DIY Alpine Garden for Your Dacha: What Plants Are Needed?

Alpine gardens are miniature replicas of the Alps, covered in emerald green grass and a multitude of flowers. And now, building alpine gardens has become fashionable in landscape design. Specialized designers are hired for this purpose. But many want to create this beautiful masterpiece on their property themselves, but they don't know how to do it or what plants to use. So let's learn how to build an alpine garden yourself: what plants are needed, and where to begin construction.

 

To begin building it, you need to select the area where it will be located. Once you've chosen it, begin installing drainage. Many people wonder: what is it?

 

Drainage for an alpine garden can also be called its foundation. Now you'll learn how to install drainage.

 

1) We make a drainage system

 

Once you've chosen a location for your rock garden, you need to dig a pit around the entire perimeter, about three shovel depths deep. This will be the bottom layer, for which you can use cinders, broken brick, or gravel. Then, cover it with sand and prepare the soil. To do this, take clay soil and mix it with peat, using a ratio of three parts soil to one part peat. Line the soil with geotextile or tarpaulin and place small stones along the edges.

 

Next, you create the drainage itself. It's very simple. Place 1-2 cm of crushed rock on a geotextile or tarpaulin, and then sprinkle the previously prepared soil on top.

 

2) We select stones for our slide

To do this, you need to take into account some factors:

• The sizes of your stones should be proportional to the rock garden.
• Its design should be natural.
• Also, the color of the stones should match and harmonize with the entire picture.
• Use stones of the same type if possible.

 

Once you've selected the stones, begin laying them. It's best to lay them in layers for a more natural look. The larger stones will serve as the base. Before you lay the smaller stones on top of them, sprinkle damp soil over the larger boulders, repeating the process with each layer. Don't forget to bury the larger stones halfway in the ground, and check their stability before laying the next layer.

 

3) Select plants

• It is better to plant bulbous plants in spring.
• But in the summer, varieties of all flowering plants are planted.
• In the fall, you need to plant colchicums.
• Well, coniferous trees will do for winter.

 

To make your garden bed look truly magical, you need to decorate it with flowers, but first, choose the right ones. Since you're making the bed for more than one year, the flowers should be perennial, preferably low-growing, as they take longer to grow. Avoid planting pine trees or dogwoods, as they grow quickly and will take up all the space. Instead, plant dwarf conifers and shrubs. Try to plant plants like cinquefoil, spirea, or herbaceous perennials. I'll tell you a little about them now.

Bloodroot. It's also known as the five-leaf clover. It grows from 10 cm to 1.5 meters and can live for up to thirty years. This plant is considered easy-to-grow and looks decorative, but it's sensitive to cold winds. It needs to be watered no more than once a month, and no more than twice during drought, so you won't have to spend much time caring for it.

 

SpireaIt's classified as a shrub and is quite popular among gardeners. It thrives in absolutely any conditions and is completely unpretentious. Spirea grows up to 60 cm tall. It also pairs well with conifers and shrubs.

 

Herbaceous perennials include common perennials, such as lavender, globeflower, and lily of the valley. However, try to choose plants that bloom all summer long. These include pansies, phlox, gentians, and many other flowers. Edelweiss can be planted at the top of your rock garden, as this plant is a symbol of the Alps. It's also quite easy to grow and reaches a height of 25 cm. Be sure to cover the entire garden area with plants to avoid any bare spots.

 

Now you know how to build a rock garden yourself and how to choose the right plants. You can confidently begin creating an alpine garden on your property and admire its beauty all summer long. You can find even more interesting ideas on our website. this article.