A rock garden made of stones and living plants can become the main highlight of the garden, if you correctly select the flowers and shrubs that will decorate it.
If you do not have experience in organizing a garden, it will be difficult to choose plants that get along with each other, adapt to the climate and create a harmonious composition in landscape design.
How to choose the right plants
Before proceeding to consider the features of the plant components of modern rock gardens, let's dwell on the recommendations that will help you quickly and effortlessly arrange an alpine slide in a garden plot:
- choose small and not too tall plants that will be in harmony with the proportions of other rock garden elements;
- be sure to consider the resistance of the selected plants to climatic conditions and the soil that is available in your garden;
- plan a scheme for planting plants on an alpine hill, focusing on their light-loving nature. Perhaps some of the plants will have to be planted in the shade, forming smooth light transitions;
- Another important selection criterion is the intensity of growth. Some varieties will worsen the condition of neighboring plants, and in the future this effect will lead to the loss of a well-groomed appearance of the rock garden;
- if you want the garden to remain bright for a long time, choose plants that bloom all summer for the alpine slide;
- an excellent solution is an alpine slide with herbs, which will attract not only with its appearance, but also with a pleasant aroma;
- try not to overdo it with shades, and also do not combine plants of different heights or pomp that look inharmonious next to each other.
Advice: it will be easier for you to equip such a zone if you find ready-made schemes of an alpine slide with a list of plants or contact specialists who will compile it according to your wishes.
Now let's find out what plants are planted on an alpine hill. It can be flowers and shrubs, coniferous and deciduous varieties, tall plants and even ground cover, which will play the role of a background in your rock garden.
Flowers for the Alpine slide
One of the successful examples of flowering plants for an alpine slide is Bell Carpathian. It belongs to perennial plants that love light and partial shade, and grows up to about thirty centimeters. It has rounded elongated foliage and small flowers of snow-white, blue, blue or purple hue. After flowering, the bell bears fruit: its fruits look like cylindrical boxes.
If you choose the right soil, the bell will endure the winter favorably.
Perennial plants for an alpine slide: photos and names You can also decorate the rock garden with Saxifrage Arends. This plant is unpretentious and can withstand low temperatures. It grows to a height of twenty centimeters, has palmate dissected leaves, forming a thick "cap".
From May it begins to bloom and is covered with purple flowers that last for a month.
One of the traditional plants for rock garden decoration - Alpine Edelweiss. The maximum height of such a plant is about twenty-five centimeters, edelweiss has curved stems and baskets with yellow-white flowers. They can be seen in the spring and summer season.
The next plant for rock garden - Iberis evergreen. Iberis bushes grow up to thirty centimeters and can be up to a meter in diameter. It blooms with snow-white flowers in large quantities at the end of April. This variety loves light and requires moderate moisture: with excessive dampness, it dies.
Shrubs for an alpine slide: photo with names If you want to decorate an alpine slide with red, pink and purple hues, you can choose Phlox subulate. In the spring season, it will create a vibrant carpet in your garden.
It can grow in open light or partial shade. It performs best in sandy soils.
A common phenomenon is the decoration of the rock garden with bulbous flowers. For example, Tulips Kaufman, which can grow up to forty-five centimeters. The flower has large buds of bright color - an example in the photo:
Plants for rock garden: photos and names Flowers can grow up to eighty-five centimeters in height poultry farmer. It has white or yellow buds with green stripes that appear from the end of May onwards (depending on the variety). Require moderate watering.
When the plant bears fruit, you may see black seed pods.
Attention! Not all varieties of poultry are suitable for rock garden, as some of them are poisonous. Therefore, when planning the arrangement of the garden with the help of such plants, consult with experts.
Suitable for rock garden hyacinths with pointed leaves and large inflorescences in the form of a brush. They have a snow-white, pink, red, purple, blue and even yellow tint.
Hyacinths grow well in sun and partial shade, but require protection from strong winds.
In September-October, flowers will appear and Colchicum. This plant is similar to crocuses and has flowers in the form of "glasses" of snow-white, pink and purple color. The height of Colchicum is about twenty to forty centimeters.
There are no special requirements for soil and lighting, so these plants are great for rock gardens.
Flowers and plants for an alpine slide: photos and names In order for the alpine slide to retain its beauty for a long time, add evergreens to the plants in it. For example, Periwinkle with blue and purple inflorescences or Saxifrage Apiculata, which during the flowering period will decorate your site with a yellow tint.
We decorate the alpine hill with conifers
When choosing perennials for alpine slides, do not forget about conifers. Despite the lack of bright colors, even such shrubs can be a stylish accent to your garden.
Among dwarf conifers for alpine slides, various varieties of mountain pine are popular. For example, grade "Mops" reaching one and a half meters in height. This variety grows in bright places, favorably tolerates high and low temperatures, as well as moisture. Unpretentious to different types of soil.
Complement the alpine slide with conifers black pine "Nana". Its maximum height - three meters - will be reached in thirty years. This type of pine loves light and does not grow well in shaded areas, preferring soils with lime.
Alpine hill of conifers, photo Popular among mini conifers for alpine slides Cushion spruce "Nidiformis". It grows up to a meter, so it is suitable for combination with low plants in rock gardens. Poorly tolerates stagnant water, but withstands frost and is not demanding on the soil cover.
Another suitable option for an alpine hill of conifers is Canadian spruce "Conica". If you provide it with everything you need and properly care for it, the spruce will grow up to three meters. Requires minimal care, prefers fertile soils, which should be additionally mulched with peat compost for better wintering.
Coniferous plants for an alpine slide: photos and names Advice: with the onset of spring, it is better to wrap such a spruce to protect it from the sun and prevent burning.
When planning which plants to plant on an alpine hill, do not forget about dwarf shrubs with needles. suits you Juniper scaly "Blue Carpet", adapted to different growth conditions and growing to about 0.6 meters, and Juniper horizontalis "Blue Chip", the height of which can be up to 0.3 meters. It prefers well-lit areas or semi-shaded areas.
Also, a rock garden can be arranged by planting Juniper horizontal "Golden Carpet". An adult plant has a height of 0.3 meters. Grows well in full sun, undemanding to moisture levels and soil characteristics, although it performs best in a well-drained and well-moistened cover.
Rock garden from conifers, photo Juniper Chinese "Expansa Variegata", no less popular on alpine slides, will grow to a maximum of 30 centimeters. It has not too high requirements for the level of moisture, but the growth of this plant will depend on the light: such a juniper will show itself better under the sun.
Diversify the coniferous rock garden decor with Thuja western "Danica". It is popular for its spherical shape. The height of an adult thuja is eighty centimeters. It differs from other varieties in its bright color, which persists all year round. You can plant such a thuja under the sun or in semi-shaded areas, having prepared fertile soils with sufficient moisture.
Conifers for an alpine slide: photos and names What to plant in the shade?
Poorly lit areas you can decorate with a low-growing plant for an alpine slide, such as astilba. In addition to love for the shade, its advantages include ease of care, no need for frequent watering, as well as the beauty of flowering: Astilbe's small flowers look like panicles and acquire cream, pink, purple, purple and other shades. 
Plants for the Alpine slide, photo
On some schemes of alpine slides with the names of plants, ferns can be seen. suits you fern ostrich and fern growing up to two meters. These plants tolerate frost and are unpretentious in care.
It is better to plant ferns in areas with insufficient lighting and loose soil with a sufficient level of moisture.
Be sure to water the ferns, especially during periods of drought and high temperatures.
Pozharsky's Bell is also suitable for rock garden. This perennial grows up to thirty centimeters in height. It has a roundish foliage and inflorescences in the form of bells or stars that bloom in July for about a month. The plant tolerates low temperatures, but may deteriorate if water stagnates in the growth zone. The flowers of such a bell can have a blue, blue, pink and purple hue.
Also consider the option of designing a rock garden with Alpine Forget-Me-Not. This plant has the appearance of a shrub with a height of 0.4 meters. Inflorescences of small flowers will decorate your garden with a palette of pink, snow-white and blue from early spring to mid-July.
Plant these plants in well-drained, moist soils. Forget-me-nots can grow in the open sun, but then they will have to be watered more often, and the growth process will slow down significantly.
Creeping and ground cover varieties
There are quite a few options for creeping plants for an alpine slide. For example, Creeping thyme "Elfin". It has dark foliage and pink inflorescences that appear from July to August. The plant requires good lighting and fertile soil. Favorably tolerates frost and grows up to three centimeters in height.
To "cover" the rock garden, you can choose Thyme. This plant can grow up to five centimeters, is distinguished by the presence of foliage with white fluff. Withstands cold and is unpretentious in care. Blooms from June to July with a pinkish color.
BUT Thyme lemon-scented- perennial with a pleasant aroma, capable of growing up to 15-30 centimeters. Grows best in full sun and fertile soils. It has small round or elongated foliage and light pink flowers from June to July.
Popular among ground cover plants sedum. This plant loves light, withstands dry conditions and is able to grow in different soils. It has fleshy foliage and star-shaped flowers. Stonecrop blooms in pink during summer or autumn, depending on the variety.
Ground cover plants for an alpine slide: photos and names Great for an alpine slide rejuvenated or Stone Rose. It can reach 15 centimeters in height, it manifests itself best under the scorching sun. In shade conditions, it loses its bright color. Attracts attention with a green-pinkish palette.
We told you which plants are suitable for an alpine slide, but we have not named all the varieties that can decorate your garden.
Only with a harmonious combination of all elements, you can achieve the creation of a rock garden that is in no way inferior to professional design compositions.
Video
Video review in the form of a catalog with names and a brief description of perennial vegetation for an alpine slide: