Rockery from conifers (alpine hill): names of varieties, photos in landscape design

Content

1 Landscape design with stones and conifers
2 Types of rockeries with conifers
3 Names and photos of conifers for an alpine hill
4 What plants go well with conifers and stones?
5 Rules for creating a rock garden with conifers
6 Caring for coniferous rockeries
7 Photo of landscape design with stones and conifers
8 Conclusion

Along with the arrangement of rock gardens, a new trend is gaining popularity among landscape designers - the creation of rock gardens, which offers greater creative freedom. In addition, rockery made from conifers, in addition to its obvious aesthetic advantages, is also not picky in its care, which is why landscape specialists often give preference to this particular type of rocky garden.

Landscape design with stones and conifers

A rock garden is a landscape design element that combines the aesthetics of a traditional flower garden and a rock garden. It is often mistaken for a rock garden, but, unlike it, to create a rock garden, the presence of a hill is not necessary: it can be located both on a flat area and on a hilly area. Not only alpine plants, but also any other plants are used as decoration for rockeries.

The most popular are rockeries made from coniferous trees.They look unusually impressive and serve as an excellent decoration for garden areas and green areas adjacent to the facade of urban buildings located in front of the building facade. In addition, conifers are evergreen plants that are easy to care for and have a long lifespan. Thanks to this, coniferous rockeries are able to delight with their appearance for many years.

Types of rockeries with conifers

All rockeries, including conifers, are divided into 3 types:

temporary;
stable;
volatile.

A temporary rock garden means that stones and other decorative elements will need to be replaced as the plants grow. It is best to plant it on a flat area or in an area that has a slight rise. For planting, select small seedlings that will grow over time.

Rock gardens of a stable appearance are chosen if they want to decorate the garden for several years. To create it, large and small stones are used, which divide areas with plants into zones. This distinction simplifies the care of conifers and restrains their growth, which allows you to preserve the composition of the rockery.

Lovers of novelty will appreciate the changeable rock garden. As its name implies, it allows you to add new, smaller shrubs from year to year to a base of several large plants, thus giving a completely new look to the rocky garden.

Names and photos of conifers for an alpine hill

A great variety of conifers have been bred for rockeries, and they all differ in shape, size and color. Among the wide range of species and varieties, it is not difficult to select specimens that meet the most delicate design taste.

Spruce

Spruce is a favorite of landscape designers for its low maintenance and high frost resistance. In addition, numerous varieties of spruce have needles of various shades: green, gray, and even golden yellow.

The photo shows the most popular representative of this conifer - the common spruce:

Various columnar varieties of gray spruce are very beautiful, but the scorching sun often burns the needles of these delicate plants, so they need to be shaded in the summer.

Cypress

Cypress is another very common conifer in the field of landscape design. The pea variety of the plant is considered the most frost-resistant.

The Filiferai cypress has an unusual appearance. It has long flowing branches that evoke a waterfall.

The Plumosa cypress has a spreading crown, but some varieties are quite compact and look good in small rockeries.

Juniper

To arrange rockeries, it is recommended to choose dwarf varieties of this fragrant conifer, which have a dense crown and are characterized by slow growth. Thus, European juniper will serve as an excellent decorative element for the background.

Horizontal juniper will be an excellent option for a coniferous plant for an alpine slide if you need to fill the space between the stones.

Fir

Fir trees for rockeries also have dwarf varieties.

Balsam fir has the most suitable crown density for rockeries.

Korean fir is frost-resistant, but it must be protected from direct sunlight.

Pine

Such a well-known conifer as pine is also valuable for landscape designers.This is especially true for plants with a spherical or spread-out crown, such as some varieties of Scots pine.

Often, when arranging alpine hills, varieties of low-growing pine are planted from coniferous trees.

Thuja

Thuja occidentalis captivates with its hardiness and appearance, but it requires sufficient watering, as it does not do well in dry soil.

There are also many varieties of coniferous plants that amaze the imagination with their color palette and shapes. But no matter what the choice of conifers is based on, they must certainly be combined with each other and create the appearance of an indivisible landscape.

What plants go well with conifers and stones?

In addition to conifers and natural stones, deciduous and herbaceous plants are used when arranging an alpine hill in the garden. They complement the overall picture, mask the empty areas of the rockery and help to dilute the restrained color palette of conifers with bright accents. And if you approach the selection of such plants wisely and choose specimens with different flowering periods, the rocky garden will play with new colors throughout the year.

So, in the spring you should opt for primroses, primroses and low tulips. In the summer, the assortment becomes much richer: among the proposals for decoration during this period are tenacious, prickly, cat's paw and phlox.

Regardless of the season, saxifrage, sedum, ground cover and juveniles will be good purchases. They can grow in almost any soil and are great for riprap.

Rules for creating a rock garden with conifers

Creating a rock garden is akin to art.It requires the designer to have a clear idea of how the rock garden will ultimately look, and therefore, when deciding to decorate your summer cottage with such an element of landscape design, you should pay attention to every little detail. Everything - from the color and size of the chosen conifers to the shape of the smallest stones - is of great importance when planning the future composition. Here are some recommendations to consider when arranging a rock garden:

Since the appearance of rockeries dates back to Japanese culture, a prerequisite for creating an alpine hill from conifers is compatibility with the characteristics of the territory in which it is located. The rock garden should not look alien against the background of the general relief, but fit organically into the setting of the garden or park.
The key role in creating a rockery with conifers is played by its location. An unsuccessful choice of location for this element of landscape decor can completely change the appearance of the site, not for the better. When deciding on a location, it is advisable to give preference to uneven surfaces, be it a slope or a small hill: this gives scope for creative thought, allowing you to make miniature mountain valleys using conifers and stones or create a cascade effect. In addition, such a rock garden will also have a practical purpose: to prevent soil shedding on the site. In addition, the rockery area should be well lit, since most conifers are light-loving plants. Moderately shaded areas are also acceptable.
Having chosen a suitable place, you should make a sketch of the future rock garden and note the approximate location of stones, conifers and other plants.
Using a rope and pegs, you need to mark out the area of the rockery.Then remove 20 - 25 cm of soil from the designated area and clear it of unnecessary stones, weed and roots.
For the successful development of conifers and other plants, it is not superfluous to provide them with a high-quality drainage system. For this, broken brick mixed with crushed stone or gravel in a 1:1 ratio is suitable. This mixture will serve as a good basis for the rock garden, which will prevent it from becoming waterlogged and at the same time minimize the appearance of weeds on it. If you additionally cover the soil with geotextile material, you can achieve additional protection from weeds.
After laying the drainage layer, fill it with sand and compact it. On top of the sand you need to place a substrate mixed from sand, fine gravel and garden soil. You will subsequently need to plant conifers in this substrate, and then install stones.
Stones for rock gardens should be chosen in natural shades, ensuring that they highlight the beauty of the conifers. They can complement the colors prevailing in the environment, or, conversely, contrast with them. At the same time, the stones themselves must be made of the same material, and also be combined with each other so that the rockery creates a complete picture. As a rule, landscape designers prefer to use stones of sedimentary or igneous rocks, such as basalt and sandstone, due to their characteristic texture.
Advice! Stones of the same color but different sizes will help to successfully highlight the natural beauty of conifers in a rock garden, especially if they have an unusual texture and shape.
The stones must be arranged, starting with large ones and ending with smaller specimens, with the former looking more advantageous individually, and the latter in groups.They should be buried at least 1/3 deep into the ground: when force is applied to them, the stones should not move.
A scree of rockeries can be formed using gravel, medium-sized perlite or pebbles in a layer of 4 - 5 cm.
For rockeries with conifers, plants from nurseries with a closed root system are mainly used. For background landscaping, decorative trees and medium-tall shrubs are used: for example, columnar thuja and gray spruce. Low conifers, such as mountain pine, are planted near large stones, and the area between the stones is reserved for creeping plant species - horizontal juniper or Canadian hemlock.
When creating a landscape composition, it is advisable to provide in advance for the placement of a pedestrian path made of flat stone slabs or cuts of coniferous trees. It will complement the aesthetics of the rock garden and make it easier to access the conifers when care is needed.

Caring for coniferous rockeries

Naturally, one cannot ignore such an important component of any rock garden as plants. The conifers themselves are considered unpretentious in care, however, in order for them to please the eye for as long as possible, it is still worth adhering to certain rules for planting and growing them:

Planting of conifers for rockeries should be carried out in a previously prepared planting hole, which corresponds to the size of the earthen clod. It must be filled with fertile soil combined with a small amount of sand and watered generously. Before planting, the plant must be carefully examined, dry or damaged roots must be removed, and the lower part of the rhizome must be freed from the earthen lump. After this, you need to place the conifer in the planting hole, cover it with soil, compact it and water it thoroughly again.To ensure healthy development of conifers, they should be planted at a distance of 15 - 20 cm from the stones. Exceptions are ground cover plants: they can be placed closer.
To prevent the rockery from becoming overgrown with weeds, it should be weeded periodically.
Despite the fact that conifers tolerate dry periods well and do not need watering as such, you can additionally water the plants during the growing season.
It is not necessary to feed conifers in rockeries, however, if the soil in the designated area is not fertile, you can periodically apply fertilizers, starting from the 4th year of plant development.
Important! You cannot feed conifers with fresh organic fertilizers.
In spring and summer, when the sun is most active, it is advisable to cover the conifers with a light canopy if there is no shade in the rock garden.
To maintain the harmonious appearance of the rockery, conifers should be pruned from time to time, maintaining their shape and preventing the plants from growing too much.

Photo of landscape design with stones and conifers

The beauty of coniferous rockeries is that their appearance is not limited by anything except the imagination of the designer himself. By arranging your alpine hill with conifers, you can create an absolutely unique landscape in three main styles, distinguished by professional landscape designers; they act as a guideline that allows you to direct creative energy in the right direction:

Japanese style. It is characterized by a shift in focus not on plants, but on stones, their shape and size. The number of large boulders and small stones prevails here, and the plants act as bright accents.The distances between landscape elements can be significantly greater than when decorating a rock garden in other styles. This is an excellent garden option for those who have a contemplative nature and are looking for inner harmony;

European style. It implies the presence of rocky slopes, slides and cascades and creates the feeling of an island of untouched nature in the middle of the garden. To decorate a rock garden in this style, plants growing in the central zone are often used;

English style. Suggesting more order than the European style, it resembles a well-kept public garden. There is still no symmetry here, but the conifers here have a more distinct crown shape, and the composition itself is restrained.

However, to arrange a coniferous rock garden, it is not necessary to adjust your artistic vision to a specific style. It is enough to remember a few important notes:

Symmetry is not desirable. She can turn an interesting creative vision into a boring and monotonous landscape.
It is recommended to place decorative elements in such a way that they look attractive both up close and in the distance, from different angles.
Conifers and stones with smooth outlines close to natural ones look best.
Plants and boulders should create the impression of a single picture and maintain a common color scheme.
Conifers that are different in color from the rest, for example, with bright yellow needles, can be interestingly played up by adding flowers of the same shade to the rockery: this way the coniferous plants will not look sickly against the general background.

Conclusion

To create a unique rockery from conifers, a considerable amount of creativity is required.But if you follow simple rules for arranging a rocky garden and your own imagination, the efforts made will not be in vain and will soon delight you with an amazingly beautiful result.