Alpine slide: an overview of the best ideas and the most beautiful design options (85 photos)

An alpine slide in the country is not only a fashionable attribute of landscape design, but also a great way to break up a flower garden on a plot with sandy or rocky soil, as well as to make the house territory original and individual.

The presence of irregularities on the site will simplify the task of creating a rock garden, because it usually has the form of a rocky hill, mountain slope or ravine completely covered with pads of flowers, grasses and mosses.

Creating such an element of decor on a private plot is not as easy as it seems. Therefore, this article contains a complete step-by-step instruction for beginners about creating an alpine slide.

Summary of the article:

When choosing a place for an alpine flower bed, it is necessary to take into account such factors as the combination of height and shape with the existing landscape, distance from the farm. buildings, playgrounds, etc., sufficient sunlight and wind insulation.

It is better to choose a place where the flower garden will be visible from all sides of the plot. Flower beds with lush and bright blooms and perennial shrubs and trees that can obscure the light when they grow should not grow near the selected site.

Also, when choosing a place, you should think about the organization of irrigation, the arrangement of the drainage system and pay attention to the type of soil.

Stage 2 – Drainage system

A drainage system is simply necessary on clay soils and when planting plants for which stagnation of water in the ground is not desirable and even destructive. Therefore, to begin the construction of an alpine slide, in order to avoid stagnation of water, it is worth digging a pit of the required size and shape.

After removing the top layer of soil, the pit is covered with a layer of crushed stone, pebbles or broken bricks. A sand cushion and a layer of earth are laid on an organized drainage, after which the site must be well shed, and give the soil time to shrink and dry. And only after shrinkage can you start laying stones.

Stage 3 – Selection and laying of stones

When choosing stones, you should think about how to make an alpine slide as natural as possible, natural, close to natural reliefs. To achieve this effect, you should not use many different breeds, it is better to take stones and boulders of different sizes, but of the same breed – so the flowerbed will be as similar as possible to the prototype from the wild.

The size of the stones depends on the scale of your project – boulders are suitable for a large slide, and small stones for a compact one.

For the device of an alpine slide with your own hands, you should not choose porous rocks that easily absorb moisture, such as shell rock and dolomite. But ordinary natural granite is perfect, in addition, there are stones that have rich colors and an interesting pattern.

Decorative sandstone is also often used, it is easy to process, so you can give it a shape that matches your idea. Suitable for creating an alpine slide such rocks as basalt, organic limestone, jasper, forest boulder, serpentine, travertine, quartz, serpentinite, elbrus, etc.

Having selected the stones, we proceed to laying, it is important not to adhere to any specific schemes, clear geometric shapes and symmetry. The main thing is to achieve maximum naturalness, because in the wild the stones are arranged chaotically.

The rock garden stones should be installed, starting from the largest around, along the perimeter, to the smaller ones in the center. When installing, the stones should be dug into the ground, and if necessary, the boulders are reinforced with crushed stone so that they do not swing.

Small stones must be positioned so that precipitation cannot wash them away. Alpine slides are laid out in several tiers, the largest boulder symbolizes the top of the mountain, so it is better to choose a cone-shaped one.

The stones should be installed chaotically, periodically stepping aside and examining the composition from all viewed angles. The slide should attract the eye even without planted plants, when you have achieved this effect, it means that the flowerbed is ready.

Of course, a place for planting plants should be left between the stones, and the crevices and platforms for planting plants should be covered with fertile soil. When the ground under the stacked boulders settles, you can start planting plants.

Stage 4 — Selection and planting of plants

When choosing plants for an alpine slide, you need to consider the following factors:

unpretentiousness – plants that take root well in any climate and soil will facilitate the care of an Alpine flower garden;
you should choose low-growing and perennial shrubs that will not grow over time, and will not cover the entire hill;
the cohabitability of the selected species next to each other;
to make the rock garden pleasing to the eye all year round, it is worth combining coniferous plants with decorative deciduous ones. And they, in turn, will make the composition original even in the absence of colors.

In the classic version, miniature trees and shrubs are usually planted, for example, mountain pine or juniper, as well as perennial herbs and flowers, such as oregano, shakes, lavender or lilies of the valley.

To give naturalness and durability, different types of plants should be combined:

Flowers for the alpine slide should be chosen based on the duration and period of flowering. Small-bulbous flowers, like stunted tulips, scylla or crocuses, will delight you in spring. In the future, they will be replaced by barberry, buttercups, carnation, edelweiss, phlox, saxifrage or even decorative strawberries. Yaskolka, Himalayan geranium, borachok, and timelessness also bloom beautifully.

Onion and club-onion will please with their long flowering. Snowdrop, crested, clivia, babiana, tecophilea, dwarf irises and dahlias.

Groundcover place on the slopes of their strong root system will prevent the erosion of the hill. These include the ferns and Euphorbia, Ajuga and young geyhera and stahis.

Grasses should be stunted, they act as a background and juicy decoration of the slide during the period when the flowers are no longer blooming, highlander, erica, alyssum, kovyl, esholz will do.

Shrubs and dwarf trees require the most spacious plots, so they are planted first. Among them may be dryad, Korean fir, birch bark, spirea, dogwood

Moss and lichen bring the flower garden closer to the wild, limestone is suitable for their growth. You can transplant moss from the forest, for this purpose the earth collected from the moss pads is ground in a blender with 2 tablespoons of sugar and 200g of kefir, smeared with a mixture of stones on which moss is planted.

Stage 5 — Rock garden care

Having finished landscaping on the site chosen for the Alpine slide, its creation cannot be considered complete, in order for the created beauty to please you for a long time, it must be properly cared for.

During the first year, it will be necessary to pour the soil washed out by precipitation several times, it may be necessary to strengthen the stones.

Plants need watering, and fertilizing with fertilizers that do not cause strong growth, it is not necessary to overfeed the plants so that they do not outgrow.

It is also necessary to remove faded flowers, damaged and dry leaves. Treatment of plants from pests and treatment of plants is carried out if necessary.

Creating an alpine slide requires a long time and planning, it is better to prepare drainage and laying stones in the fall, and planting plants in the spring, after complete shrinkage of the earth. To create a beautiful and maximally natural composition, do not use artificial decor, and also pre-view photos of Alpine slides made by professionals.

Inspired to create a rock garden with your own hands, you can add variety to the landscape design of the infield and give it uniqueness, you just have to trust your imagination.