How to choose the right plants for the Alpine hill

Plants and stones perfectly blend with each other, so it is worth highlighting in your garden a small corner for the rock garden. Some plants for the alpine slide, photos and their names, you will see in this article. Our selection will help you make the hill original and bright, it will be the best decoration of the whole site.

Decoration of the slide with your own hands (photo and diagram)

First of all it is necessary to make a marking of contours of the future rock garden, to remove weeds and turf. After that inside these contours it is necessary to create a small notch in the ground and to form the whole volume of the future rock garden. For this, not only large stones are used, but also rubble, construction waste, gravel. First lay the largest stones, then small, covered with sand and soil.

When the soil layer settles, you need to fill all the depressions with the same soil, then add another 20 cm layer of soil, your plants will grow on it. After that, lay all the remaining decorative stones.

A ready slide is poured, the whole construction costs two to three weeks, you can more, all this time you need to actively weed out the weeds. After that, plants are selected for the alpine slide, they look at the photo, write out the names of the varieties they like and buy them in specialized stores. All plants are planted either in spring or early autumn, as a rule, in September. The time of planting depends on when you will be able to prepare the base for the rock garden.

Criteria for choosing plants for the Alpine hill

Decorative plants for the hill are selected according to certain rules, they are not complex, you can master this simple science yourself. Above you can see the photo - decorating the Alpine hill with your own hands. The traditional classical approach provides for the presence on the hill of perennial plants, which grow wild in the highlands. These are undersized specimens, in which a small and compact shrub, undemanding to the ground and the presence of moisture. As a rule, these species are winter-hardy, they are resistant to wind gusts. Examples include plants such as dryad, shilolist phlox, thyme (both creeping and normal, and Alpine alpaca. Some flowers for the alpine slide you will see also later in the article.

Almost always on the hills there are undersized conifers, sometimes deciduous low shrubs, among which it is better to choose slowly growing varieties. Among the deciduous on the Alpine slides look good:

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

Together with decorative stones they form the basis of the whole composition. However, recently on the Alpine hill one can also meet annuals, which have a long flowering period, steppe grasses and bulbous ones. The latter very revitalize the hills in the spring and please the flower growers. These can be crocuses, snowdrops and lilies of the valley, ornamental onions and daffodils, undersized varieties of tulips and cyclamen.

The most popular flowers for the Alpine hill

We bring to your attention some names and photos of popular plants for the alpine hill (flowers - perennials).

Iberis

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

Edelweiss

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

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

So, choosing flowers for the alpine hill for many years, you can not ignore this beautiful specimen, which, moreover, can grow in one place up to 20 years.

Molodilo (the stone rose)

This plant is similar to rosettes, which consist of fleshy thick leaves of all sizes and shapes. Different varieties differ in their colors. There are many species and varieties among the perennial flowers for the alpine hill, the rosettes are burgundy and silvery green, you can choose several different specimens at once. An unpretentious plant can adapt itself to any living conditions and occupy the most uncomfortable place, including cracks between the stones, which is ideal for an alpine slide.

Armeria seaside

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

Carnations

Perennial carnations are very good on the Alpine hill, by the way in the wild they grow well in the mountains. Probably, therefore, carnations from all perennial flowers for the alpine slide are the most popular. There are a lot of suitable varieties, for example, herb, short-stemmed, sisaya, and also grayish-blue, which you go to the photo above. Carnations blossom all summer season with bright flowers, to that they exude a pleasant spicy aroma.

Khvoyniki - the basis of the Alpine hill

First of all I want to highlight the most spectacular plants, for example, there is a dwarf variety of Norwegian spruce, it grows even in pots, and this is a real pearl on the Alpine hill. Also surprisingly beautiful is the weeping fir, it is dark green with a yellow tinge, and the long branches bend down to the ground.

When you create an alpine slide, you often make the mistake of using truncated trees of traditional tall coniferous trees. If you carefully consider the photos on the design of the Alpine hill with your own hands, then you will notice that there are only varieties of dwarf plants. All plants that in the wild must be large will try to become them.

Here are some species and varieties of dwarf conifers:

1. Nevaki - Japanese pine, which refers to real bonsai, naturally, dwarfish. One of the varieties is in the photo above. If it is cut, it will take any form.
2. Pine Nana, very fluffy dark green.
3. Pander Pine, also very fluffy with huge needles, grows even without shelter, although it comes from warm places.
4. Velda - creeping species of pine, shoots grow only horizontally. It must be cut, otherwise it will take three meters in a circle.

You can not forget about creeping varieties of junipers, they are irreplaceable on the Alpine hills.

So, if you want to create a truly spectacular slide, then see a photo of flowers for the alpine hill, remember the names of the plants that you liked and forward, for the cause! You can create an alpine slide with your own hands without serious financial or temporary waste, and it will not take much space. The very process of creating it is very interesting, and the result exceeds all the boldest expectations.

What plants are needed for the alpine slide - video