Alpine slide his hands: from the preparation and selection of the material to create a

Alpine hills often built on an uneven terrain areas. A beautiful arrangement of rocks and decorative plants is not only able to mask the differences of soil level, but also become the focal point of the entire landscape composition.

Of course, when creating an alpine slide, you can rely on your sense of style. And yet the recommendations from experts worth listening to, and the most important of which I will mention in this article.

To create such beauty, it is necessary to work hard

varieties slides

Rockeries - a variant in which the principal is not the plants and stones

Creating an alpine slide his hands - and the task is simple and complex at the same time. The technology itself is not difficult: it is enough to lay a few stones, cover them with soil and planted plants. But to this building looked really nice and fits well into the site design, have all be carefully considered.

Low embodiment along the track

To begin see what is an alpine slide as such. It is based on exactly the stones arranged in a certain order - they form a key line of landscaping. Plants also play the role of decoration, "diluting" the picture with bright colors and a focus on individual elements of the slide.

design options

Naturally, if the pile stones without any system, the slide will not work - will be just a bunch of stones. Because before you look for the material and choose a plant, you need to think about how the object will look like. Beginners should focus on one of the classical solutions:

Rock garden on a slope

It looks like "Czech Skalka"

Mountain slope along the ladder

Wall of large stones

Of course, not all kinds of alpine (rock gardens) can be realized on the sites. That is why it is desirable to initially explore the territory, you will be ennobling, pick a place for the creation of slides, and only then decide how it will look decorative object.

terraced hill

Another terraced rock garden

Preparing for a device

Selecting a location

A place to create alpine garden is easy to choose: the size of these objects are relatively small. As a rule, lay a rock garden in the open area in the center or on the edge of the lawn.

Projecting slides in the program for landscaping

Strict requirements to the place of the device is not present, but some suggestions are present:

1. Place setting stones are selected in such a way as to slide a good view either from the terrace or in the gazebo or in the recreation area.
2. plot size should be proportional to the size of the rock garden is too big hill will look ugly, too little - "lost" in the open space.

Ideally, if you can select a single angle

1. To design object looked as attractive as possible, it is desirable to place it away from the flower beds. Beauty natural slides, and therefore on the background of decorative flowers rock garden can look "dull".
2. To avoid damage to the roller coaster, it is advisable to install it at a distance from the farm buildings, pens with livestock and poultry, as well as children's playgrounds.

This landscape design, too, has a right to exist

1. Other wishes I would consider good lighting (no shading from tall trees, shrubs and walls of houses), as well as access to water for irrigation. Despite the simplicity, the plants on a rocky building still need to take care of!

Mini rock garden porch

Yet here, as elsewhere in the landscape design in the first place there is harmony. Only after careful study of the site can find the ideal place to pick up an optimum shape for the rock garden.

Stones and other decor

Alpine hill at the cottage with your own hands can be made from a variety of stones.

It rocks form the basis of this structure, because their choice is to approach with all responsibility:

Rounded boulders and rocks with smooth edges look more attractive

1. Device for rock garden desirable to take stones of irregular shape, with traces of erosion effects. Of course, Freshly material is also nice, but in this case, the slide will appear "in all its glory" in a couple of years, when the wind and the water is smooth out the bumps.

Stones in a single color (as pictured) look much more organic

1. In the design, it is desirable to use the stones of one species and one color. It allowed the use of minerals in different shades: so we will be able to simulate the natural stratification of the rocky slope or the rock wall.

Coquina - ideal substrate for growing succulents

1. It is best suited for our purpose such rocks as granite, limestone, shell rock or sandstone. You can also use the more rare and therefore more expensive travertine, gneiss, basalt, quartz, etc.

Using plates of sandstone as the base

1. When selecting stones need to pay attention to their origin. You can not use the material for a long time lain on industrial sites or along the roads. large amount of heavy metals and other toxins at their surface and accumulate in the pores, which will inevitably fall into the soil.

Crushed stone is ideal for our purposes

To create a medium-sized hill near her house, we need about tons of stones. Nasobirat such amount can not everywhere, and bring-unload (with the proviso that a large boulder can weigh over 100 kg) is also difficult.

Because worth to ask in advance, where appropriate mined stone in your area, and buy material from the manufacturer. Practice shows that the amount obtained acceptable - at any rate, much lower than in the order in the company engaged in a landscape design.

selection of plants

Plants growing between boulders rock garden must meet a number of requirements:

Unpretentious types - perfect

1. Small size.
2. Not too intensive growth.
3. Many years of development.
4. Rather slow and non-aggressive reproduction.
5. Unpretentiousness to the soil and climatic conditions.

In other words, plants for the alpine slides should be as similar to those species that grow on the rocky outcrops in nature.

Plant location on the hill

Typically, these kinds of plants have good resistance to the external environment and can exist in the harsh mountain climate. But if we arrange a rock garden in the temperate zone, the species diversity and can expand by choosing plants with less resistance and the best decorative qualities.

Landing ideal ground cover species and succulents

For the first time choosing plants for the alpine slide, beginners can use the table:

Examples of plants for different portions rock garden

Of course, this is not all of the options available for planting on slopes alpine slide. A variety of plants suitable for decorating the landscape of this element is very large - so you can always create a unique design.

Ephedra, despite its simplicity, it is not necessary to plant

When selecting plants need to remember another rule. If you have children, it is desirable to give up planter with poisonous berries or simply inedible. Thus, the unwanted will privet, ephedra, crow eyes, some nightshade, etc. outwardly, they very attractive, but accidentally eating one or two berries can cause serious poisoning.

Create slides

Laying foundation

The general scheme of work

When all you need we have, you can begin to create a rock garden with his own hands.

Will work on such a scheme:

Variant forming slides on the flat surface

1. The cords of the selected location mark up the site for the installation of stones. When marking start from the relation: lifting slides in height by 20 cm is necessary to lay the foundation of at least 1 m in diameter. Thus, for low structures from 0.5 to 1 m is necessary to lay the groundwork diameter of 2.5 to 5 m.
2. Markings on digging a trench depth of 0.5 to 1 m The more our hill -. The deeper the pit we need.

Foundation pit with brick blind area around the perimeter

When digging turf cut away and Storage of alone - here it will not be needed, because it can be used for the improvement of other areas. But fertile upper soil layer can be used to create mixtures for landing plants.

1. And the foundation soil and excavated soil is cleaned from the roots of weeds and treated with herbicide. This is done to prevent the germination of plants with strong root system, which can destroy the rock garden inside.

For drainage use pebbles, gravel or expanded clay

1. At the bottom of the pit fall asleep drainage - gravel, pebbles, crushed ceramic brick, concrete block, etc. thickness drainage layer should be calculated so that its upper edge is approximately 20 cm from edge excavation.

sand bedding

1. drainage fall asleep on top of 5 cm of coarse sand. Podsypku moisturizes and rammed.
2. Next, laid at least 15 cm of fertile soil. For this mold, extract with excavation is mixed with peat and sawdust, by adding a small amount of sifted sand.

Laying stones

1. In principle, you can use a special potting soil for alpine plants. But it is worth it is expensive, because I prefer to use it in small quantities exclusively for gap filling and "pockets" between the stones.

Rock garden during formation

1. Now we proceed to the formation of the slides. First laid large stones, buried in their fertile layer and relying on a sandy base. Then put in the gaps smaller fragments of rock, trying to combine natural beauty with stacking reliability.

It is highly desirable that these stones were kept exclusively by its own weight. Of course, used for fixing solution nobody forbids, but the composition will look not so impressive. And the service life of the solution in such an environment will be small, so that it is wrong folded slide starts to crumble with time.

It is desirable that the rock garden without plants wintered

1. The gaps between the stones fall asleep fertile mixture. Primer designed planter, thicken and moisturizing of the atomizer.

All operations described in this section of the paper, it is desirable to perform before the first frost. After that, the rock garden leave for the winter: during this time the stones will settle and form a roller coaster "foundations". In addition, the cold vymerznut remains of weeds in the soil.

Landing of plants

Process planter

The following spring, you can start planting the plants.

Instructions are very simple:

1. The chosen location dig a shallow hole. Dig is best not vertically but at an angle to the slope of the plane - so the root system will be oriented in an inclined plane and provide a more firmly established plants.

Proper planting pattern

At the bottom you can put a medium-sized stone or gravel to fill a little bit. Roots will cling to the rocks, and the plant will not slip down the slope.

1. Seedling should be laid in the hole, straighten roots, and sprinkle the ground. The soil around the root collar lightly tamped.

Transplanting plants from the pot into the hole

1. If you do not want the bulbs away on a slope, they should be planted with limiter. For this purpose, the easiest way to use a plastic bottle with a cut-throat and perforated bottom, ceramic pot without a bottom, etc.

Pot to limit sprawl

1. Planted plants watered. For this pour a small amount of water just above the landing site. Flowing down the slope, the liquid will gradually seep to the roots.
2. After watering the soil around the plant mulching fine gravel.

Slide in the first year after planting

sprawling rock garden

conclusion

Garden slides can be a real portion decoration. Above tells what you need to lay the rock garden and the method works is described in detail. More information can be obtained by viewing the video in this article and ask questions in the comments.