How to choose the right plants for an alpine slide

Plants and stones go well together, so it is worth highlighting a small corner for a rock garden in your garden. Some plants for an alpine slide, photos and their names, you will see in this article. Our selection will help you make the slide original and bright, it will be the best decoration of the entire site.

Making a slide with your own hands (photo and diagram)

First of all, you should make a marking of the contours of the future rock garden, remove weeds and sod. After that, inside these contours, you need to create a small depression in the ground and form the entire volume of the future rock garden. For this, not only large stones are used, but also crushed stone, construction waste, gravel. First, the largest stones are laid, then the small ones, covered with sand and soil.

When the soil layer settles, you need to fill all the depressions with the same soil, then additionally expand the 20 cm layer of earth, your plants will grow on it. After that, all the remaining decorative stones are laid.

The finished slide is watered, the entire structure costs two to three weeks, more is possible, all this time you need to actively weed out the weeds. After that, they select plants for the alpine slide, look at the photos, write out the names of the varieties they like and purchase them in specialized stores. All plants are planted either in spring or early autumn, usually September. Planting time depends on what time you manage to prepare the base for the rock garden.

Plant selection criteria for an alpine slide

Ornamental plants for the slide are selected according to certain rules, they are not difficult, you can master this simple science yourself. Above you see a photo - making an alpine slide with your own hands. The traditional classic approach involves the presence of perennial plants on the hill, which grow wild in the highlands. These are undersized specimens, which have a small and compact bush, undemanding to soil and the presence of moisture. As a rule, these types are winter-hardy, they are resistant to gusts of wind. Examples include plants such as dryad, awl-leaved phlox, thyme (both creeping and common, and alpine shrimp. You will also see some flowers for the alpine slide later in the article).

Almost always on the slides there are stunted conifers, sometimes deciduous low shrubs, among which it is better to choose slow-growing varieties. Among the deciduous alpine slides, they look good:

• a low-growing variety of barberry, whose fruits and colorful bright leaves adorn the hill until late autumn;
• Japanese low-growing quince;
• some varieties of cotoneaster.

Together with decorative stones, they form the basis of the entire composition. However, recently on the alpine hill you can also meet annuals, which have a long flowering period, steppe grasses and bulbs. The latter really enliven the slides in spring and delight flower growers. These can be crocuses, snowdrops and lilies of the valley, ornamental onions and daffodils, undersized tulips and cyclamens.

The most popular flowers for the alpine slide

We bring to your attention some names and photos of popular plants for an alpine slide (flowers are perennials).

Iberis

Iberis looks very good at the top of the hill, there are varieties that do not grow more than 10 centimeters in height.The plant blooms profusely in snow-white clumps in late spring or early summer.

Edelweiss

The famous mountain flower, sung in literature, grows wild on depleted rock soils. Such a plant on an alpine hill is the pride of a florist, especially since it is listed in the Red Book. However, it is quite possible to grow this flower independently from ordinary seeds, and then propagate it in the usual way (seedlings).

Edelweiss is sun-loving and does not tolerate shading, as in the wild these plants grow on mountain tops. For the best growth of an exotic flower, you need to make a special depleted soil mixture with fine-grained sand and small pebbles.

So, when choosing perennial flowers for an alpine slide, you cannot ignore this wonderful specimen, which, moreover, can grow in one place for up to 20 years.

Rejuvenated (stone rose)

This plant looks like rosettes, which are composed of fleshy thick leaves of all sizes and shapes. Different varieties differ in their colors. Species and varieties rejuvenated there are many perennial flowers for the alpine slide, the rosettes are burgundy and silvery green, you can choose several different specimens at once. An unpretentious plant can adapt to any living conditions and take the most inconvenient place, including the gaps between stones, which is ideal for an alpine slide.

Armeria seaside

This plant is not afraid of either cold or drought, but does not like waterlogging. Small bushes, can release ten peduncles at once, which have spherical inflorescences. Armeria is still good because it blooms for a very long time, practically all summer, but we must not forget to remove old inflorescences, otherwise it will wither.

Carnation

Perennial carnations are very good on an alpine slide, by the way, in the wild, they grow well in the mountains. This is probably why carnations are the most popular of all perennial flowers for an alpine slide. There are many suitable varieties, for example, herb, short-stemmed carnation, gray, and also the grayish-blue, which you go in the photo above. Carnations bloom with bright flowers throughout the summer season, and they also exude a pleasant spicy aroma.

Conifers - the basis of an alpine slide

First of all, I would like to highlight the most spectacular plants, for example, there is a dwarf variety of Norwegian spruce, it even grows in pots, and this is a real pearl on an alpine slide. The weeping fir is also surprisingly beautiful, it is dark green with a yellow tint, and the long branches bend down to the ground.

When creating an alpine slide, they often make a mistake: they simply use cut trees of traditional tall conifers. If you carefully consider the photo on the design of an alpine slide with your own hands, then you will notice that there are only varieties of dwarf plants. All plants that are supposed to be large in the wild will try to become large.

Here are some types and varieties of dwarf conifers:

1. Nevaki is a Japanese pine, which belongs to real bonsai, naturally dwarf. One of the varieties is pictured above. If trimmed, it will take any shape.
2. Nana Pine, very fluffy, dark green in color.
3. Pine Panderosa, also very fluffy with huge needles, grows even without shelter, although it comes from warm places.
4. Velda is a creeping pine tree, shoots grow only horizontally. She needs to be cut, otherwise she will take three meters in a circle.

We must not forget about creeping varieties. junipers, they are irreplaceable on the alpine slides.

So, if you want to create a truly spectacular slide, then look at the photo of the flowers for the alpine slide, remember the names of the plants that you liked and go ahead! You can create an alpine slide with your own hands without serious financial or time spending, and it will not take much space.The very process of creating it is very interesting, and the result exceeds all the wildest expectations.

What plants are needed for an alpine slide - video