Ornamental plants used to decorate rocky hills. Which plants to choose for an alpine slide: photos and names. The middle tier of the stone composition

Plants and stones are perfectly combined with each other, so it is worth highlighting a small corner in your garden for 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 slide original and bright, it will be the best decoration for the entire site.

Do-it-yourself slide design (photo and diagram)

First of all, you should mark the contours of the future rock garden, remove weeds and sod. After that, inside these contours, you need to create a small recess 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 small ones, covered with sand and soil.

When the soil layer settles, you need to fill all the recesses with the same soil, then additionally lay out a 20-centimeter layer of earth, your plants will grow on it. After that, all the remaining decorative stones are laid.

The finished hill is watered, the whole structure costs two to three weeks, maybe more, all this time you need to actively weed out. 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 basis for the rock garden.

Criteria for choosing plants 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 on your own. Above you see a photo - the design of an alpine slide with your own hands. The traditional classical approach provides for the presence of perennial plants on the hill, which grow wild in high mountain areas. These are undersized specimens, which have a small and compact bush, undemanding to soils and the presence of moisture. As a rule, these species are winter-hardy, they are resistant to gusts of wind. Examples are plants such as dryad, awl-leaved phlox, thyme (both creeping and ordinary, as well as alpine sapling. You will also see some flowers for the alpine slide later in the article.

Almost always on the hills there are undersized conifers, sometimes low deciduous, among which it is better to choose slowly growing varieties. Among the deciduous on the alpine hills 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 are very enliven slides in the spring and delight flower growers. These can be crocuses, snowdrops and lilies of the valley, decorative onions and daffodils, undersized varieties of tulips and cyclamens.

The most popular flowers for an 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 with snow-white curtains in late spring or early summer.

edelweiss

The famous mountain flower, sung in the literature in the wild, grows on the depleted soils of the rocks. Such a plant on an alpine hill is the pride of the grower, especially since it is listed in the Red Book. However, it is quite possible to grow this flower on your own 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 mountaintops. 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 hill, you cannot ignore this beautiful specimen, which, moreover, can grow in one place for up to 20 years.

Young (stone rose)

This plant is similar to rosettes, which consist of fleshy thick leaves of various sizes and shapes. Different varieties differ in their colors. There are many species and varieties among perennial flowers for an alpine slide, 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 uncomfortable place, including the gaps between the stones, which is ideal for an alpine slide.

Armeria maritime

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

carnations

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

Ephedra - the basis of the alpine hill

First of all, I would like 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 an alpine hill. Weeping fir is also amazingly beautiful, it is dark green with a yellow tint, and its long branches bend down to the ground.

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

Here are some types and varieties of dwarf conifers:

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

You can’t forget about creeping varieties, they are indispensable on alpine slides.

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

What plants are needed for an alpine slide - video

A rocky garden decorated with a flower garden is a fairly common element of many garden plots. The decorative appeal and ease of care of the rock garden caused such a popularity of this element of landscape design. Rock plants for an alpine slide always visually enliven a stone composition, but at the same time retain the effect of a natural mountain landscape.

Basic rules for plant selection

It is not difficult to create a stone composition that will become a spectacular decoration of a suburban area. To do this, when selecting plants for the "rocky garden", you must adhere to the following recommendations:

• When creating a composition, preference should be given to compact and undersized forms of plants that correspond to the proportional size of the slide itself.
• The choice of plants is carried out taking into account their resistance to local conditions: features of the soil, climate.
• When choosing a place for rooting, it is important to take into account the ratio of the plant to sunlight: sunny areas - for light-loving representatives of the plant world, shaded - for shade-tolerant ones.
• The intensity of growth and tillering of individual species is an important point, the lack of which can lead to the death of the "neighbors" of a rapidly growing plant.
• When creating compositions, it is important to take into account the characteristics of each of the plant inhabitants of the rock garden in order to avoid "unfavorable neighborhood". For example: very attractive and unpretentious in the care of the yaskolka, rezuha and obrietta have a bad effect on their "neighbors".
• It is desirable to plant a plant taking into account their "common interests": they should be combined with each other not only in appearance, but in the similarity of growing conditions, growth and development rates, as well as the flowering rhythm.

Material on choosing suitable stones for an alpine slide will also be useful:

When choosing perennial flowers for landscaping an alpine hill, one should focus not only on the location of the rock garden on the site, but also on the general style of the composition

The most spectacular combination is given by combinations of herbaceous perennials with shrub and tree forms, decorated with variegated rugs of flowering creeping species and juicy green touches of evergreen and ornamental deciduous species.

Examples of ornamental varieties

Ideal plants for a "rocky garden" are slow-growing woody and low-growing plants. Coniferous for the alpine slide allow you to provide a high decorative effect of the composition throughout the year.

In miniature stone compositions, creeping and dwarf forms of coniferous crops look great: miniature Canadian spruce "Conica", black pine "Nana", scaly juniper "Blue Carpet", western thuja "Danica"

Combining conifers with different crown shapes and needle colors in one composition, you can significantly enhance the picturesque effect.

Among the deciduous shrubs for the alpine slide, the clear favorites are the decorative forms of barberry, cotoneaster, chaenomeles, spirea

A bright decoration of the peak can be a perennial carnation and Iberis evergreen

A fluffy carpet of Iberis will cover the peak with snow-white flowers in May-June, cushion-like carnation bushes will delight with abundant flowering and a pleasant aroma throughout the summer

The sun-loving edelweiss growing on the slopes of impregnable mountains can become the main decoration of the rock garden, and the lush purple rugs of creeping thyme will attract many bees and butterflies with the honey aroma of flowers

The middle tier of the stone composition

Plants that prefer sunny areas, but at the same time easily tolerate light shading, can decorate the middle part of a rocky hill. At the middle level, higher soil moisture. This makes it possible to expand the range of plants for decoration by moisture-loving beauties.

In the days of May, the styloid phlox will sparkle with a lush color of pink, blue and snow-white shades. A spectacular background for phlox can be woolly chistets with pleasant to the touch silvery pubescent leaves.

Noble silvery shades also have three-vein anafalis and Schmidt's wormwood.

Aubriette is a versatile plant for landscaping, because in addition to its gorgeous flowering in the summer months, it has decorative foliage, the richness of color and attractiveness of which lasts throughout the year.

At the end of May, the cultural beauty Aubrietta will take the baton of flowering, delighting the eye with lush streams of pale pink, rich crimson and dark purple flowers.

Well suited for the middle tier and unpretentious in the care of the semi-shrub sunflower monetized. In the sunny areas of the tier, you can place all kinds of stonecrops, which form into pretty cushion-like bushes, decorated in the summer months with miniature flower stars.

If you choose among the names of flowers for an alpine hill that feel comfortable in our latitudes, then the slopes of the hill can be decorated with all kinds of bulbous, diverse, dense bushes, delicate alpine aster, primrose primroses, beautiful autumn flowering colchicum.

foot of the rock garden

At the foot, plants are planted that like to grow on rich, moisture-saturated soil and are not afraid of shading.

Color accents at the foot of the composition can be arranged using compact saxifrage bushes and spike-shaped lyatris flowers

The lower tier is also reserved for the placement of tree and shrub plants. Often, group plantings of miniature dwarf conifers, rhododendrons are placed on this part of the hill.

Currently, alpine slides have become increasingly popular. Customers can choose from a wide variety of plants. You can create such an art object yourself or by ordering it from a landscape design company.

What plants are suitable for an alpine slide?

You need to select plants for rock garden guided by your own taste and imagination, but taking into account the general style and location on the site.

There are a few basic rules to follow:

1. It is important to take into account aspects such as:
   • Climate;
   • soil type;
   • Humidity of soil and air.
2. Initially, you need to draw up a diagram and carefully consider the location of each type of plant. Lighting is an important aspect. Plants may not tolerate full sun or shade;
3. Another fact that will play a significant role is the size of the plants. It should be calculated according to the size of the rock garden;
4. It is important to remember that alpine slides are not made up of plants alone. They should not only be “diluted” with stones of various kinds and sizes, but it is also possible to equip a waterfall, a pond, etc.;
5. You can not "overdo it" with the number of flowers, as an incorrectly calculated number of plants can lead to the fact that one species can crowd out the others if it grows too wide.

Brighter specimens are given more attention. They should be planted more apart.

• Mini spruce;
• firs;
• Pines;
• Juniper;
• Larch;
• Trees and shrubs "mini" size;
• Other types of ground cover plants and perennials.

List of plants for the alpine slide

A list of plants for the correct arrangement of alpine slides can be compiled as follows:

1. perennials;
2. Coniferous;
3. Evergreens;
4. Shade-tolerant;
5. creeping;
6. Creeping;
7. Ground cover.

Among perennial plants, there are several main and most popular species:

1. Flowers:
2. Aubienta hybrid;
3. Edelweiss alpine;
4. Phlox subulate, etc.
5. bulbous flowers:
   • Tulip late;
6. corydalis;
7. Hyacinth;
8. Colchicum, etc.

Of the coniferous specimens most often used:

1. Dwarf conifers:
2. Black pine "Nana";
3. Canadian spruce "Conica";
4. Dwarf coniferous shrubs:
5. Juniper horizontal "Blue Chip";
6. Juniper horizontal "Golden Carper";
7. Juniper Chinese "Expansa Variegata;
8. Thuja western "Danica", etc.

Among the evergreens, the most popular are:

• Saxifrage apiculata, etc.

When choosing shade-tolerant specimens, you should pay attention to:

Among creeping and creeping plants it is better to give preference to:

• Thyme downy-woolly;
• Lemon-scented thyme, etc.

The most popular ground covers include:

• Ayuga.

Alpine slide plants, photos and names

Perennials:

1. Plants for the alpine slide

   

   

   

   

   

2. Conifers:

   

   

   

   

3. Evergreens:
   

   

   

4. Shade-tolerant:
   

   

   

   

   

   

5. Creeping and creeping:
   

   

   

6. Ground covers:
   

   

   

   

Flowers for the Alpine slide, names and photos

Prices for plants for alpine slides

To find out exactly what the final cost of the alpine slide device will be, you need:

• Draw up a project that includes the size of the rock garden and the exact name and number of plants. Such a project can be ordered by professionals. This will cost you an average of 1000 rubles. If you decide to make a 3D visualization, then you will additionally have to pay another 1,500 rubles or more. In addition, here you also need to add the cost of a specialist’s visit to the facility - from 250 rubles for each km and 300 rubles for measuring each hundred square meters;
• Prepare the site. By doing it yourself, you can save money, but the workers will charge you from 300 rubles for each remote stump, 100 rubles for 1 square meter of layout;
• Make your own hill. The company takes an average of 2,500 rubles per square meter, and when planting coniferous or deciduous trees, you will have to pay approximately 20% of the cost of each.
• If there is a reservoir, then for its design it will be necessary to pay 250 rubles or more for each square, and its installation will cost about 2500 rubles per square meter.

Any garden or suburban area should have some special detail that distinguishes it from many others. Usually, some kind of picturesque corner, usually decorated in the power of wild nature, acts as such an object. For a long time, the so-called alpine slides have been very popular.

This is a unique design solution, created in the form of a sample of nature from the mountainous Alps: representatives of the flora of this region are located among stony soils and large boulders. Consider how you can organize the construction of an alpine slide in a temperate climate and what plants should be used for it.

Introduction

A typical view of an alpine hill

Rock garden with medium-sized plants

The place where the slide will be located is chosen in such a way that it can be clearly seen from different parts of the garden or plot. Most often, light-loving plants are used as plants on the hill, so it is necessary to think carefully about the lighting of this area.

Usually, when preparing places for a rock garden, they try to avoid shaded areas, as well as places located near buildings (especially household ones). In addition, there should be as few “unnatural” objects as possible near the slide, such as automatic watering systems or lanterns, since the combination of wildlife and the achievements of civilization is a bit dissonant.

Plants for rock garden can be selected based on two seemingly opposite criteria:

1. Alpine climate plants or as similar as possible to realize the most authentic Alpine landscape.
2. Arbitrary selection of plants, while using the "alpine" style of decoration using stones and boulders.

However, there is nothing seditious in using the latter method, since the purpose of creating an alpine slide is not so much a thorough repetition of the landscape, but rather the creation of a general mood and atmosphere thereof.

To be completely frank, the vegetation of the mountainous Alps is quite scarce and not all "original" plants will look very good in a modern garden.

Therefore, they strive to find plants for the rock garden that give approximately the same effect, and do not have the usual external similarity.

Alpine hill, decorated in the form of a terrace

For example, heather in the wild is not in itself a very attractive mountain plant.. But using Gold Hayes instead of wild heather can greatly improve the impression of the site. On the other hand, the use of sage instead of heather will make the slide even more decorative, although at the expense of "similarity".

Typical schemes

The approach to the design of each individual garden or summer cottage is an individual matter.. To facilitate the work of the owners of the plots, the designers have developed a number of standard solutions for building a rock garden. Traditionally, for certain standard solutions, both the planting scheme and their composition have already been thought out.

One of the layout options

Of course, this does not mean that you need to stick to only any chosen option to the nearest centimeter, and choose only the indicated plants. At any time, the standard solution can be reviewed and the necessary changes can be made to it.

Consider the most popular ways to implement alpine slides.

Rock

One of the simplest and most unpretentious options. It is widely distributed because its care is simple and easy. At the same time, its construction requires certain skills and the presence of at least the basics of the art of an architect. It is a relatively steep structure, mainly consisting of boulders.

Their size varies depending on the height of the building. The higher the level, the smaller their size.. At the very bottom are the largest and most massive boulders, in the middle - medium, and near the top - the smallest. Currently, the so-called "Czech rock" is widespread - an alpine hill with many cracks in the stones.

An example of the implementation of "Rocks"

The rock can often be decorated with various additional elements of the natural landscape, such as small ponds.. The use of artificial elements (figurines, casting, granite, etc.) is undesirable.

In such rock gardens, mountain plants are most often used. These are ferns, bluebells, fat women, etc. Of the larger plant forms, dwarf conifers (pines, arborvitae) or junipers are often used.

mountain slope

A structure that has a constant slope in either direction. Such a slope is usually completely covered with small stones. Large and medium stones can be used as separate elements or a limiting structure, however, most often they are located at the very top of the slope.

Considered to be a rather complex structure, because the vegetation (in particular, trees) is not just a decorative decoration of the slide, but also part of its structure. The role of trees is reduced to supporting the scree structure with the help of the root system and preventing it from spreading under its own weight and from the action of weather factors.

From the point of view of aesthetics, it is an alpine highland. Most often in this design there are dwarf conifers (pines, spruces, junipers); their root system is perfect for these tasks. It is best to place an alpine slide on an already existing natural slope, although it is possible to create a similar design artificially.

In addition to dwarf conifers and shrubs, creeping or cover plants are used in such rock gardens. You can use single plantings of both small and large mountain plants - from crocus to barberry.

At the same time, in such designs, too obvious vertical accents are not used.- no tall trees and columnar and pyramidal plants.

mountain valley

Such rock gardens are used to create landscape objects with natural stones. imitating a valley in the highlands. Their design is a horizontal, often almost flat surface with the use of boulders of various sizes and shapes. They can be either part of some structures, or randomly distributed over the rock garden area.

A distinctive feature of this implementation of the rock garden is the use of boulders of the same type, and best of all from one batch to create the effect of maximum naturalness. Vegetation for such a rock garden can use tree and shrub groups that have different heights.

The use of relatively tall plants on such slides, although not welcome, is quite acceptable.. They are most often used around the perimeter as hedges, but can be used as single plants.

In such cases, most often all possible herbs of the highlands are used.. It is these structures that are preferred when organizing continuously flowering zones. Plants are selected according to the timing of flowering and planted in such a way that beautiful and bright flowers are constantly present in the "mountain valley". Moreover, this can be done throughout the warm season (from early flowering crocuses to late flowering Septembers).

The general background of such slides is most often either low-growing ground cover or creeping plants., or stones covered with mosses.

Other forms of rock gardens

Terrace decoration

The considered designs represent, as it were, the basis for the construction of alpine slides. The rest of the designs in one form or another are their variations.

These include:

1. Terraces– usually a gentle slope with a clearer breakdown by levels or steps is used.
2. ravines- analogues of talus or rocks, but formed in the vertical direction not up, but down. The narrow version of the ravine is called the gorge.
3. stone wall- a rock garden, which is practically a vertical flower bed made of stone.
4. Mountain Creek- a rock garden of any of the types considered, designed using a directed flow of water flowing down a special channel. Often, at the foot of the hill, the stream flows into an impromptu pond.
5. Swamp- an alpine hill with waterlogged soil and plants corresponding to such soil. Option - the location of the pond in the center of the rock garden, but at the same time the pond is planted with marsh plants, and surrounded by mountain stones along the perimeter; the rest of the vegetation corresponds to the mountainous landscape.
6. Japanese garden- an attempt to combine a rock garden and a Japanese rock garden. Minimalism in the choice of plants and the repetition of Japanese stone aesthetics.
7. Miniature slides- a finished composition, representing a kind of DIY kit, extremely fashionable lately. It consists of artificial replicas of stone and other materials, soil and plants, as well as a large plastic trough that can accommodate it all. Thus, you can make a miniature alpine slide in this trough even at room conditions. There are various versions of artificial miniature slides, focused on a wide range of customers.

As you can see, rock gardens have a large number of options for the implementation of that part of them that relates to inanimate nature. The plants that inhabit the alpine hill, in order to maintain the overall integrity and completeness of the composition, must be designed in a certain style.

The main thing in it is the use of mountain plants or species that are as similar as possible to them in appearance. Consider the various groups of plants used in rock gardens, and also describe the characteristic representatives of a particular group.

Plants for rock garden

cover plants

It would be a mistake to assume that there should be bare stone on the lowest tier of the alpine hill. Such reasoning will be appropriate for structures like the Japanese "rock garden" and, perhaps, that's all. It is unlikely that anyone would want to take a lot of space in the center of the composition just to pave it with stones. It's not a city square.

Stones in rock gardens perform a separating function, and large spaces between them need to be filled with something. Cover plants are the best solution for this - they evenly fill the lowest level of the slide composition, making it elegant.

The vast majority of cover plants have small flowers. Some do not possess them at all, but their foliage is decorative enough to be used as a decoration for the lower levels.

The plant thrives on stony soils where most other plants cannot survive. Growing, it is able to cover large areas of rocky and rocky surfaces.

It has many colors and forms of petals. Flowering time also differs from late April to early autumn. In total there are about 400 species, so you can choose a plant with almost any parameters.

Rezuha

Rezuha

Another name is arabis. It is considered one of the universal perennials for slides.. In addition to its decorative properties, it is also a honey plant. It decorates the hill not only during flowering, since the leaves themselves are quite decorative.

Another name for this plant is stone rose. A very popular cover in the design of rock gardens. It has different colors and shapes. Unpretentious in cultivation, thanks to the leaves, like those of succulents, it is able to feed on the moisture accumulated in them for a long time.

The plant tolerates winter well, in addition, depending on the season, it can change color. In summer it is traditionally green, in autumn it can be red or burgundy.

sedum

sedum

There are two forms of this plant: herbaceous and shrubby. They have umbrella inflorescences and the whole gamut of petal color. They grow equally well both in the sun and in the shade.

Blooms depending on the variety in summer or autumn. They reproduce very well, they are able to cover large areas for several years or even months due to vegetative propagation. In addition, stonecrop is capable of seed reproduction. In the absence of control from the owners, they can become a monoculture. Continuous growth control is required.

Read also:

• Stonecrop: types and varieties for growing at home and in open ground. Rules for planting and caring for a succulent plant (110+ Photos & Videos) + Reviews

Creeping and creeping

H and at first glance it might seem that there is no difference between cover and creeping plants. Indeed, both are located on the lowest tier of the alpine hill, both are undersized, both types, as a rule, have small flowers, etc.

But, in this case, we are talking about a fundamental difference. The overwhelming majority of cover plants are ordinary flattened bushes.. That is, where there is no possibility for the location of the root system, there simply will not be a plant. And, therefore, in these places there will be nothing to cover the lower layer of stones.

Creeping plants, due to the fact that most of their shoots lie on the ground, are capable of covering much larger areas with their vegetation from one root than cover ones. This is especially important in rock gardens, due to the fact that, due to the large number of stones, the access of plants to the soil is significantly limited.

The second important advantage of creeping plants is the possibility of full or partial braiding of large boulders and other landscape objects. Such methods of using creeping plants make it possible to obtain beautiful and unique objects.

A plant that many consider a weed. This is not surprising, due to the growth rate of its shoots, fantastic unpretentiousness and very fast reproduction rates by all available means.

At the same time, periwinkle is one of the best creeping plants due to the large number of beautiful blue-violet flowers. The purpose of such plants in rock gardens is to braid the gaps between the stones and the unsightly elements of the slide design with a green mass. In addition, many design options involve, for example, the use of large boulders, completely entwined with plants.

Of all the creeping ones, the periwinkle will do the best.

A low growing shrub with both straight and creeping stems. Leaves are round or oval. Plant height rarely exceeds 30 cm. If standing shoots are removed in time, the height of the thyme layer will be small. Flowering occurs in August and early September.

Despite the large number of species, they are all very similar to each other and there are no obvious differences in shape or color. The most common shades are purple and pink.

plant of the rose family. It is a semi-shrub perennial. The flowering period of the plant falls at the beginning of summer. There are several flowers on the stem, and their total number is quite large. With a relatively loose planting, due to the flowers, the leaves are not even visible.

It is used mainly as a creeping plant, since the flexible stems are able to lie almost 20-30 cm on the ground before they raise the flowers to the Sun. Spreads very quickly, requires regular growth restrictions.

In temperate climates, it is distributed almost everywhere. He does not like both extreme cold and extreme heat. It feels best in coniferous forests, so in rock gardens it will be optimal to plant it next to coniferous ones. On the alpine hills, Fortune's euonymus is most widely used.

On the sunny side, the euonymus grows in breadth much better than in height, which allows it to be used as a cover plant. However, it needs regular loosening of the soil, which slightly limits its use in rock gardens.

In addition, to preserve moisture, the soil under it is desirable to mulch. It is a poisonous plant. Care must be taken when working with roots and leaves.

Read also:

Two types are best suited for these purposes: juniper horizontal and Blue Forest variety. Both grow no more than 20-30 cm in height, but can grow up to a meter wide. They have green or bluish-green needles, in winter the color changes to burgundy.

They are undemanding to the composition of the soil, but do not like excessive dryness of both soil and air. The first 2-3 years of life have a slow growth, but then they grow very strongly. In order for the plant to have dense branches, it should be cut annually, first of all, long shoots.

Tall plants (for upper levels)

The largest representatives of the rock garden flora, in fact, may not be present on it. These are either residents of the boundary levels of the alpine hill, or special attention concentrators, “catching” a quick glance of the visitor and then transferring him to the rock garden itself.

The boundary level is understood as either the background of the rock garden, or the beginning of some kind of structure inside it.. If your slide does not aim to stand out strongly from the surrounding landscape, there is no particular need for them.

But what kind of alpine landscape is possible without representatives, for example, conifers? In addition, you need to understand that a rock garden is not just a flower bed, the composition of which can be easily and quickly changed from season to season.

It is quite complex both in design and manufacture, and its life cycle is at least 5-7 years. Therefore, the selection of the main inhabitants of the rock garden should be done very scrupulously.

The ideal choice in this case would be slow-growing perennials. Coniferous species have an advantage, since they help to solve two problems at once. First, they are natural representatives of rocky soils and mountain landscapes. And secondly, most conifers have a high decorative effect and the ability to attract attention.

As an alternative to conifers, you can use either some evergreen shrubs or trees., having some resemblance to them, or some beautiful decorative perennials, suitable for growth or general impression.

It is an evergreen or deciduous shrub, devoid of thorns. You can often find tree-like varieties of cotoneaster. It has medium-sized oblong leaves that change color throughout the year. In summer, the color of the leaves is dark green, in winter it is dark burgundy. Cotoneaster growth can reach up to 5 m, however, in most cases it is from 1.2 to 1.5 m.

Prefers slightly acidic soils, tolerates drought well. Due to its decorative effect, cotoneaster can be used as a single and as a group plant for creating hedges. Possessing a developed root system, it can be used to strengthen the rock garden of the "slope" type. Cotoneaster blooms in June-July, and its fruits, which are red berries, appear by September.

The plant is slow growing, but young shoots can grow significantly from season to season. Therefore, to maintain the plant in proper appearance, regular pruning is recommended. Evergreens are pruned in the middle of spring, and deciduous - at the end of winter, when there may still be snow and negative temperatures.

Picking up plants for an alpine slide is not as easy as it seems. Usually, these are low, small-leaved varieties with beautiful flowers or decorative leaves. You can grow valuable specimens yourself from seeds, because it is rather difficult to find them on sale.

The best choice for an alpine slide will be low-growing perennials and annuals, which are native to the highlands.

They are undemanding to the quality of the soil, resistant to lack of moisture, winds and frosts.

For an alpine slide, such plants are suitable:

• dwarf conifers;
• juvenile breakwater with pink flowers;
• silky prolomnik with white flowers;
• spoon-leaved bell with miniature snow-white flowers, similar to lilies of the valley;
• houstonia with bright blue flowers-stars;
• globularia, a miniature flower that looks like cornflowers;
• carnation alpine, pink;
• edryanthus creeping, blue;
• delosperm twisted, with bright yellow flowers;
• wing stamen round-leaved;
• gentian Koch with flowers-potefionchik;
• veronica;
• small-flowered, blooming with small white daisies;
• alpine grains;
• snowy edelweiss;
• Shamiso bell;
• mertensia alpine;
• levisia cotyledon, delicate flowers of cream, hot pink, white;
• primrose mountain;
• breaker Carnea;
• chorispore Brunge;
• Carpathian bell.

When choosing plants, you should consider where the rock garden is located - in the shade or in the sun. Shade-tolerant crops are suitable for a shaded area, sun-loving ones are planted in a well-lit area.

In addition to similar requirements for growing conditions, flowers for an alpine hill should be combined in color and height. The intensity of growth of the inhabitants of the rock garden should be slowed down, otherwise it will soon become like an ordinary flower bed.

Annual plants for rock garden

Annuals can be planted every year in a new place, changing the design of the rock garden. They decorate the hill with their bright flowering, bringing variety and filling the air with aroma.

• Ageratum - flowers, similar to small chrysanthemums of various colors, bloom very luxuriantly from mid-June until frost. A heat-loving plant, therefore it is grown as an annual.
• Astra is an unpretentious flower. Undersized varieties are suitable for an alpine slide. Easily propagated by self-seeding, so wilted inflorescences need to be cut.
• Bartonia is an annual with yellow flowers about 5 cm in diameter. It blooms from mid-summer to September. Flowers have a pleasant aroma, close in cloudy weather, photophilous.
• Delosperma is profusely flowering - a ground cover with pinkish-lilac flowers-stars. A thermophilic plant that grows well in the sun, likes frequent watering.
• Chinese carnation - perennial flowers that are grown as annuals in central Russia. There are varieties with different colors of inflorescences.

Long-flowering beautiful annuals also include: snapdragon, purslane, nolan, brachicoma, dimorphoteca, marigolds.

What to plant on an alpine hill from perennials

On sale you can find perennial flowers for rock gardens, most often they will have to be grown from seeds. Unique varieties and various hybrids are in the collections of breeders. The initially poor vegetation of the Alps has changed beyond recognition thanks to the efforts of flower growers.

• Azorella trifork is a groundcover with glossy bright green leaves resembling spruce. In summer, it blooms with yellow spherical inflorescences, forms a continuous dense carpet, flows around the rock garden stones and repeats all the unevenness of the soil.
• Aquilegia is a beautiful flower of various colors, the corolla of which consists of two rows of petals. Shade-tolerant and unpretentious plant. For rock gardens, undersized varieties are chosen; they go well with other flowers in the flower bed.
• Badan - grows well in rocky rock gardens, it has leaves with an original ornament and pink flowers. Maintains shady places, without losing a form and decorative effect.
• Galanthus - primroses. Another name is snowdrops, in nature these flowers are listed in the Red Book, the only chance to admire, plant in your rock garden.
• Globularia dwarf. It blooms in late spring or early summer with blue spherical flowers. Requires soil rich in calcium with good drainage.

The following are also popular: rocky alissum, obrieta, felt snail, phloxes, styloid bryozoan, lungwort, stonecrop, young, rezuha, filamentous yucca, tulips, crocuses, hyacinths.

Plants for rock garden blooming all summer

In the composition of plants on a rocky flowerbed, those that bloom all summer always look advantageous.

Among annual undersized flowers, you can choose:

• nemophila;
• ageratum;
• petunia;
• iberis annual;
• night violet;
• marigold;
• purslane.

No less beautiful are perennial flowers that bloom in early summer and bloom until cold weather:

• styloid phlox;
• daisies;
• ever flowering begonia.

Carnation, twisted delosperma, veronica, ageratum are also distinguished by long flowering.

Layout of stones and plants

The shape of the alpine slide can be different. The placement of stones and plants on it will depend on the chosen project.

The basis of a high alpine slide is the number of storeys. The height of the upper tier is made no more than 50 cm from the ground surface. If the hill is higher, perennials can freeze in winter.

Device steps:

1. Pour a large amount of sand with gravel. If the ground is soft, gravel add more. A high sand base is made in the shape of a trapezoid.
2. Arrange stones-accents, the largest and heaviest. They should look natural, as if they always lay in the place where they were laid.
3. Then the rest, smaller stones are placed. They should match in color, and be the same in structure.
4. After the upper tier of the alpine slide, the lower one is laid, making a couple of large stones the accents of the composition.
5. When the flower bed is geometrically correct, some sand is selected from each tier, and fertile soil is added.
6. Planting plants.

It is undesirable to fertilize plants growing on an alpine hill - they grow strongly and lose their dwarf appearance.

For the construction of a rock garden in the form of a rock, a steep structure is created, consisting mainly of boulders. The largest stones are placed at the bottom, then the medium-sized ones, and at the top - the smallest ones. For such rock gardens, ferns, crassula, bluebells, junipers and dwarf conifers are suitable.

Mountain slopes are built mainly from small stones. Large boulders are used as accents and design limiters. You can plant dwarf trees and shrubs with a well-developed root system on an alpine hill to strengthen the soil. Creeping ground cover plants are also used.

Rock garden in the form of a mountain valley is made in the form of a flat structure using stones of various sizes and shapes. They are placed in a creative mess, but so that the stones match in color and look natural. Mountain forbs, undersized conifers, bright and beautiful flowers are used as plants. As a background, groundcovers go.