How to arrange an alpine hill on the site with your own hands

How to arrange an alpine hill on a site

The rocky mountain slopes, decorated with a scattering of flower islands, represent an unforgettable picture that you want to admire again and again. You don’t even need to go on a long trip for this. For hardworking owners with imagination, an alpine slide with their own hands can quickly appear on a summer cottage. It is only necessary to provide all the nuances.

Content

• Create an alpine hill step by step

• Choose a location
• Preparatory work
• Decorative rocky part of the structure

We select plants for rock garden

Alpine slide with a waterfall

Additional decorations

Create an alpine hill step by step

Choose a location

The height of the structure can reach 3 meters, but the dimensions of the allotment must be taken into account. For a large area there are no restrictions for a fantasy flight: an alpine hill can occupy a decent area along which paths and steps will pass, or a very small island with a couple of three stones. And in a country house of modest size, it is worth highlighting an area not exceeding 2.5 m2. Otherwise, it may not be decoration, but piling up.

When choosing a place you should not focus on the north. Better to choose south or east. Heat-loving plants will feel very comfortable, and this is a wonderful place to relax. It is important that the structure is visible from all sides, and not “hide” behind a house or gazebo. Because an alpine hill is usually the most beautiful place in landscape design.

If the site is located on a slope, then there is nothing special to come up with. It is enough to beautifully “scatter” stones and plant plants. But you can position the structure on a horizontal surface. Then the key to success will be good drainage.

Preparatory work

Start work in the early fall. By this time, the scheme of the alpine hill (with its own hands it is being built or not) should be displayed on paper. If a large area (more than 10 m2) is allocated for the arrangement, you should mark the location of garden paths, bridges, passages. The practical part takes several stages.

• A 40 cm thick soil layer is removed on the allotted territory.
• 1/4 of the depth is covered with rubble, broken bricks and other construction waste. It is not recommended to use white silicate brick and wooden waste. In the earth they quickly decay.
• Then, the removed soil should be mixed with gravel and coarse sand in a ratio of 3: 1: 1 and form a hill. The soil should be pre-treated with herbicides, because it is very difficult to fight weeds that will break through between stones.

Important! Each layer is abundantly watered and tamped.

Decorative rocky part of the structure

For the installation of an alpine hill with your own hands, any stones will do. They can be approximately the same in size and color or create a colorful picture. In any case, there is a suitable option. A good helper will be a lot of photos of Alpine slides with their own hands. On their basis, you can create your own unique design.

It is interesting! Stones of soft rocks (shell rock, limestone, calcite) pass moisture and air well, but over time they are destroyed. Cobblestone and granite do not lose their qualities in high humidity, but not all plants like this “neighborhood”. Nevertheless, the second option is better for an alpine hill. Such stones look beautiful and do not create barriers for the arrangement of a reservoir.

Remember!

• Chipped blocks do not fit well into the surrounding landscape.
• In a small area, large boulders form a pile.
• Stacked stones should not swing.

Stones should be distributed on the hill in a chaotic manner, then the design will look natural. They are buried in the ground with the flat side so that a smaller part remains on the surface. Then for 3 weeks the work is suspended to shrink all the components of the slide.

Alternatively, coarse pebbles can be used to create individual elements or the entire rocky part of the slide..

We select plants for rock garden

For plants, prepare fertile soil and fill it with the space between the stones. You can make holes by pouring an additional layer of gravel to the bottom for drainage, then soil.

Important! If you oversaturate the soil with fertilizers, the plants will begin to quickly retract, depriving the structure of the intended beauty.

Seedlings must be selected so that the rock garden is in flowers in the spring, and summer, and autumn. Coniferous plants will be a wonderful addition. When choosing tree species, it is necessary to provide for their final dimensions.

Perennials create the foundation and will delight the eye for several seasons. And annuals can be used as an inexpensive design change option. Different plant groups should be selected..

• Carpet or ground cover spread over the site, forming a decorative rug with creeping shoots. This is St. John’s wort, daisy, yarrow, Veronica, alpine strawberries, thyme.
• Rosettes require more attention, but are the most beautiful elements of an alpine hill. These are cuffs, levisia, orostahis, younger.

At the top you can arrange juniper, mountain pine, thuja, cotoneaster. They will decorate the structure year-round. Wormwood and ferns are suitable for a cliff. Permanent “residents” of the Alpine hills are edelweiss and gentian. Stonecrop grows on any soil and is completely unpretentious. Fern ossicle looks very beautiful.

In March, the primrose blooms, in April and May, the saxifrage, the cinquefoil are large-flowered, the wolfberry boletus. From May to September, the bell of Poskharsky blooms. It is white, blue, pink and purple. And September-October will color the blue gentian Chinese.

Alpine slide with a waterfall

The best option is an alpine slide with a waterfall, which is also easy to do with your own hands. The harmony of stones, flowers and water creates a wonderful place for rest and relaxation. You can admire such a design endlessly. In order to make a waterfall, you need to add a few additional actions.

• After marking the area, dig a pit. For the reservoir, you can use any household utensils, rough film. The future pond is first filled with water, and then set using the level.
• The space around the tank is covered with sand and pebbles in several layers, each of which is abundantly watered and compacted.
• Stones for the cascade should be chosen flat. They are easier to mount. The design should be slightly tilted back, but so that visually this is not noticeable.
• Fastening is carried out using cement mortar or polyurethane foam. Remains should be removed and masked with small pebbles or other elements..
• A pump is installed at the bottom, the power of which depends on the height of the cascade (a suitable option will be selected in the store).
• The hose is masked between the stones and held to the top point..

You can install it anywhere – the water does not cloud in the shade or in the sun. But in the first case, the choice of plants will be limited, but you really want to shade gray stones with bright colors of flowers. Water-loving plants are planted at the reservoir. You can decorate the pond itself and the surrounding area..

A rock garden with a waterfall brings additional troubles. Water must be completely drained several times during the season, the container must be cleaned of leaves and dirt, and the pump filter must be changed. But the pacification, which brings calm murmur of water, fully compensates for the expended energy..

Additional decorations

For an alpine hill, lighting should be provided so that its beauty reveals itself in a new way at dusk. The best option would be solar-powered lights. For their functioning it is not necessary to lay a cable and consume electricity. The battery charges during the day and illuminates the area at night. And waterproof models can be placed right in the pond.

Do not forget about the bench. In the adjacent territory, a place must be found for her. A wooden model cut out of their logs or driftwood will harmoniously look. For extra comfort, you can provide pillows that will become another step to true bliss..

The whole charm of the Alpine slide is that there are no two identical options. Each design is universal. Making an alpine slide with your own hands brings great joy, especially if the whole family is involved in the process. After all, you can independently come up with a model and create a “pearl” of the landscape.