Alpine hill is the element of garden design that is able to “pull out” almost any garden. Such a slide looks fresh, unusual, original and capable of becoming a key element of a garden ensemble. It is especially suitable for uneven areas located under the slope. Of course, you can place it on an even garden plot, but on the slope it is easier to equip it. DIY alpine slide – this is quite real.
As easy to guess, the name of the hill comes from the Alp. The appearance of these wonderful mountains she seeks to reproduce in miniature. For laying the slide, you will need various natural stones of not too large sizes that combine in color scheme, plants (which ones, we will say a little lower), and also equipment for drainage systems.
After that, it is worth considering the location and appearance of your future slide. If you know how to draw – excellent, draw a sketch! Experts advise choosing the sunny side of the garden for the hill. It will look especially impressive in a single composition with an artificial reservoir, for example, a pond or a waterfall.
The alpine slide is quite demanding of care, it needs to be constantly watered, fertilized, make sure that the plants do not grow too much or the stones do not shift. Therefore, such a hill should be done if you live in a private house constantly or come to the country at least once a week.
Alpine slide device
Now directly about the preparation of the slide. If you have decided on the place and design, you can proceed to its arrangement.
First you will have to work on the pit, it should be the size of a slide and a depth of centimeters forty. Do not forget that the hill should be located under the slope. The lower part of the pit must be well tamped and filled with drainage, in the role of which sand, gravel or their mixture can act. The thickness of the drainage layer – about 30 centimeters. We pour the ground on top of drainage, but not simple, but a mixture of soil, peat and sand in a ratio of 3 \ 1 \ 1 \. If this seems difficult to you, then you can buy ready -made land for a hill in a store. The preparatory stage is completed on this.
Our next stage is a layout of stones. First of all, it is worth picking up the combined stones. If you do not strive to make a huge mountain, then it is better to let their size be small. The most profitable in the alpine hill are boulders of granite, limestone or sandstone. At the same time, it is worth distributing the stones so that the largest of them are located in the lower levels, and smaller ones are higher – higher. Do not lay out more than five stones in one tier.
When laying the lower level, you need to dig stones into the soil to a third of their height and fix it with concrete, after which this part must be filled with earth. Stones are fixed in the same way at higher levels.
When laying out stones, it is important to consider the moment that in the winter the slide should also look aesthetically pleasing, which means that “propleshins” should be avoided, the stones should be laid out at a short distance from each other. But do not forget to leave places for plants.
Remember that you strive to reproduce a natural corner, which means stones should be located in an “artistic” mess.
Planting plants
And finally, the third stage is plant planting. To do this, you must definitely water the earth.
But now is the time to get a little distracted and give a couple of tips for the choice of plants for an alpine hill.
Most often, coniferous low -growing shrubs (thuja and spruce) with flowering plants are combined on it. But it is worth taking into account the moment that your hill should look attractive at any time of the year, which means that you should not give preference to colors that all bloom at the same time, let your plants delight you with alternate flowering. In addition, it is important that the plants of your site are suitable for plants. And of course, they should look harmoniously in the ensemble.
Experts believe that you can safely opt for wild flowers, since they will not require too careful care and will grow themselves without much trouble. It can be violets, poppies, forget -me -nots, edelweis, primrose, saffron.
Plants need to be planted in such a way that the flowers are in the foreground, and coniferous plants are behind. Also do not forget that plants should not completely hide the stones, this composition is good precisely by a combination of its elements. It is better to start landing with conifers, and then go to decorative plants. After planting, the hill must be watered.
And with regular care, the Alpine slide created will delight you for a very long time!