The main idea of the rock garden is to recreate the natural mountain landscape on the site. To achieve the natural look of an alpine slide, stones and plants are carefully selected when creating it. Any design objects should repeat the natural alpine landscape, bringing a unique flavor to the site.
When arranging an alpine slide, it is important to give it a natural look. Therefore, the choice of stones is a crucial step towards creating a picturesque decorative rock garden. Ideally, if you look at examples and types of rock gardens, photos with alpine views on the Internet or in landscape magazines. When “watchfulness” appears, the hands themselves will do as they should.
See the step-by-step instructions "How to make a simple rock garden with your own hands." Another option is to create a rockery, a special kind of rocky flower garden, in which large stones and undersized ornamental plants occupy most of the overhang.
Each owner himself extracts stones for the rock garden. You can buy them (in the online store) or get them yourself in the mountains, on the sea coast, in quarries, local quarries.
8 tips for choosing stones for rock garden
When creating an alpine slide, stones weighing from 10 to 100 kg are used. For a rock garden approx. 2 x 3 m will need at least 2 tons of stone.
Landscape designers claim that only alpine plants that grow wild in the Himalayas, Alps and rocky mountains can grow in rock gardens. And it is right! Not all plants are suitable for rock garden, even if they are short and ground cover.
Plant plants on an alpine hill in a chaotic manner. There are 3 ways to plant plants:
For ease of perception, we will divide the list of plants conditionally into several groups: primroses and bulbous plants, herbs, ground cover, undersized and medicinal plants.
Aggressive plants grow rapidly, occupy large areas and can crowd out the rarer representatives of your rock garden. Therefore, they must be planted with caution.
These include:
Also, undersized species of bulbous plants and dwarf coniferous trees or shrubs are planted in rock gardens.
Coniferous plants set the rhythm and core of the composition, so with their proper placement, you can achieve amazing views of the alpine slide. Representatives of conifers in rock gardens can be formed for a more lush crown and bushiness. Spruces, for example, can be cut, and in pines, pinch the tips of fresh shoots.
At their summer cottage, good owners arrange flower beds and alpine slides. When arranging them, questions arise. Where to get stones for an alpine slide - this is the main one.
Alpine hill - one of the elements of a summer residence or a house (Fig. No. 1). They can often be found on the site with friends and neighbors.
To create a slide of stones, you need to plan all the work. Correct work is carried out in several stages:
All these steps are very important for getting good results. Each of them requires a certain amount of time, especially the third. It can be considered basic. The period during which the slide will be operated will completely depend on the quality and correctness of the drainage construction. For the construction of the drainage system, you can use sand and gravel left after the construction of the house, small stones and debris.
The soil for plants is laid with careful tamping of the base, otherwise the hill will soon completely lose its shape. Peat, clay, fine gravel are added to the soil. Plants choose unpretentious. They grow in wild forest conditions. It can be undersized coniferous shrubs, plants that bloom in winter, mosses.
Where to get stones for an alpine slide is the main problem when arranging a garden. Stones are natural and artificial. They have different properties, sizes and breed. An alpine hill should look like a finished work even without plants. Each rock garden should have its own zest. The stones in the hill serve as a foundation and decorative. The weight of stones is recommended 15-100 kg. It is mainly sandstone, granite and slate. Small pebbles are added to them, which performs a decorative function. This is just the outer decoration of the slide. The stones are even painted in different colors.
Granite is a stone with high hardness. He practically does not age over the years. Granite is painted in colors from gray to red. Flowers cannot grow on it, but as a fence for an alpine slide, it is indispensable (Fig. No. 2).
Limestone is a popular stone used to create alpine slides (Fig. No. 3). It can quickly change its shape and color. Plants bloom well on the stone. Limestone overgrows with moss very quickly. Its corners are quickly smoothed out. Its disadvantage is that those plants that do not get along on calcareous soil do not bloom on limestone.
Sandstone is cheap and readily available. Its structure is porous and layered. Color - creamy gray and red. The stone absorbs moisture well and is able to store it for a long time. The chemical composition is neutral, capable of interacting with any plants.
Slate fits well into an alpine hill of any kind of stones. Its white, brown and gray tones are in perfect harmony with the landscape.
Artificial clinker brick with oval edges is also used for the construction of beds and alpine slides. It has high strength, a variety of shapes, a wide color spectrum.
Dolomite is a strong, frost-resistant and durable stone of gray, white, yellow and brown colors. Rarely, but there is a transparent dolomite, translucent and pink.
For a long service life of the structure in the garden, the stones must be laid correctly. Their size should correspond to the dimensions of the rock garden. For a large slide, larger stones are also needed. The largest boulders are laid down, the smaller ones on top. This arrangement of stones will save the slide from deformation. It is allowed to use several types of stones, but it is not recommended to take more than three.
The best version of the slide is the one in which there are 4-5 layers. Each layer can be sprinkled with soil or pebbles. The stones themselves should not be laid too tightly. Leave room for living plants.
In the work on the device of the alpine slide, you may encounter the following problems:
A good rock garden should look a bit like a mountain corner. If a home-made structure is decorated with some ornamental plants, it will take on the desired appearance. You can plant anything, but not ornamental plants made of glass or plastic. If bright plants with colorful flowers are chosen, then cobblestone can be used as a background. For dull and modest herbs, it is better to select brighter stones. A smooth boulder is appropriate on flat areas. Sharp ledges emphasize the beauty of the alpine slide. The main requirements for the selection of stones are as follows:
A slide of stones should not stand out from the overall design of the garden. Stones should not be destroyed by careless blows of the tool during planting. The chemical composition of the rock should not destroy plants. Where can you get these stones?
On sale you can find magnificent specimens with a perforated structure (Fig. No. 4). Various plants can be planted in the holes. Other types of stones can also be purchased here. But they can be collected independently in quarries and along the banks of rivers. Someone nearby has deposits of granite or sandstone. There you can get whatever your heart desires. Cobblestones of various breeds are sold by representatives of landscape organizations. They almost always have tuff, shell rock, sandstone and other rocks. Small specimens are available at pet stores.
Quarries can become a permanent supplier of materials for alpine slide equipment. Farmers and just private households can help a lot. Farmers often have boulders of different sizes that they don’t need in their fields. They can be yours for little money, or even for nothing. Much remains in the heaps of garbage left at the end of the construction. Buildings prepared for destruction are also a source of such material. Completely free materials are found along the banks of rivers, at the construction sites of railways, on the sides of highways.
It is better to take stones on elevated places. It's much easier than lifting them up. When transporting them home, they are wrapped in burlap so that they experience less friction against each other.
All sorts of flower beds in the garden have long become commonplace. Currently, alpine slides are becoming more and more popular. This is a relatively new building. If done correctly, it will decorate the site for many years.
To create it, you need to prepare several stones.
Stones for an alpine slide can be taken from different breeds or combined. Stones can be painted in any color. After installation and backfilling of fertile soil, flower, coniferous or herbaceous plants are planted. It is very good to create a small fountain or stream. Then along with beauty comes additional coolness.
Striking with originality, undemanding in care, giving room for imagination - a small part of the return that stone gardens on the site can bring. All year round, their appearance remains attractive, and planted plants will complement the picture of a well-groomed place. Once you have worked on the creation, you will admire the fruits of your labors for many years. Properly selected stones for an alpine slide are the key to the success and durability of your landscape creation.
Creating a mountain out of rock is no easy task. With seeming simplicity, it is necessary to take into account many nuances that can become decisive in determining whether the result will please the eye. In addition to being a challenge for creative imagination, stone is a task that requires a purely physical solution. First you need to choose it correctly, then find a place where you can take it from, where to put it, and then bring it to the site.
The stone composition is a single whole, harmoniously commensurate in shape, size, color of the material. It is not always easy to achieve a balance between all the components the first time. It should be borne in mind that an overly overloaded landscape looks depressing and awkward. Therefore, in order to avoid unnecessary expenditure of time and effort, we will consider the main points that will help you quickly and relatively easily deal with the material.
Important! A geological collection is good for a museum, but not for a garden plot. Therefore, give preference to stones of the same breed, belonging to a common type.
Whatever material you choose, it should look natural. You can achieve this in two ways:
Almost any natural rocks can become stones for alpine slides. The choice of their color and size depends entirely on your taste and imagination. If external signs are a subjective factor, then structural features, interaction with the soil and the ability to absorb water impose their limitations.
When creating various decorative landscapes, stones have been used for a long time, since the combination of them and plants has always…
Having decided on the place for the rock garden, the number and characteristics of future plants, you must correlate these data with the surface features of the material. This option is suitable if you are moving from plan to implementation with freedom of choice. If, on the contrary, at first you have stones, and you have to proceed from the parameters already set, then it is useful to find out what these guests “love”.
Despite external unpretentiousness, they can also be capricious, demanding that their preferences be taken into account. Let's take a closer look at what each of them represents.
A hard, heavy stone that can be difficult to cut without special tools. But it is also impervious to atmospheric precipitation with wind. This is a plus given its longevity, but will be a minus for the surrounding soil system. It is at risk of flooding and excessive moisture. Consider this when planting plants, giving preference to moisture-loving ones, equip the drainage system. Granite is also good in a variety of shades - from white, pink to blue, green and even black.
Slate 
A common sedimentary material based on clay and quartz. Forms thin plates, smooth and flattened. And it is formed due to deposits of groundwater, which are layered on top of each other. Found in abundance in river basins. Its color is mainly gray, but can be black, brown, green.
Sandstone 
Its neutral pH makes it a great companion to other alpine stones and most of the plants known in our region. Sedum, saxifrage, carnation, young will take root here without any problems. Despite the porosity, sandstone does not collapse so quickly, being influenced by natural factors.
Limestone
One of the most attractive materials. But absolutely not suitable for plants that need an acidic environment, such as heather, rhododendron. Soils with high acidity suffer from its presence, becoming alkaline quickly. Small cells in limestone quickly fill with all sorts of vegetation.
The name itself suggests that shells are the main component. By making indentations in several places (which is not difficult, given the softness of the material), you will create mini-pockets for planting. It is desirable that their roots are not long, like succulents. Due to the use in aquariums, you can choose a suitable specimen in pet stores.
tufa 
Travertine
Spongy, light and soft stones. They are made from calcium carbonate, which precipitates during spring floods. Suitable for non-flowering plants with an unremarkable appearance. They are easy to deal with due to their relatively light weight. The cellular structure absorbs moisture like a sponge. Therefore, it is preferable to place them in a sunny place where drought is a frequent occurrence.
Its remains after the construction of the house are suitable for laying out on a hill. Whole pieces of a rectangular shape are best broken into several small irregular shapes. By laying them out in layers, you can vary the color from beige, terracotta to brown.
Expanded clay 
Pebble 
rubble 
Gravel
Gravel is suitable for covering a place near plants and conifers, mulching the soil near them. The space between the boulders is filled with small pebbles, creating a smoothly flowing "top". Expanded clay and crushed stone, as neutral in hue, will quite cope with this task. In addition, due to the porous structure, they will perform an additional drainage function.
Given the proportionality, play on the contrast of color and size - near large boulders of dark colors, bright, multi-colored pebbles or gravel in saturated colors look good. And stones that glow in the dark provide additional illumination after sunset.
glowing stones
Local quarries and quarries are a constant source of resupply. Their number is limited by your budget and free space on the site. In search of material that is not typical for your region, go to garden centers. A wide selection of different sizes is complemented by a decorative effect.
There are several available places where to take a stone for an alpine slide. Relatively inexpensive there you can get the breed you need:
Or you can make them yourself, as the authors of these videos: 
During transportation, you will protect the material from bumps and shocks if you cover it with a tarpaulin or hemp sackcloth. It can soften the friction of stones against each other during transportation. It is advisable that you take the rock from a slope or hill, because it is easier to lower them down than to climb uphill with them. You will also need a cart and a crowbar to move them around the site.
Mountain landscapes have always attracted people with their simple and natural beauty. Being on a mountain plateau or standing on…
Measure the width and length in order to pre-make indentations in the ground into which the rock should enter. Large boulders are set first to give the slide structure. After that, a medium and a smaller size are added next to each other for visual harmony between all parts of the composition. By deepening each stone by a third of its size into the ground, you can achieve even greater naturalness. Avoid placing them just on the surface of the ground, as they are too conspicuous and have a forced look.
Important! Remember that it is better to install three large alpine-style slide stones than ten small ones. A large amount of fine material gives the impression of a mess and is not effective.
Regardless of the quantity, try to have them distributed in your area. A rock garden is a reflection of nature in miniature, so boulders and pebbles that are rarely found in your area will seem out of place. There should be no obvious signs of erosion as a result of weathering on the stone. Also avoid overgrown moss or lichen. It is easier to find clean material without them than to remove unnecessary vegetation later.
Some experts strongly recommend setting the rock like icebergs, i.e. vertically, sharp edge up. This is done so that as many sides as possible are visible. This placement creates the illusion of mountain peaks, according to the type of which alpine slides are created.
The vertex does not have to be in the center, you can move it to the edge. The main rule is that it is clearly indicated. And from it all around diverge, like circles on the water, smaller and lower stones. Moreover, you can make two peaks at once, depending on the amount of material and available space.
Small pebbles with sharp edges have one advantage, purely practical - they make it difficult for slugs and snails to access succulent leaves.
Alpine slide is not just a way to highlight your site, literally elevating it. The stones in the garden give it a well-groomed appearance, making an ordinary landscape look like a work of garden art. Their size, shape, massiveness, color and texture add a new dimension to the landscape - durability and sustainability.
