Alpine slide in the garden or on personal plot allows you to realize the dream of a harmonious oasis, in which living and inanimate nature perfectly combine with each other. The decorative effect of the rock garden consists of a whole compositional ensemble of inaccessible and cold stones and lush flowering green spaces with their own special energy. Artificially created mountain slopes, decorated with calm greenery, allow you to feel like a conqueror of mountain peaks and enjoy their unique beauty.
There are many types of alpine slides and you can choose what suits your resources and preferences best. But creating a “highlight” in your garden in the form of a rock garden is not just about laying flat stones around the area; you need to spend a lot of time, patience and effort to achieve a finished image and obtain a high-quality result. There are several basic rules that are recommended to be taken into account when arranging an alpine slide on your own.
The first thing you need to start with is to choose a place on the site on which the object will be built. The “face” of the alpine hill should look in the direction of the southeast or southwest, and the “mountain slope” (if one is planned) should look in the south direction. The site should be sunny and open. The object on it cannot look lonely and isolated. On the contrary, it must be harmoniously combined with all neighboring and nearby objects and cultures. The ideal location for a rock garden is considered to be a recreation area or an area near a residential building. This decorative structure will attract attention and cause admiration.
Quantity of materials
After choosing a location and assessing the available space for the work, you can start planning the project. It is necessary to reflect sketches and sketches of the future design, the sequence of work and, of course, preliminary quantity materials used.
To bring the project to life, many different natural stones. Their number depends on the scale and type of alpine slide. For example, for a high multi-level slide you will need large stone blocks with natural irregular shape(without additional processing), which will be used to imitate a gorge, cliff, mountain slope or plateau. Processed stones in the form of a rectangle are necessary for the construction of a retaining wall. You also cannot do without stone chips, gravel, crushed stone, sand and cement.
When constructing a stone garden with a flower garden (rock garden), it is assumed that such a landscape is built to last for many years and does not require frequent changes, so less stone materials will be needed. But when creating a relief from artificial unevenness, significantly more stones will be used.
To create a natural and harmonious object, landscape designers advise choosing only stones from a given area and always of the same type for construction. The minimum weight of one large stone should not be less than thirty kilograms, and the total weight of giant stones on the site begins at four hundred kilograms. General average weight small “stone” material (crushed stone or gravel) for one rock garden – 300-500 kg.
It is necessary to first consider ways to transport stones and other heavy objects around the site. Any suitable remedy movement will help save time, energy and health. Work on the construction site can only begin when everything is already at hand necessary tools and materials.
All work consists of three main stages, but before moving on to them, you must first mark out the territory according to the prepared plan, evaluate the preliminary result and, if necessary, adjust it by making small changes. Using rope or twine, wooden pegs and bright ribbons, you need to outline the contours of the alpine slide and mark its largest elements. After this, you can proceed to the first stage.
- The land plot must be cleared, a drainage layer must be laid (if a rock garden is planned), the planned artificial unevenness and stone hills must be created, a channel for the future stream (or other type of reservoir) must be laid, and the supporting walls of the rock garden must be erected.
- The work consists of arranging large stones in the form of a planned composition or ensemble and preparing the soil layer for planting vegetation.
- The stage that requires taste, creative thinking and imagination is decoration. It consists of planting plants, arranging additional accessories and placing small stone material (gravel and stones).
Construction of a drainage layer
High-quality drainage helps prevent stagnation of water and rotting of the root system of plants, controls soil erosion and shrinkage, and maintains moderate soil warmth in the off-season. The most suitable material for drainage is pebbles (large) or broken red brick.
The top layer of soil with a thickness of ten to twenty centimeters (depending on the type of rock garden) must be carefully removed and laid out around the perimeter of the pit. Then level the resulting surface and thoroughly clean it of all vegetation and its roots. If the future rock garden assumes a flat topography, then the thickness of the drainage layer is 10 cm, with further construction of uneven areas in the area - 20 cm of drainage.
After laying a ten-centimeter drainage layer, it is covered with fertile soil and the surface is carefully leveled. A thick (20 cm) drainage layer serves as the main platform for the construction of various hills and uneven areas and is therefore not covered with soil.
A multi-level rock garden is the most complex type and requires great patience and responsibility during construction. Its reliability and durability depend on the quality work when creating this design.
The first row of stones, which act as a supporting wall, is laid out around the perimeter, placing them as closely as possible to each other and deepening them into the ground by about ten centimeters. For reliability and strength of stone connections, it is recommended to use cement mortar or tile adhesive.
For the full development of future plantings, it is very important to prepare the soil, which will be located at the bottom of the rock garden and help maintain moderate moisture, as well as prevent erosion. It is recommended to mix the removed soil layer spread along the edges of the pit with peat or humus, as well as with small pebbles or coarse sand (in equal proportions). The resulting mixture must be placed on the drainage, compacted thoroughly and poured with plenty of water for rapid shrinkage.
After the first level has dried, they move on to the construction of the second. A layer of crushed stone or gravel is applied to the surface of the earth and a second terrace of stones is laid out, fastening them with a reliable solution. It must be taken into account that between the stones it is necessary to leave space for the future bed of the reservoir. The terrace on the second level is covered with soil, watered abundantly and left to shrink.
With each new level, the area of the next terrace gradually decreases. At the end, a separate stone is placed, which will become the top of the rock garden. The height of the alpine slide depends on the land area used for the base. To build a meter structure it will take about 10 square meters land.
To complete the process of soil subsidence, as well as to completely dry the solutions, the object is left for approximately 10-15 days. Only after this can you move on to decorating, planting plants and arranging the reservoir. It is recommended to plant plants starting from the top and gradually moving to the bottom of the hill.
Alpine slides with a height of about one hundred centimeters will require less effort and less materials. Construction waste (for example, pieces of brick or stones) can be used as the core and reliable foundation of the structure. With their help, the contours of the slide are marked (directly on top of the main drainage layer), and then a soil mixture is poured on top, which will be resistant to erosion and shrinkage. Its composition: garden soil, expanded clay, pieces of red brick and small crushed stone. The average thickness of this layer is 50-60 cm. The next layer is again drainage, consisting of the smallest pebbles or crushed stone, on which large stones are placed or stone slabs are laid, burying them approximately forty percent into the soil. The surface of the rock garden is covered with fertile soil about 20 cm thick. The composition of this soil mixture should be light, loose and nutritious and correspond to the preferences of flower crops.
Approximately 20-25 days are allotted for the final shrinkage of the slide. After this, you can plant numerous plants, place various decorative details and small stones. It is not recommended to use large stone boulders on such a mini-slide, unless they are placed at the base of the structure.
Landscaping of rock gardens
The main plants of alpine hills are herbaceous and semi-shrub species of small height. In the natural environment on mountain slopes you can find mostly low species and varieties. The vegetation of the created rock garden should look as natural and believable as possible. And to maintain its attractiveness throughout the year, it is recommended to choose winter-hardy (evergreen) and coniferous crops. The color of green foliage or pine needles goes well with stone compositions.
Plants for a rock garden should have the following basic characteristics: unpretentiousness, cold resistance and drought resistance. To maintain the decorativeness of the relief and create a harmonious composition experienced flower growers and landscape designers advise planting flower and foliage crops in a checkerboard pattern.
DIY Alpine slide (video)
A spectacular element in the landscape is a self-created alpine slide. A rock garden is a small area in the garden, designed as a natural area.
Many owners of personal plots are interested in how to make an alpine slide with their own hands?
In order to create this corner of wild nature on your site, you need to familiarize yourself with the intricacies landscape design.
Usually this masterpiece is located in the most visible place. In addition, a rock garden requires a sunny place, so this corner is usually located in an open area.
Since an alpine slide has a calming effect on a person, it is best to place it near a place of rest.
The quality of the soil cover should not be discounted, since the most favorable soil for a rock garden is sandstone, but if the soil has a clay base, then it will be necessary to make drainage.
When is the best time to create a rock garden?
An alpine slide can be created at any time of the year except for winter, since in the winter cold it is impossible to plant plants or prepare the soil. However, experts consider autumn to be the most optimal time for creating a rock garden.
Since the natural shrinkage of an alpine hill can take several months, according to landscape designers, it is necessary to prepare for autumn planting in the spring.
Creation of an alpine slide
Landscape designers, answering the question of how to make an alpine slide, offer universal schemes and projects for arranging this natural corner, taking into account all the subtleties and scope of work.
However, knowing the basic rules for creating a rock garden, you can organize it yourself.
The first thing you should pay attention to is the location. So, the rock garden should be clearly visible. The best option is to create an alpine slide in the shape of a pyramid, in which the maximum height is concentrated in the center.
In addition, all elements of the rock garden should be positioned freely; symmetry is inappropriate here. If it is possible to organize a rock garden on a natural slope, then it is best to mark its elements at the same level.
In terms of parameters, the height of an alpine slide should be proportional to its size, that is, 1 meter of area corresponds to a height of 0.2 m, thus, a flowerbed measuring 4 m² in height will be 80 cm, as in the photo of an alpine slide.
Preparatory work
Even the simplest alpine slide requires careful preparation. So, when creating a rock garden, you need to make drainage, the fact is that the use of stones causes the soil to sag, which means you can’t do without drainage.
Drainage material can be fine gravel, pieces of red or white brick, small pebbles or crushed stones.
Before laying the drainage, it is necessary to dig a hole 1 m deep for a flower bed with an area of 8-9 m². Then the drainage is laid out and the soil is filled with water. Next, a layer of earth is poured.
As soil for a rock garden, it is best to use a soil composition made from ordinary earthen soil, peat and river sand. All soil components must be in equal proportions.
Note!
Stones
The basic element of any rock garden are stones. Usually these are large stones of an original shape.
Most often, pieces of granite, sandstone, limestone are used to create an alpine slide; you can also use wild stone, as well as tuff.
When decorating a rock garden with stones, you must follow the following rules:
- It is best if the size of all stones is the same;
- The stones must be of the same variety;
- The stones must be of uneven structure and shape;
- You need to arrange the stones so that they are asymmetrical.
You can arrange the stones according to your own taste, however experienced designers can offer you several suitable projects. IN Lately A popular scheme is when massive stones are scattered around the site, with small pebbles between them.
An alpine slide looks interesting when the most spectacular stone is installed in the center, especially if the rock garden is located on a slope.
Note!
When laying out stones, especially massive ones, you need to make sure that they stand steadily; for this, some of them can even be fixed with cement or dug in a little.
A properly organized alpine slide at the dacha can become a favorite vacation spot for the whole family.
Green spaces
2 months after preparatory work You can start planting green spaces. The most convenient plants for decorating a rock garden are low-growing spruce, thuja, mountain pine and juniper.
A small alpine hill is an excellent landscape solution for a small area. When creating such a rock garden, it is best to use low-growing, herbaceous plants, such as wild carnations, low marigolds, nasturtiums, pansies and bells.
If desired, an alpine slide can be combined with a small reservoir in the form of a small pond, but in this case the process of creating a rock garden will be even more labor-intensive, but it will be a real work of landscape art.
Photo of an alpine slide with your own hands
Note!
A relatively new trend in landscape design is the construction of alpine slides. They replaced the classic flower beds and ridges and serve as decoration summer cottages and country houses.
Garden alpine slides are an island of artificially created wild nature of the alpine mountains. To create them, rock stones are stacked and lush vegetation is planted among them.
Such a work of art exudes the pristine purity of nature. Having such a garden decoration is a true aesthetic pleasure.
Some people set up a rock garden with the help of specialists. But making an alpine slide with your own hands is quite possible, and in a fairly short time. How to set up an alpine slide and what you will need for this - we will talk about all this in detail further.
Rock garden in the country - an opportunity to make the garden brighter and more original
Those who want to diversify the landscape of their garden with unusual elements should definitely pay attention to rock gardens. With the help of a rock garden you can make your garden original and bright. Each alpine slide project is unique in its own way. General rules their arrangements exist, but the implementation of ideas is a creative process.
There are countless examples of alpine slides in the country. One set of starting materials can result in an infinite number of variations. Anyone who creates a slide from a sketch can get it similar to the original in general terms; small details will always differ.
Rock gardens have mandatory attributes.One of them is a large stone, which will symbolize a mountain peak. The conventional slopes of such a mountain are planted with plants that would feel natural in a mountain climate.
It is worth understanding that simply stacked stones and plants making their way between them will not constitute an alpine slide. This landscape composition requires strength, good imagination and some financial investments.
Where is the best place to place an alpine slide, types of rock gardens
Choosing a location for an alpine slide is one of the important stages in its creation. The main criteria for choosing the location of the alpine slide:
- space– the structure is quite massive, so it will require space;
- illumination– an alpine slide needs a lot of sunlight;
- review– this is still a flower garden and a decorative structure, it should be clearly visible.
Each site has its own characteristics. Therefore you need to choose correct view rock garden so that it is in harmony with all elements of the landscape. Gardens with different types of plants and different climatic conditions are selected for different styles and areas different variants. Taking into account all the above factors, you can choose best option, which will harmonize and please the eye.
There are the following types of slides in the country:
The choice among types of rock gardens is quite wide, which means there is something for everyone garden plot there is a suitable option. Important! In small areas, alpine slides look somewhat awkward. They are big and small garden will look too bulky.
A good place for a rock garden would be an open, sunny meadow. Relief areas look as natural as possible, and various ponds and paths are a great addition.
When and how to start work on creating a rock garden
When it comes to the question of how to properly design an alpine slide, you must follow the rules so that the structure looks harmonious and the plants on it feel good. Work related to the creation of a rock garden is carried out in different seasons.
The formation of the base of the slide, the filling of soil, and the laying of drainage are carried out in the fall. The stones are laid in the spring, and flowers are also planted in the spring.
The area allocated for the rock garden must be cleared of plants, weed roots and unnecessary objects. If necessary, a hill embankment is artificially created. On the marked area, according to the rock garden plan, a layer of soil of 20-30 cm is removed. In its place, the base of the alpine slide is laid. Alpine slide diagram:
- First layer– drainage. Has a thickness of 10-15 cm;
- Second layer– coarse sand 5 cm thick, well compacted;
- Third layer– fertile. It is necessary to fill the remaining space with fertile soil, for example, one part each of turf soil, peat, humus and sand.
The technology for laying drainage is very simple. Before filling it, you need to make sure that there are no weeds left in the soil, otherwise they will penetrate through the stones and destroy the alpine hill. It is practiced to lay geotextiles under drainage.
Alpine slide: how to select and prepare stones
For rock gardens choose different types stones. Important criteria are natural texture and the right combination of stones. It is important to choose the right combination of stones of various sizes and shapes to create a harmonious looking slide.
Often, coils, quartz, sandstone, gabbro, granite, marble and other types of stone are used for rock gardens. The composition usually requires 5-6 large stones. You will also need small stones - gravel, crushed stone.
Laying stone on an alpine hill
The next stage in the plan for building a slide is laying stones and adding soil.
The stone composition begins to be laid out from the base to the top. First of all, they determine where the large stones will lie, then the place of the smaller stones. Rock rocks are buried into the soil to at least a third of the height.
When the stones are laid out, it is necessary to fill the spaces between them with earth. This will give the slide a more natural look. After this, the rock garden is well watered so that the soil and stones take their natural places.
It is not recommended to immediately plant plants on a hill; the rock garden should stand for two to three weeks. But ideally, the slide is made in the fall, and the plants are planted in the spring.
Important! Stones in the rock garden should be placed so that rain and melt water do not wash away the soil between them. If the soil is washed away, you will need to constantly refill, and the plants will suffer due to exposed roots.
How to choose and plant plants in a country rock garden
Unpretentious flowers are best suited for alpine slides. Flower slides For a summer residence, it is better to decorate it with unpretentious plants that do not require careful care.
The Alps have a harsh atmosphere, where plants fight for a place in the sun. They must be able to withstand heavy rains and strong winds. For ease of annual renewal of the rock garden, you can choose annual plants. It is also better to time the plants to bloom so that they alternate each other throughout the season.
The following plants are suitable for alpine slides:
- - symbol of the Alps. The plant is resistant to cold, it grows and, like a carpet, covers the slopes of an alpine hill;
- – unpretentious plant with creeping stems. Used as edging for rock gardens;
- - a popular plant for alpine slides. Has fleshy beautiful leaves and light purple flowers;
- - grows into a carpet that is strewn small flowers. Green shoots and leaves cover the stones. The plant prefers dark areas;
- Lumbago- a flower of the buttercup family, very good for growing on alpine hills. It is also called sleep-grass. It's blooming in early spring.
Plant combinations look good. In this way you can create unique designs. It is also important to create the impression of multi-tieredness. The Alpine slide has planting patterns. Between the stone placers there should be enough space for the growth and development of plants. Small holes are made at an angle, into which the seedlings are placed and their roots are sprinkled with soil. The soil around the stem is compacted and watered.
Did you know? When watering plants on an alpine hill, water should be poured from top to bottom. Flowing, the water will well saturate the soil.
On hills, rosette flowers should not be planted with ground cover, as the latter will quickly grow and crowd out rather delicate flowers. To prevent the rhizomes of plants from growing on the hill, they are planted inside a limiter, which can be a jar or bucket without a bottom.
An alpine hill (rock garden or rock garden) is one of the popular and fashionable areas of landscape design that can embellish and transform your garden or summer cottage. The arrangement of a rock garden is a structure that organically combines elements of various living or non-living components that interpret a corner of a mountainous area.
Creating an alpine slide yourself is quite interesting process, requiring a creative approach. Having shown all your imagination and taking into account several key points By creating a rock garden yourself, you can really create a unique, man-made miracle, which will undoubtedly be the main “highlight” of your site.
When arranging a rock garden, you can use the help of professional landscape designers, but even novice gardeners can easily make an alpine slide with their own hands, at little financial cost and time. Alpine slides are easy to care for, and there are a lot of possibilities and styles for designing rock gardens. While creating flower arrangements, you must take into account the basic rules for designing a rock garden on your site.
And so, if you are inspired by the idea of creating a rock garden on your site, of course, the question arises - how to properly create an alpine slide with your own hands?
To do this, first of all, it is necessary to correctly select the appropriate materials and plan everything correctly, so that in the future you do not have to redo a masterpiece created with great difficulty
One of important factors When creating an alpine slide with your own hands, it is necessary to have free space on the site that you have. You should also take into account the fact that, depending on the further location of the rock garden, you should choose the right plants, taking into account their species characteristics. When choosing a rock garden project, do not forget about the climatic characteristics of your region.
On a large flat plane you can safely organize a stretched stone garden, which can be compared to a corner of wildlife. If there is not enough space on your site, in this case you can arrange a compact, round rock garden. In order to make an alpine slide yourself, you can use many ideas and options
As natural materials You will need stones of various types, having a variety of shapes and sizes. When choosing stones for a rock garden, pay attention that all natural materials used do not have sharp corners. Besides natural stones, as natural materials you can choose crushed stone, pebbles, river sand, but it is better not to use granite when arranging an alpine hill. For example, fragments of sandstone in red shades will successfully emphasize the style and shape, thereby making the outlines of the slide more clear and realistic. The soil can be mixed with peat and limestone. This mixture will help better diversion excess water.
When creating an alpine slide correctly with your own hands, you also need to decide what the main thing will be color scheme your rock garden, and, based on this, select the necessary varieties and types of plants, as well as materials.
Video - How to make a rock garden with your own hands
Arranging a rock garden includes several stages. Next, the process will be described creating an alpine slide step by step.
Step-by-step photo instructions for creating an alpine slide
- When choosing a place for a rock garden, you need to consider that the most ideal option are well-lit, sunny and windless areas of your garden. Small parts slide design and most types of plants are sensitive to gusts of strong wind and feel uncomfortable in areas that are not very well lit. At this stage, you can mark the future territory of the rock garden with pegs.
- Along the entire perimeter of the location of the future slide, you initially need to place the largest elements - large stones and boulders, so that they form a V-shaped structure. Then you need to mix upper layer lands with limestone, sand and peat.
- .The next step step-by-step creation alpine slide is the installation of drainage, which will protect the entire structure in case of excessive precipitation and the preparation of recesses. The drainage arrangement depends on the composition of the soil on the site, especially if the site is dominated by oily and clay soil. If the soil composition contains large quantities sand fractions predominate - the drainage system does not need to be laid.
Used as drainage broken brick, crushed stone, small pebbles, sand or expanded clay. To lay the drainage, you need to dig a hole 30-40 cm deep, at the bottom of which a dense drainage ball is placed. After which the hole is completely filled with a ball of earth and watered well.
- The next step is laying stones around the perimeter of the second tier. The height of the stones decreases with height.
- Most important stage is planting selected forms of plants in special pockets, which are located between stones at a distance from each other. It should be taken into account that no more than two plants should be placed in one pocket, which will help the plants grow and develop normally.
- When planting plants, their specific characteristics should be taken into account. Tall plants - conifers, dwarf shrubs and trees are planted at the base of the hill. On the upper tiers, low-growing and ampelous forms of plants of various types will look original. color range. These can be either annual or perennial decorative forms plants. For example - lavender, edelweiss, alpine forget-me-not, decorative varieties wormwood, arabis, seaside armeria, perennial carnation, lemon thyme, etc. If you plan to plant plants together with a flower container, then the planting hole should be significantly larger in diameter than the diameter of the container. The optimal time for planting most types of plants is mid or late spring.
- The second and third tiers are created by analogy with the first.
- Decoration of the top of the rock garden. The top is decorated with an ensemble of several large stones, and the open surface between the stones is filled with pebbles, colored gravel or broken crushed stone. This composition will provide a well-groomed and beautiful appearance of the rock garden, and will also prevent the appearance of weeds.
Following simple rules and advice, you can easily create an alpine slide with your own hands, which will not only decorate your site, but will also be a small corner of wildlife on the territory of your garden plot.
You are upset that, having a dacha plot located on a hilly area or slope, there is no opportunity to create a beautiful landscape for your territory. Designers can cope with this problem. They argue that in this case an alternative solution would be alpine slide, which can be done not only with the help of professionals, but also independently.
What is an alpine slide?
The Alpine slide looks like a small area that is similar in appearance to the design of the Alps.
To develop such a site on the ground on your own, you will need:
- land plot located on a hilly area or slope;
- presence of drainage (crushed stone and sand, broken brick and gravel);
- stones of various sizes and unusual shape;
- vegetation to shape the design.
As you can see, in order to beautifully decorate your summer cottage, you don’t need to spend a lot of money. It is important to understand what you want your territory to look like, think creatively and show imagination.
The location of the landscape on the ground will be of particular importance. Its decorative purpose and duration of existence depend on this. The slide should be installed in the place that is most illuminated by the sun.
Please note that such an area will require care: watering, fertilizing plants, etc. Consequently, the dacha will need to be visited more often so that the alpine slide does not lose its attractiveness, looks aesthetically pleasing and does not stop functioning.
For owners of a summer cottage with absolutely flat terrain, it is possible to create a horizontal alpine slide.
The choice of stones and vegetation to create such an area is the basic basis of the design, which requires a serious approach.
Initially, decide what size you want to build an alpine slide. For a large area, it would be appropriate to use boulders; for a smaller area, small stones with flagstone are suitable.
It is necessary to lay stones in tiers of 3, but no more than 5. Experiment and use your imagination: create various compositions and patterns from stones.
It is worth noting that the plants will not bloom in early spring and winter, so the stones should look attractive without them during these periods.
You should not leave large gaps between the stones so that the area does not look scanty, but it is necessary to provide space for placing flowers and decorative bushes.
Absolute symmetry in the arrangement of stones is not appropriate, because the area should look more natural in appearance.
When choosing plants for a site in the form of an alpine hill, you should pay attention to the following nuances:
- plantings must grow year-round and correspond to the climatic conditions of the area so that caring for them is not problematic;
- it is important to create harmony in the composition of plants and maintain their balance in relation to the type of stones;
- it is advisable to choose low-growing types of vegetation;
- the location of the slide on the south side of the site implies the choice of flowers and bushes that are drought-resistant; for the slide on the east or north side of the site, plants that love moisture and shade are placed.
Arborvitae and spruce trees are most suitable for landscaping; they will add attractiveness to the area throughout the whole year.
Watch the video: What plants are suitable for an alpine slide
Opt for flowers of unusual shape and color, as well as wild vegetation that grows nearby in the forest and will suit the climatic conditions of the area.
Saffron and violet, poppy and forget-me-not, saxifrage, edelweiss and primrose - suitable varieties colors. Juniper, barberry, sedum and, oddly enough, cactus will also look great as a complement.
- spring - bulbous plants;
- summer – most of available colors;
- autumn period - colchicums;
- winter - varieties of coniferous trees.
Do not forget to weed the soil to remove weeds so that they do not clog the area and interfere with plant growth.
Plantings must be placed correctly: coniferous trees are placed in the background dwarf trees, low-growing original flowers should be planted in the foreground.
To understand how to set up an alpine slide yourself, we recommend watching a video tutorial. After reading it, follow step by step instructions, which we present next.
Stage 1 - preparing the site for the site
First, decide on the location of the alpine slide in the most suitable area near a sufficiently illuminated recreation area. Then we begin to form the base. First you need to dig a pit small size along the entire perimeter of the future site 40-45 cm in depth. Next, you need to compact the soil and fill the drainage to 30 cm. Gravel, sand, construction waste, crushed stone are suitable for this, or you can mix these components together.
Then the drainage is covered on top with a 15 cm mixture of earth, sand, soil, peat and crushed stone. The proportion of the mixture is: 3 composite soil parts, 1 peat and 1 sand with crushed stone.
The soil for the alpine slide can be a composition that is sold in appropriate stores.
Stage 2 – installation of stones on the site
We have already considered aspects of the selection and placement of stones earlier in the section “Selection of stones for an alpine slide”. Let's move on to their installation diagram.
Most the best option Stones for such a site are limestone, as well as granite and sandstone.
The stones must be installed in the following sequence:
- At the base of the slide we place the largest boulders, which should be fixed with concrete or slabs. Then pour soil on top, compacting it well. Please note that the stones need to be deepened into the ground by 1/3 of their size.
- We go up one level and place smaller stones in the same way.
- Next, you need to plant the vegetation between the stones and cover it with a covering layer.
- At the end of the process, we irrigate the alpine hill.
Stage 3 – landscaping the site with plantings
Initially, we moisten the soil in which the plants will be placed. Between the stones there was already a place for their planting. The main composition should consist of dwarf coniferous plantings and shrubs.
The next process is planting decorative low-growing flowers, which are placed in small holes and covered with soil and gravel so that moisture cannot quickly evaporate and weeds do not make their way to the top. We recommend planting the plants so that there are no empty spaces on the surface of the hill.
Plantings should not obscure the stones because all design elements are significant.
After planting the vegetation, the alpine hill must be watered.
DIY Alpine slide, step by step
We wish you good luck in arranging yours!
