural hills or in the lowlands of the landscape.
Work planning
To those who decide to build an alpine slide in the country with their own hands, it is recommended to first depict the future composition on a piece of paper. The drawn up scheme will clearly demonstrate the placement of stones, the list of plants, as well as the general compositional form. Such a step will avoid a large number of errors. It is important at the first stage to decide for yourself how many levels there will be in the constructed alpine slide. This will allow you to determine the estimated cost of work.
Choice rock garden
After deciding on the transformation of the territory, the owners need to decide what kind of alpine slide they want to see on their site. There are various types of such landscape structures.
Let's consider the most popular types of alpine slides.
Container or miniature rock garden
These alpine slides on the site do not take up much space. Capacities are needed to create them. They can be taken from any material other than plastic. Various troughs or a stump, a log, a stone with holes, an earthen vessel and even a walnut shell can become such containers for a rock garden. Homemadedesigners to create an original rock garden can not limit themselves. After all, you can place such a structure even where there is even very little free space.
You only need to beautifully arrange a miniature rock garden and choose the right plants for it. At the same time, pebbles should only be neat, small, well combined with the container. Plants for miniature rock garden pick up dwarf or slow growing. In this case, the multilayer laws of composition must be used without fail. There is some difficulty in this, but otherwise a simple set of stones may end up.
Mosaic
This alpine slide (photo below) can also be equipped in a small area. The cost of its creation will be minimal, and the garden will acquire much more charm, comfort and beauty.
The description of the alpine mosaic slide allows us to conclude that the main material for its construction are small pebbles. They can be both monophonic and multi-colored. The final version will depend on the planned composition.
The mini-rock garden device allows you to save space and at the same time create original streams and waterfalls in a small size.
Submontane or rocky alpine slide
This is a larger landscape composition. It is a vertical rock garden. Very often this kindused in the construction of terraced slopes and raised flower beds.
How to make an alpine slide of this type? The technology of its manufacture is similar to the construction of a retaining wall made of natural stones. The differences lie only in the fact that during the masonry, notches, niches and cracks are left in the structure. Such holes are used for planting unpretentious alpine plants that grow well with a minimum amount of soil. Their list includes thyme, various species of the moss family, grass grass, cloves and young.
If it is possible to leave large niches during laying, then the plants for the alpine slide may be somewhat different. In this case, creeping juniper and dwarf shrubs are planted. It should be borne in mind that a vertical rock garden requires a fairly active decoration. This can be achieved by planting various types of plants.
The advantages of a rocky alpine slide are that it:
- Does not require special plant care. For their growth, only rare top dressing with mineral fertilizers will be needed, bringing the solution to a low concentration.
- Can be created in different sizes. With a height not exceeding 50 cm, only flat rocky blocks can serve as the foundation of such a wall. A larger rock garden will require the arrangement of a concrete or gravel cushion. In this case, nutrient soil should be laid under each tier, on which the next stone row is laid. Concrete mortar is not used in this case. The alpine wall is strengthened by the roots of plants. To increase resilienceconstructions, the stones with their narrow part fit inside the composition, while maintaining a slight slope to the base.
Retaining alpine step
Such a structure is created low. Made of natural stone, it is similar to a regular step. The main feature of this type of composition is the arrangement of plants. They land in the recess of the structure horizontally. At the same time, drainage is laid at the bottom, on which soil is poured. After that, a stone composition is created, which includes various plants. The resulting design resembles in its appearance a flower bed-step, which was decorated with stones. Sometimes it is performed as a separate element. Sometimes it is attached as one of the steps to a real garden staircase.
Rock garden
Such a rock garden contains a minimum of plants or does without them at all. The main condition for creating a rock garden is the predominance of minerals. At the same time, plants should not distract from the contemplation of the composition.
That is why large shrubs and trees are not used at all with this option. Stones are selected in various combinations. Their form does not play a special role. For example, in such a garden there are both large boulders and pebbles of small and medium sizes.
Alpine garden
Under this name, a special composition stands out. It includes a group of plants that are called "alpines". In general, the created site is very similar to a small garden. In it, stones create a much smaller accent thanplants. There are few of them, but at the same time, in terms of their placement, the minerals do not allow the rock garden to turn into an ordinary flower bed.
This garden looks just great on a slope or on a gentle surface. Its design options are quite diverse, starting with a mono-garden and ending with a luxurious combination. For the arrangement of such an alpine slide, a little space is required. At the same time, such an inclusion in the design will perfectly emphasize the style of the entire site.
Alpine ravine
This composition is able to help out the owners of the site if it is necessary to artificially lower it. This type of rock garden is placed in a certain recess. Its edges must be reinforced with dug-in stones. They build a composition in the form of a slide, playing with various types of moss, an artificial stream or a waterfall.
This ravine looks very original and decorative. One of the varieties of such a composition is the Alpine gorge. The place for its location is chosen between two hills. The use of such a landscape composition allows you to beat the stones with light if the wall of them is built of different heights.
Alpine slide
This version of the landscape composition is the most popular and famous. When creating it, the owners will need to allocate a certain area and stock up on some knowledge.
If the site is small, then such a slide will look too bulky on it. After all, its design impliesvolume and the presence of a large number of layers. Making an alpine slide of stones with your own hands will require knowledge of the technological process of arranging such objects, as well as the ability to combine different types of plants and stones.
Other types of rock gardens
In addition to the above varieties of landscape compositions, there are a large number of others. Consider the most common names of alpine slides on the sites and their main characteristics.
- Mountain slope. During its arrangement, small stones are located at the base, and large ones at the top. Such a rock garden is similar to an alpine slope with characteristic plants.
- Valley. A similar composition is placed horizontally. It consists of stones of various sizes, located in a free arrangement. Plants are taken from different species.
- Lawn. This composition is stylish, but quite difficult to create. Sometimes it is an integral part of an artificially created hill, slope or valley. For the arrangement of the alpine lawn, only wild plant species that grow in the highlands are taken. Among them are edelweiss, carpet saxifrage, creeping willow and dwarf hyacinth.
Construction
How is an alpine slide created? The step-by-step instruction contains several sequential actions that are creative and very exciting.
The construction of a rock garden should not deviate from the intended scheme, which is carried out on a scale with careful planning of the layout of stones and planting sites. If it is supposed to place the composition in depth, then the location of the tracks leading to the zone of its location must certainly be taken into account.
At the first stage of arranging the rock garden, it is marked on the site, based on the size of the previously drawn scheme. The optimal width of the alpine slide is within 100 cm. A larger value of this parameter will make it problematic to care for plants located in the central part of the composition. The site is being prepared larger than the one required for the rock garden.
Let's consider the main stages of the construction of the composition:
- Preparation of soil and arrangement of a drainage system for water drainage. To complete this step, you must select a sunny day. Work begins with the removal of the top layer of soil and freeing it from debris, roots and weeds. Several layers are laid at the bottom of the resulting recess. The first of them consists of small brick fragments. Next, sand is poured on which gravel is laid. After that, the cleaned soil is returned, which is previously mixed with peat, sand and lime.
- Laying stones. Of all the prepared rock fragments, first choose those that are most suitable in shape and size. It can be limestone and sandstone, travertine and dolomite, forest boulders overgrown with lichen and moss, as well as bas alt. It is they who will most realistically recreate the mountain landscape. Rounded stones, as well as broken ones with sharp edges, are not recommended. The greatest originalitythe rock garden will be given several large minerals. Work begins with the laying of several large stones around the perimeter of the intended site. This will protect the soil from erosion.
- Decoration of the site. At the second stage of work, a slope is created or, on the contrary, the surface of the site is leveled. The actions performed will depend on the type of rock garden that the owners have chosen. When designing the site, stones are laid out, which are naturally arranged in the form of a plateau, gorge, cliff or terrace. If they are heavy, then for such work the efforts of several people will be required. Large stones are placed in a previously prepared pit. After that, earth with crushed stone is added under their base, which are carefully compacted. The gaps between the stones are filled with soil, but at the same time a place must be left for adding the planting mixture. It is prepared from crushed stone or broken stone, soddy land, peat or high-quality humus. The ratio of all parts is 1:1. Based on the needs of the planted plants, sand can be added to the mixture.
- Planting green material. When determining the type of plants that will decorate the rock garden, it is necessary to take into account the degree of their growth. Immediately before landing, the data for each of them must be checked additionally. It is also required to find out how demanding the selected plants are for watering, lighting, nutrition and soil composition. Also important is such an aspect as the flowering period. You should not plant only those plants that will create the greatest decorative effect in the same period. The timing of their flowering should be different.
How to plant plants? These works are carried out subject to certain rules. So:
- tall plants should not be located on top of an alpine slide;
- coniferous dwarf trees are not grouped;
- Ground cover plant species are planted near rocks, allowing them to thrive.
For rock garden, you can choose along with ground cover and bulbous crops.
