Rock garden on the site: types of slides, selection of a place for them, planning and preparation for work, laying stones and planting plants. Alpine slide is a miniature replica of a beautiful area with rocks and mountain vegetation, falling water and gorges. It is the result of human imagination and great effort. You will learn how to make an alpine slide by reading this article.
What are the alpine slides on the site
Rock garden is another name for alpine slides, an unusual view of which can decorate any garden on the site. The main element in their creation is a group of stones. This "gray silence" is slightly diluted with conifers and other plants of the alpine flora, which have a variety of colors and appearance.
Depending on the location of the stones and the method of their selection, there are several types of rock garden:
- "Rocks". They are based on large stone boulders, which are most often installed on the slope of the site.
- "Mountain Valley". This type of rock garden involves the use of large stones overgrown with moss.
- "Mountain Slope". It is arranged on smooth areas of great length to create a miniature alpine garden.
- Alpine Lawn. It perfectly complements the slopes and cliffs described above with its flat relief.
- "Gorge". This design is often the main element of the garden landscape. The imitation of the gorge is performed between the slopes created by the dry masonry method. This solution looks especially unusual when the center of the composition is made in the form of a swampy area.
- "Stone Garden". It is a Japanese-style alpine slide.
- "Forest Ravine". This solution is suitable for areas with small crevices. Looks great when combined with an artificial waterfall.
Alpine slide device technology in the country
An alpine slide, even when artificially created, is a living garden. Providing him with a comfortable existence is the primary task.
Preparatory work
The place intended for the rock garden should be clearly visible from either side. In addition, it needs sunlight for the development of ornamental plants. Therefore, for such an element of landscape design, it is recommended to allocate a certain part of the garden, located at a distance from buildings and large trees with a lush crown.
It will be nice if the alpine slide is located on the south side near the recreation area. This will provide her with optimal illumination and the opportunity to more often admire the beauty of rocky stones and mountain vegetation.
The quality of the soil at the site of the rock garden also matters. It is much easier to equip it on sandstone than on clay soil. The second case will require the creation of a special drainage.
It is important to know that an alpine slide will take three months or more for natural shrinkage. During this time, all errors of work, previously unnoticeable, will be revealed. These shortcomings must be eliminated before planting plants. If it is in the fall, then the base must be prepared in the spring. In winter, this can also be done, but it is undesirable due to cold weather.
The basis for the device is a rock garden embankment in the form of a smooth slope or hill. Often, one or more level differences help to create a volumetric landscape and emphasize the relief of the site selected for a decorative slide. When creating such a slope, special walls and paths laid between adjacent hills are used as supports.
The size of the planned composition must be calculated taking into account the area of the site. To decorate 10 acres of land, for example, an alpine slide 6-8 m is suitable2… For each meter of its diameter, it is necessary to plan the rise of the relief by 0.2 m. Therefore, the height of a slide with a diameter of 4 m should not be less than 0.8 m. Its maximum rise is not recommended for more than 2 meters, otherwise it will be inconvenient to take care of such a rock garden.
A natural relief slope with an angle of 10-15 degrees is ideal for creating a slide. But if it is absent on the site, it is easy to make an artificial embankment yourself.
The place to be used must be cleared of large debris and weeds. From the cleared area, it is necessary to remove a layer of soil 20-40 cm thick and then proceed with the drainage device. Indeed, for fresh flowers growing in rock gardens, the presence of good air circulation and soil moisture is extremely necessary.
The drainage layer can consist of expanded clay, broken brick, pebbles or rubble. After filling them into the recess obtained as a result of soil removal, a sand cushion must be made from above and carefully tamped. After that, to form a relief, the sand must be covered with a layer of soil no more than 40 cm thick and also compacted. The site for the rock garden is ready.
Selection and placement of stones
When selecting stones for an alpine slide in the country, one should take into account their shape, dimensions and surface properties. Since the composition should imitate a fragment of a mountain landscape, where most of the stones are polished over the years by winds and rains, although it has an irregular, but completely natural shape, it is not recommended to use a smooth river stone or broken cornerstone for a rock garden.
Sandstone or limestone is a good option. However, when choosing the last mineral, you need to know that the soil, which will then be filled up between the stones, can be saturated with alkali, which is harmful to individual plants. In this case, the soil will have to be slightly acidified.
Basalt, slate, tuff and other minerals are suitable for the base of the rock garden. Especially valuable for the composition of a forest boulder with moss. All stones should be of different sizes, ranging from heavy boulders to fine gravel. Be sure to include flat samples in the composition. They can serve as the original steps necessary for walking during the periodic maintenance of the alpine slide. All stones must be of the same type, that is, have a similar structure.
They should be laid from the bottom up, starting from the largest samples. The same distance between the stones is completely unnecessary, as well as their ordered arrangement. It is better to place them on the hill randomly with maximum imitation of the natural landscape.
To preserve the harmony of the composition, it is necessary to correctly combine its height and the caliber of the stones. A high slide requires massive samples, and a small slide requires small stones. For medium-sized slides, boulders with a diameter of 25-60 cm are suitable.
In the process of work, the stones should be sunk 1/3 of the height into the ground, and then fill the fertile soil between them. Its composition should include peat, turf, sand and humus, taken in equal parts. After filling the sinuses, the ground must be compacted and moistened with a watering can. This will help prevent soil around the stones from being washed away during the watering process.
On the slope, boulders should be placed in such a way as to minimize the amount of stagnant water. If this is not done, the soil will be saturated with moisture, and the stones may crack or become husked.
Advice! It is recommended to lay non-woven material trimmings on the seats of the stones before installing them. This will prevent boulders from sinking and weeds to grow.
Selection and planting of plants for an alpine slide
2-3 months after laying the stones, you can begin to decorate the rock garden with perennial, shrub and deciduous plants.
When choosing them, you should follow a number of rules:
- Plants must correspond to the climate of the planting region, humidity and soil characteristics of the backyard.
- The order of the arrangement of plants on the hill is very important. Places well-lit by the sun are suitable for light-loving species, shaded areas of the rock garden are for those who do not need such a condition.
- The size of plants for an alpine slide must be reasonably combined with the dimensions of the entire composition. Hence the conclusion: for a large rock garden you will need large vegetation, for a medium one - smaller, etc.
- The intensity of plant development is also recommended to be taken into account in order to prevent overgrowing of the hill with a representative of the flora of the same species. Other plants must also fully develop.
In order for the composition to please everyone with beauty in any season, you should know the flowering time of different types of plants. Spring is the time of flowering of bulbous plants, and autumn is the time of perennial plants. In winter, the rock garden will help revive the conifers. When some plants wither, others will continue to bloom.
Of the coniferous species, dwarf trees with different colors of needles needles and differing in the shape of the crown look spectacular on an alpine hill. All year round, Canadian spruce and mountain pine will be able to decorate the composition with greenery. These trees are considered dwarf trees. Among coniferous shrubs, western thuja, scaly, Chinese and horizontal juniper are suitable. It can be planted instead of traditional grass under dwarf trees, while achieving the most complete perception of the mountain composition.
If a rock garden needs to be decorated in a Japanese style, a palm-shaped maple must be its obligatory component. It grows up to only 1 m and is famous for its unique leaf shape with a bright purple color.
Among the deciduous shrubs of the rock garden, barberry, creeping cotoneaster, euonymus and spirea are suitable. All of them are extremely popular with summer residents.
The individuality of the roller coaster landscape depends on the correct choice of colors. The main rule is to use most of the plants typical for mountainous areas. Although, as an exception, it is not necessary to limit your imagination and you can decorate your rock garden with any flowers close to your heart within reasonable limits, remembering that it is not a flower bed.
Mountain perennial flowers include Alpine edelweiss, Canadian rezuha, Carpathian bell and others. Among the bulbous species, tulips of various colors, daffodils, crocus flowers and corydalis are popular.
It is recommended to decorate the top of the alpine composition with a tree or shrub. The rest of the vegetation should be planted between stones in prepared fertile soil. To this end, in the right place, you need to dig a small hole, place a plant in it and carefully align the planting site.
Plants should be watered starting from the top of the hill in the direction of its slope. This will allow moisture to saturate the soil well and reach the plant roots.
Features of caring for an alpine slide
Periodic maintenance of an alpine slide involves infrequent watering, loosening and fertilizing the soil, weeding, removing old branches and foliage.
It is recommended to make a special schedule for watering plants, since different species require different amounts of water. It is necessary to fertilize the soil of the rock garden with potassium or phosphate preparations only in preparation for winter.
In the cold season, plants must be protected from frost by covering them with shavings or spruce paws. For the same purpose, it is necessary to maintain snow caps on the hill.
In the spring, the soil of the rock garden needs to be rid of harmful insects and top dressing added to it.
When erecting an alpine slide with your own hands, in the process of laying tiers of stones, empty flower pots can be placed along the edges of each site. They will be needed for the prompt replanting of fresh plants.
How to make an alpine slide - watch the video:
That's all. We hope that our material has provided answers to your possible questions. Good luck!
