Flowering plants on rocky soil. How to master rocky areas. Choosing plants for rock gardens

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The presence of plants of this type in the garden determines its appearance- a rocky plateau, a slope covered with rubble, or a desert corner. All these plants have more or less adapted to live and develop in very harsh conditions, where the soil consists almost entirely of stone, gravel and sand, very rainy weather alternates with drought and it is always either very hot or very cold. Thanks to this feature, they are well suited for problem areas. Although each of these plants needs a special type of soil and watering regime - good drainage, long breaks between watering, etc. - they can all be grown on crushed stones and sand. In design, this is a great opportunity to move away from the classic gardening traditions, which involve fertile soil, abundant watering and the presence of flower beds. In areas with sudden climate changes, a dry, low-maintenance garden will be very useful.

Aster perennial is a hardy perennial with small, spiky leaves and many purple, daisy-like flowers. Can grow in poor, dry, well-drained soils. Reaches a height of 0.9-1.5 m.

European Cersis, Judas tree is an unpretentious plant. The leaves are oval, blue-green. Flowers travel on small pink balls. Prefers poor soil and sunny, dry places. Well suited for a Mediterranean style garden. Can be shaped as a low shrub or allowed to grow up to 7.5m.

Oregano smooth is a very unpretentious plant with numerous purple-pink flowers and rosettes of evergreen fragrant leaves. Prefers sunny, dry places.

Clary sage is a short-lived perennial or biennial with a strong, heavy scent. Grows well in sunny, dry places.

Agave American "Motley" is a pronounced succulent that produces very tall, spiny flower stalks 4.5-6 m long. Some of its varieties bloom only once in their life and then die. Prefers very sunny and dry places. This plant is grown only for its exotic “desert” appearance. Perfect for a dry Mediterranean style garden or just a dry garden.

Armenian wormwood is an unpretentious shrub with silver-gray leaves and small yellow flowers. Prefers very sunny and dry places. Although this plant needs more water than other plants of its type, it is well suited for the so-called theme garden, where there is a lot of stone, gravel, sand and sun-bleached wood.

Aurinia rockis is an unpretentious shrub with gray-green leaves and yellow flowers that appear from mid-spring to early summer. Prefers very sunny and dry places. Well suited for a garden in silver-gray tones, with sand and gravel.

Eryngium is an unpretentious, bushy herbaceous perennial, similar to a thistle with bright blue flowers, reaches 4.5-6 m in length. Prefers very sunny and dry places. Looks great against a background of sand and gravel. It is grown for its color and texture. Ideal for a dry garden, patio or Mediterranean style dry garden.

Juniper is an unpretentious evergreen tree or shrub, compact and slow growing, with small, prickly, pine-like leaves. The plant is suitable for well-drained, poor, chalk-rich soil. Grows in dry, sunny places. Slow growth makes this plant good option for rockeries, dry gardens with stones, gravel and sand, Mediterranean style, etc. There is a large selection of varieties of this plant, including upright and dwarf forms.

Opuntia fig is an exotic succulent with luxurious yellow, orange or red flowers that appear at the top of the plant. The fruits are shaped like pears. Loves well-drained, poor, loose soil - two parts sandy-clay soil, part broken brick and part fine sand. Watering is carried out only when the soil is completely dry. This plant is just what you need for a rocky and dry garden with a Wild West theme.

Perovskia or Russian sage "Blue Spy" is a hardy shrub with dense, grayish leaves and violet-blue flowers that appear in late summer. Grows in sunny, dry places. Although this plant can be shaped, it looks better in natural form. A good choice for dry garden borders if you want to add a silvery gray touch.

Yucca spinosa is an evergreen plant with short stems, long narrow leaves and small white or cream flowers. The flowering period occurs in mid-late summer. There are many varieties of this plant - from subtropical to desert. Grows in very sunny, dry places. a good choice for a dry garden or dry garden in a Mediterranean style.

Rocky gardens, or rockeries, are becoming more and more popular every year. Unlike a rock garden, a rock garden is a rocky garden located on level ground. Stones are laid out on a horizontal surface and plants are planted. It turns out to be a small flower garden. A rock garden is arranged if there is not enough space on the site for a slide, there are few stones, or for other reasons. The advantage of such a flower garden is the ease of its construction and care.

In our gardens, rockeries are made from crushed stone, stone, and mineral materials, combining them with various shrubs and flowers. What gives the “rock” the originality of landscape design.

Depending on the types and number of plants used rockeries can be of different styles.

• IN english style long-lasting conifers predominate. The British are very fond of these perennial evergreen trees, as they allow them to decorate the landscape, ready to last for decades.
• Japanese style involves a maximum of stone and a minimum of plants. The abundance of granite blocks on the hills is occasionally decorated with colorful, varied bushes.
• European rock garden consists mainly of ground cover flowering plants, which retain their decorative properties throughout the entire growing season.

Choosing the right location is the key to success

Not every pile of stones, randomly decorated with planted plants, can be called a rock garden. Before you start making a composition with your own hands, you should choose the right place.

An uneven surface will serve as an ideal base. It is very successful if there are small drops and hills on the site. Even a small hill can be transformed into a picturesque cascade or dry rocky scree.

If the surface is completely flat, then you can create flat stone compositions or make artificial changes in the relief.

Choosing a place for a rock garden, should be remembered:

• The composition should fit into the relief organically, combining with other elements into a single picture. For example, elevation changes, a decorative stream, an artificial pond, retaining walls.
• It is best to give preference to sunny areas. In this case, it will be possible to expand the selection of gorgeous light-loving plants to create a flower garden.
• It is advisable not to place the rockery close to the house, since the spring melting of snow can lead to the destruction of the composition.
• If a fence or buildings spoil the background of the composition, then they can be decorated with bushes or bindweed.

It should also be taken into account errors when creating rock gardens with your own hands:

• The beauty and naturalness of the composition will not be betrayed by chaotically scattered stones. Each boulder or stone should have its own, carefully selected place. It is best that the stones should be made of the same material, but of different sizes. If there is no height difference in the area, preference should be given to smooth boulders.
• It is necessary to create a rock garden with your own hands responsibly, rush is inappropriate here. The structure of the soil plays an important role in the composition. It needs to be well compacted, and gravel should be poured under large stones. In this case, the stones will not settle. The gravel will also serve as drainage, which will relieve the rockery from the accumulation of water. You cannot use construction waste instead of gravel; planted plants may die from such proximity.
• When placing stones in a rock garden, choose their most spectacular side. The largest stones should be placed at the base. You can sometimes dig them into the ground. These stones will create the basis of the composition, and small ones will emphasize the naturalness of the rockery. They can be fastened using special glue or solution. You should not use too many stones with sharp edges. They will cause a feeling of discomfort.

If the rockery turns out to be very small, then it can be expanded by adding gravel. Definitely for this type of filling geotextiles should be laid. It will prevent the growth of weeds.

In rock gardens, you can make small passages between the stones from flat stones or slabs. This will make caring for the composition much easier.

It is not necessary to cover the entire surface of the rock garden with stones. Its beauty lies precisely in the alternation of stones. You should not pile up a lot of stones and, most importantly, you need to provide access to all corners of the composition.

Choosing plants for rock gardens

Primary requirements:

1. For rockeries, it is best to choose low-growing plants that will be no more than fifty centimeters tall during flowering.
2. Plants that flower for a long time and in large numbers with beautiful foliage are best suited.
3. It is preferable to choose decoratively stable plants that will not lose their beauty during the entire growing season.
4. The choice should be made on plants that have a stable shape. They will not need to be replanted and divided often.

Plants that meet these requirements can be divided into several groups:

1. Decorative shrubs.
2. Coniferous trees.
3. Ground cover.
4. Plants with vertical ascending shoots.
5. Long-rhizome plants.
6. Plants with narrow sword-shaped leaves for vertical accent.
7. Brightly flowering annuals.

Plants in rock gardens are usually planted so that they do not cover the stones. Stones and gravel should occupy approximately half the area of ​​the rock garden, which is made with your own hands.

Creeping and low-growing plants for such a composition include: hyacinth, lily of the valley, scilla, snowdrop, crocus, creeping thyme, juvenilia, parsley, alpine aster, low-growing tulip and many others.

Dwarf forms of ornamental bushes and dwarf coniferous trees will look great.

We should not forget, when planting plants between stones, add fertile soil for their growth.

A small rock garden should completely reproduce the image of a real rock garden, but only in miniature. Therefore, super-dwarf plants will look good in it. For example, juveniles, sedums, saxifrages, any ground cover and, of course, thuja, spruce and juniper.

If the rockery turns out to be large, then the space between the stones can be filled not only with plants that are considered alpine, but also with those that will fit well into the landscape. They will complement each other and a rock garden created with your own hands will be elegant all year round.

Don’t give in to excitement and buy expensive exotics for your rock garden. To begin with, it is better to choose perennials that are easy to cultivate. First of all, they should have interesting leaf colors and decorative shapes.

Immediately after the snow melts, they will look great in the composition. snowdrops and crocuses. They will be replaced by muscari, primroses and low-growing tulips.

But, nevertheless, the basis of the rockery is created by ground cover tenacious, saxifrage, woodworms, cat's paws, awl-shaped phlox. They form rugs and pillows between the stones. Heuchera grows into a carpet of purple, and fine fescue adds azure color.

A rock garden made of conifers built in front of the house with your own hands will not only decorate the landscape of the site. The well-being of the hosts and their guests will have a beneficial effect essential oils, which are secreted by needles.

Plants in the composition should combine with each other in shape, color, size so that the integrity of the flower garden is not compromised. You can decorate the soil around the plants with river tracing paper, gravel chips and even ordinary crushed stone.

The range of crops offered in rock garden stores is currently unusually wide. Therefore, in order not to get confused among this diversity, first you should choose no more than ten species of plants. Then, with time and experience, this list can be expanded.

Planting

First of all the ground should be prepared. For most plants, a universal soil mixture is suitable. It consists of turf soil, to which a little sand, leaf soil, and peat are added. It is not recommended to add manure to the soil mixture. Its presence can cause uncontrolled growth of plants and lead to the loss of their decorative properties.

The soil should settle within a few months. After this, the earth is poured and plants are being planted. But, if there is no time for the soil to settle, and planting is done immediately, then you will have to add soil in the fall.

Plants in a rock garden must be planted in order. Woody plant species are placed first. Then you should plant herbaceous shrubs, followed by ground cover plants. And lastly, all the other inhabitants of the composition are placed.

Caring for a DIY rock garden

Caring for a rocky garden depends on the species composition of the plants planted in it. But there are also general recommendations:

• Plants should be watered as needed.
• Weed the rockery regularly.
• Add soil.
• Prune plants.
• Remove faded flower stalks.
• Remove and then replace diseased and dead plants.

Countless options create placing plants in rock gardens. The main thing is that the chosen option looks beautiful and, naturally, does not abound in unnecessary diversity and is a favorite vacation spot.

Beautiful rock garden options

Rocky gardens or rockeries can be divided into three types according to the style of execution:

• landscape - simulating the appearance of any mountain or other natural formation and the corresponding plant community;
• artistic (landscape, fantasy) - creating a fictitious or idealized image of a mountainous area;
• collection - built exclusively for growing plants.

Such a classification is very arbitrary and reflects only general trends development of rockeries. Each designer has the right to independently create his own style, relying only on his imagination and capabilities. The most difficult way - artificially maximally accurate reproduction of plant populations corresponding to the type of mountainous area - requires serious professional knowledge. The creators of artistic and fantasy gardens are not bound by the need to match the artificial landscape to real-life landscapes, which gives more scope for creativity and is more rational. In practice, a rock garden is most often a decorative element of garden decoration and only in rare cases is it a more or less natural corner.

Main types of rockeries:

• Alpine slide
• Architectural rock garden
• Landscape rock garden
• Rocks, cliff
• mountain slope
• mountain valley
• Forest ravine, hollow
• Gorge
• rocky ridge
• Water cascade, mountain stream
• Swamp
• Indoor rock garden

When choosing the style of your garden, you need to rely on the existing objective parameters, which are the relief, the level of the groundwater and degree of illumination. Artificially changing them is an expensive and difficult task; it is much wiser and more rational to use both their existing advantages and disadvantages in the planned landscape composition.

How to navigate correctly when choosing a landscape style:

• if the rock garden is supposed to be built on a sunny, drained area with existing uneven terrain, then its style can be any;
• if the site is waterlogged, the most reasonable would be to create something like a swamp or a small pond with a stone outcropping along their banks and an assortment of moisture-loving plants: astilbe, hosta, irises, primroses, saxifrage, marigold and others;
• For a shady area, any style of rockery is possible depending on the topography, but the range of plants used will be different. In such a garden, it is desirable to plant forest plants: ferns, orchids, tricyrtis, smilatsina, ungulates, baths, etc.
• on a flat plot it is extremely difficult to create a massive high rock garden; it is much more appropriate to choose the style of a flat or slightly elevated garden such as “mountain valley”, “high mountain meadow” or to build a small “slide”;
• if there is a steep slope, you can create a terraced garden or a complex combined rock garden that imitates mountain range with rock ledges, terraces, cascades and even a stream;
• in a low-lying area, the most rational option is a rock garden of the “ravine” type or the combination of a “ravine” with a “rocky hill”, which creates the impression of greater height.

- a modern variation of the famous “Alpine slide”. It may appear as a hill with an artfully created jumble of rocks, or as a reproduced fragment of a mountain landscape. It is an integral part of the overall composition of the garden, therefore it must be connected with it by a lawn, emphasized by paving, connected to a reservoir, isolated from outbuildings, a vegetable garden, and lush flower beds. The real advantage of the “slide” should be naturalness and proportionality - the smaller its size, the more thoughtful its composition should be. When thinking through compositional details, we must not forget about the needs of plants - for the favorable development of mountain species it is necessary to create special planting places: holes, terraces, crevices, slopes, especially since these structural elements add variety to the overall composition. At any time of the year, the “slide” should look impressive not only due to the plants, but also thanks to the beautifully and naturally laid stones.

Architectural rock garden - a type of artistic terraced rock garden, an element of a prestigious and complex garden that requires high design professionalism. The basis of its composition is made up of wide rectangular terraces located at different levels and reinforced with retaining walls. They are connected by stone stairs; the central staircase always leads to the entrance to the house. The walls are made of processed natural stone, tightly fitted, and special earthen “pockets” connected to the soil of the terrace are left for planting plants. The surfaces of the terraces can be designed in different ways, such as a flat rock garden, mixborder, swimming pool or lawn.
Low-growing shrubs and slow-growing conifers must be planted on terraces. An important place is given to cascade and ground cover forms of conifers and carpet herbaceous plants. In earthen niches and crevices of retaining walls, ampelous rock species are used: alyssums, iberis, bells, wormwood and the like.

Landscape rock garden - a style of modern rock garden that corresponds to new aesthetics and architecture and provides plants with the best conditions for growing. Creating this type of rockery is possible only on a fairly large area.
A large rock garden of this style can combine into a single composition an imitation of elements of different mountain formations: rocky outcrops, gorges, depressions, plateaus, gravelly slopes, water cascades. The dominance of any element in the overall composition depends on the features of the terrain and the size of the garden. It makes the most sense to build such a rock garden next to a natural slope; the slope itself should be decorated with terraces, rock outcrops, a water or dry cascade; and underneath it create a semblance of a rocky plain or mountain meadow. It is important not to overload the composition being created with overly spectacular elements: a pile of rocks, fountains and waterfalls.

- if your site has a natural steep slope, then it can be turned into an elegant decoration of the territory. You can create a system of retaining walls from any stone; for naturalness, they should be of different heights and shapes. The method of laying these walls is dry masonry or mortar. Depending on the type of stone used, you can create ancient fortress ruins or a mountain rock. The selection of plants for such a garden gives scope to the imagination. When planting, they most often use a combination of dwarf woody plants planted on the terrace and cascades of creeping plant species “flowing” from the walls.

Rocks, cliff - this rock garden can be either part of a complex landscape garden or an independent composition that imitates the natural outcropping of rocks. It is created only in the presence of a steep slope and very large stone blocks processed by time: volcanic rocks, blocks of travertine and dolomite. Glacier-rolled granite boulders are not suitable for use. Today, designers often use artificial stones made of plastic.
The creation of this rockery requires the highest artistic taste and professional excellence. Although the principle of laying stone is similar to laying a wall with dry masonry, the labor costs during work are incomparably higher. Seating for plants are created in the form of crevices during the construction process. Tree forms are planted at the time of laying. The selection of plants is very specific - these are mountain pines and junipers, rocky and alpine species: ampelous bells, dwarf ferns, sedums, wormwood, etc. Plants here should not dominate or distract attention from the stones - this composition is more of an effective design solution than a garden itself.

mountain slope - a very complex type of landscape garden, imitating the alpine highlands. It takes shape as a mountain scree, secured by groups of dwarf pines. It makes the most sense to place such a garden on a site with an existing large sloping slope. On the slope, a composition is created from large stones placed dug in groups and single ones, imitating rock fragments. Groups of mountain pines must be planted next to them. It is possible to plant creeping conifers of other species, low-growing rhododendrons, heathers, Eric; vertically growing forms - columnar and pyramidal - are absolutely unacceptable. Next to the groups of trees, “alpine meadows” are created - for this, a layer of plant humus is poured over the crushed stone and plants typical of alpine meadows are planted: dwarf sedges, gentians, saxifrage, edelweiss, juveniles, dryads, drabs, etc.
Free spaces are filled with different sizes of granite or aged limestone crushed stone, creating an association with mountain screes.
In its style, this type of rock garden is close to the “mountain valley” garden.

mountain valley - landscape rocky garden imitating the image of a high mountain valley. This is not an attempt to recreate a natural plant community, but simply a decorative composition. Such a rock garden can be created on almost any fairly flat and extended place.
Work begins with the placement of stones. For this type of rockeries, only stone blocks and large boulders of the same type are suitable, which must be dug deep enough into the ground. The material is arranged in any order, but avoiding symmetry. The garden is divided into sectors by laying a network of paths, which should not be made too decorative so as not to disturb the impression of naturalness. When creating a plant composition, it is necessary to maintain the principle of different heights. In such a rock garden, dwarf pines, columnar junipers and thujas are usually planted, which are complemented by creeping conifers, rhododendrons and low-growing flowering shrubs. Woody plants are planted near the stones. It is possible to plant groups of spring ephemeroids near woody ones: scylla, chionodox, crocuses. The background shade of the composition is soil covered with moss, small crushed stone or chopped bark. The style of such a rockery is a harmonious combination of independent but interconnected compositions.

- one of the most stylish and most difficult type of landscape gardens to create, recreating the plant community of the alpine highlands.
Used almost exclusively as compound element compositions of “rocky hills”, “mountain slope” or “mountain valley”. The choice of species used is very specific and includes only wild plants of the high alpine zone: low-growing bush grasses, dwarf gentians, edelweiss, carpet saxifrage and minuartia, creeping willows, cushion drabs, miniature auricular primroses, spring lumbago and other rare and difficult to cultivate plants.
For growth and normal development, these plants need a small well-drained area protected from the scorching sun - a “slide” terrace, an area next to a group of stones or under the cover of mountain pines and junipers. A layer of crushed limestone is used as soil, covered with a humus layer consisting of loamy meadow soil with the addition of leaf humus. Caring for such a composition is very labor-intensive and consists of regularly maintaining a harmonious balance between various types, since mountain species in cultivation grow much more actively than in nature and lose their characteristic appearance.

- a type of rock garden, used only in the presence of a natural depression in the soil. Its slopes are reinforced with firmly dug stones or by terracing. The choice of plants is determined by the shaded location, usually a combination of bush and horizontally growing coniferous and shade-tolerant forest species of ferns, sea anemones, and baths against the backdrop of naturally overgrown mosses. Plants should be planted so that there is good visibility of each specimen or group of them. At the bottom of such a “ravine” it is very effective to create a fontanel, which will enliven the entire composition and give it naturalness and ease.

Gorge - usually this is one of the elements of a combined landscape composition, which is created between the slopes of the hills. The walls are laid with dry masonry, usually of different heights for better and (or) different degrees of illumination of the slopes. This makes it possible to use a wider range of plants. The most impressive in the “gorge” are dwarf rocky species that tolerate light shading: miniature ferns, ramondas, haberleys, lewisias.

rocky ridge - an old, almost unused type of collectible rock garden. Its goal is to create best conditions for the life of alpine plants. There are no compositional or artistic solutions here. To achieve different illumination of the slopes, the ridges are positioned differently relative to the cardinal directions. They are given a wide trapezoidal or pyramidal shape with slopes of 40 - 45°. The center is made of a drainage base made of granite or dolomite crushed stone, and the sides are filled with soil and lined with stones. It is imperative to secure the edges of the ridge with high timber. The advantages of such flower beds are the undoubted ease of care and the possibility of using different compositions of drainage bases and soils on each of the ridges, giving scope for growing a wide variety of miniature plants.

- the most common element of rocky gardens, serving as support for a slope or terrace. An isolated “wall” is a rather rare and original design technique in garden design. It is created from natural stone either by dry masonry, or by laying the stone on cement or, even preferably, lime mortar. Crevices or specially created earthen “pockets” are made in the masonry, where rocky plants are planted: dwarf ferns, ampelous bells, minuartia, alyssum, drab, and juveniles. Descending trees planted during the construction of the rock garden as the tiers are laid will also look good here.

Water cascade, mountain stream can be either elements of a landscape rock garden or independent artistic compositions. Running water is spectacular and popular, but if done improperly, it can be a very insidious feature of your garden. This element fits harmoniously only on the slope of a large rock garden or when using the features of the natural terrain. Otherwise, it may spoil the impression of the entire garden composition.
The main feature of this rock garden is naturalness and harmony. It is best to select the material in natural environment. The cascade looks great from stones treated with water in nature. The walls of the pools are treated with clay, and the bottom is filled with pebbles. The plant composition is made up of plants from the coastal zone: Siberian and Japanese irises, primroses, marigolds, ferns, carpet species, and real mosses. A variation of this rockery is the “dry cascade”, in which coarse gravel or paving with granite pellets is used instead of water.

Swamp - an element of landscape decoration, which is usually created in swampy areas. In such places, to organize such a composition, it is enough to dig up the soil to a shallow depth. Soil is poured along the edges of the artificial “swamp”, giving it a hill-like shape. Granite boulders of various sizes are usually dug into the banks around quite deep - sometimes three-quarters of the height. The stones are placed in small groups or singly; they should seem to protrude from the banks, supporting them. The approach to the “swamp” is decorated with a special path or wooden walkways. Woody snags brought from a real swamp can serve as a unique decoration detail here.
The center is planted with marsh plants: calla lily (swamp calla), three-leaved wagweed, and cereals; Only moisture-loving plants are also planted along the edges, and more drought-resistant plants are planted between the stones on the hilly banks. If the entire composition is in the shade, you can also use forest plants: dwarf varieties of common spruce and hemlock, heathers (including rhododendrons), and ferns. Plants from the coastal zone and wet meadows would be appropriate near a sunny “swamp” or pond: narrow-leaved irises, brunners, buzulniks, valerians, marigolds, loosestrife, some primroses, hostas, daylilies, violets, etc.

- a border, a ridge, a bed located along a path, against the backdrop of a lawn or on top of a retaining wall; is a decorative flower garden densely planted with garden plants. When installing a mixborder along the path, stones - in groups or singly - are dug steadily along the entire length of the flower garden so that they only rise slightly above the plants, as if drowning in them. The effectiveness of this detail can be enhanced by alternating groups of stones with low (20 - 40 cm) terraces secured with slabs. Plants near the stones are planted in small groups or singly, and on terrace areas and at the edges - in low-growing groups or carpet spots flowing from the terraces and deliberately creeping onto the path slabs.
When setting up a mixborder on the terrace of a retaining wall, they use wide blocks or boulders dug into the ground to half their volume; tall stones would be inappropriate here. When calculating the entire composition of plants and stones, you should pay special attention to the proportions (height) of the wall - the larger the wall, the more powerful the plants planted and the stones used should be. In this version of the mixborder, not only herbaceous perennials planted in groups are used, but also dwarf woody pyramidal, spherical and creeping forms. Descending ground cover plants can be planted from the edges of the terrace. In this rock garden, only wild or close to wild plants are used. garden plants with beautiful foliage and graceful flowers, plants of mountain meadows will be especially good here. All highly growing and weedy species are unsuitable for use.

- the most refined and aristocratic rock garden, which does not copy the traditional “Japanese garden”, but is aesthetically very close to it. The style of this composition is moderation and harmony of details thought out to the smallest detail. Creating such a composition requires serious skills and subtle taste. The main task of its creator is to show every detail from the most advantageous position and completely hide it in an unfavorable period of time.
As a rule, details that deliberately define a purely “Japanese style” are not used here: lanterns, bridges and bamboo structures. The terrain is not important here. This type of rockeries is usually created in isolated spaces of small plots, fenced off from the main part of the garden by a wall, trimmed hedge or an array of trees and shrubs with a dense crown.
The composition of stones is arranged, conveying the impression of natural rock collapse, so they should be mossy, covered with plaque and lichens. In these rock gardens, like nowhere else, special attention is paid to the design of free space, because these are the places that will create a viewing perspective. They can be natural or artificially created surfaces, covered with moss or decorated with pebbles to resemble a “dry riverbed”. A water space can be harmoniously integrated into this composition.
The assortment of plants requires serious selection. The ability to easily form the plant is extremely important here. Among the trees suitable for this purpose are Scots and mountain pine, dwarf varieties of spruce and rhododendron, mahonia, and boxwood. Among the deciduous ones - small-leaved maples, some types of willows, weeping apple trees, Japanese quince, small-leaved barberry, almond, cinquefoil and similar species. Plants need to be given only spherical, tiered-horizontal or weeping shapes. Of the herbaceous plants, only ferns, narrow-leaved irises and background decorative foliage plants are used, and when creating an imitation of mosses, carpet sedums and bryozoans are used.
This garden should not have particularly bright spots, so brightly flowering plants cannot be used in it. In this composition, the main place is given to the calm and smooth transitions of colors, promoting solitude and contemplation of the world.

- a type of popular modular flower garden. Its originality lies in the fact that, despite its size, its composition completely reproduces the appearance of a real large rock garden, which has everything that the imagination of its creator can afford, only in miniature. The size also determines the possibility of using plants - these are super-dwarf varieties and slow-growing ground cover species: drab, saxifrage, sedum, juvenile. An obligatory element of such a composition is tuff stones with plants planted on them. These compositions are created in places where there is an opportunity to often and easily enjoy its beauty, usually near the house: on the terrace, against the backdrop of a lawn or paving.

Indoor rock garden is a miniature rock garden for the home. Keep it in the most illuminated places. Organize in ordinary ceramic dishes. The range of plants used are succulent species: Crassula, Gasteria, Haworthia, Pachyphytum, Sedum, Echeveria, cacti and many others. Such a garden requires attention and careful care. The main thing: good lighting and minimal watering to curb their growth. In the summer, with good natural light, the garden can be watered a little more and also fertilized. Temperature does not play a big role. With careful care and regular removal of overgrown plants, such gardens can be enjoyed for many years.

Little owners of a big house – 3.

I continue to talk about the small plants of my rocky hills. Most popular herbaceous plants for rocky gardens are sedums. These valuable ground cover plants are used to create decorative mats; they reproduce easily and quickly, are quite stable, undemanding to the soil, bloom for a long time in the summer or from the second half of summer until late autumn.
In fact, there are a great variety of sedums, about 500 species, most common in the northern hemisphere. Many species are found in the Himalayas, eastern regions of Asia, and Mexico. There is no exact information about the origin of the scientific name of the genus; apparently, it is associated with the word sedare - “to sit”, since many plants belonging to this genus, “sit” directly in the ground. Representatives of this genus grow in height from 5 to 30 cm. Fleshy, thick leaves of various colors are silvery. The flowers are small, often not very expressive. Home distinctive feature sedums are the ability, developed over many generations, to store water in thick leaves and stems, which gives them the opportunity to feel great and bloom for a long time in any sun. It is difficult to find a more hardy plant that retains its decorative value in any weather.
I currently have only three types of sedum left:

Spanish sedum (Sedum hispanicum)

A perennial plant with bare dark or bluish green leaves, almost cylindrical and expressionless flowers white, which bloom from the beginning of July for 3-4 weeks. Forms low mats up to 5-7 cm high. Good quality- after wet winters with little snow, the clumps of this sedum can become very thin, but are restored in the same season. Grows well in sun and partial shade.

Hybrid sedum variety "Fuldagent"

The shoots are perennial, creeping. Blooms profusely in mid-summer; faded flower stalks must be trimmed. It is very unpretentious to soils and grows in sun and partial shade.

Sedum spatulafolia

From North America. The plant is perennial, evergreen, forming low mats 5-7 cm high. Leaves in rosettes, twisted at the ends of short shoots, thickened, spatulate, up to 2 cm long. Peduncles up to 10 cm long. The inflorescence is umbellate. Petals are 8-10 mm long, lanceolate, pointed. Blooms in July. It grows slowly. In the absence of snow it can freeze.

Rejuvenated

Rejuvenated or stone rose has an exotic look and always attracts glances. It has a very original leaf rosette, and the color range fluctuates over the summer from grayish green to bloody purple. Under natural conditions, juveniles grow in the mountains on very poor soils, so they cannot be planted in good soil and fed - they can grow into a giant mutant with a tall peduncle. The young should not be watered; the rosettes of this flower will become rotten and turn into jelly. But this is not of particular importance for decorative purposes - one rosette of a plant can produce so many “children” around itself in a season that removing a rotten flower will not have much significance. Once every 4-5 years, the young need to be replanted, because the rosettes become very small and not beautiful. Another trouble is that the young attract birds, large ones at that, who really like this flower.

And one more flower that decorates alpine hills and rockeries is a small carnation -
Clove pinnata.

Carnations are indispensable plants for rocky gardens; cushions of carnations will decorate any stones; they look very good next to thyme, jasmine, and saxifrage. Carnation prefers sun and well-drained soils; it takes root easily, but does not grow quickly. Winter-hardy without shelter.

The flower is up to 30 cm high and grows into a very lush clump. The leaves are bluish, the flowers are simple, from white to pink, with an eye in the center, very fragrant. It blooms for three weeks from the beginning of June.

In most options rocky gardens ( rockery, alpine slide , terraces) landed here plants find themselves in specific conditions of existence, determined by the following factors:

* good drainage and, therefore, rapid drying of the soil and lack of moisture;

* high solar activity, enhanced reflection of direct lines sun rays from stones;

* high ambient temperature, as stones retain heat for a long time;

* small volume of soil and the associated lack of moisture and soil fertility;

* strong weathering; * increased risk of freezing due to thin snow cover on the slope and early snow melting.

All this must be taken into account when selecting plants for a rocky garden. The most promising for rockeries and rock gardens are drought-resistant plants, tolerating temporary lack of moisture. These are species, usually associated by their origin with the steppes or dry mountain slopes - feather grass, carnations, corollas, tulips, onions, liatris, small daylily, heuchera. Rocky plants such as rhizomes, grains, saxifrage, juveniles, sedums, jaspers, and plants of dry, light-colored foxes - wood anemone, speedwell, chin are quite promising. More demanding plants that require regular watering, such as primrose, astilbe, hosta, are best planted at the foot of the hills, rockeries, terraces.

Plants should be undemanding to the soil and not require high fertility, since the volume of the soil is quite limited, and fertilizing it with organic matter is contraindicated, since an excess of organic matter can cause active growth of vegetative shoots, which will lead to the loss of grace and the specificity of the plant's firm. Plants must be light-loving, since rocky gardens, as a rule,grow in open sunny areas and are tolerant of elevated temperatures. In the same time temperature regime on an alpine hill and slope, rock gardens develop in such a way that in winter the risk of freezing increases. Therefore, plants must be sufficiently winter-hardy. The main principle of creating a plant composition for a rock garden is its constant decorative effect throughout the season. This means that it is necessary to select plants that bloom in different time years and are capable of maintaining the beauty of a rocky garden with their shape, color, and structure of foliage. When creating a composition, it is very important to consider the shape and size of plants.

It is desirable that flowering plants be present on the hill from spring to autumn. Their use in rock gardens gives the latter a special flavor, uniqueness, and makes them attractive throughout the season. The decorative effect of flower beds also depends on the correct color combination.

Effective contrasting combinations. Plants with red, yellow, orange flowers are combined with plants with white flowers. Species with yellow and purple flowers look great next to each other. But combinations of yellow and orange or blue and purple are not interesting.

For planting among stones, it is preferable to select low-growing plants, no higher than 50 cm, with a beautiful, original bush shape: cushion-shaped, cone-shaped, creeping, carpet-like with hanging shoots. Not suitable for rocky gardens tall plants, especially those forming thickets, since such plants will cover the stone and crowd out neighboring species. An important factor selection of plants - decorative stability of the species. In rockeries you can plant plants with a short decorative period, which include most bulbous plants, but their participation in the plant composition is quite limited; they only serve as spring accents, but cannot serve as a general background.

Preference is given to plants that are consistently decorative, evergreen; they decorate the hill at any time of the year: young plants, rhizomes, semolina, most sedums, etc. The beauty of leaves and bushes is often rated higher than the beauty of a flower. Thus, in most rockeries, species of wormwood, woolly grass, and various grasses are grown, distinguished by inconspicuous, unattractive flowers, but magnificent silvery foliage.

Plants in a rocky garden placed taking into account their size, timing and duration of flowering, shape and color of flowers and fruits, etc. In the center of the composition the most intense and ornamental plants. Beautifully flowering, deciduous and decorative, as well as low-growing plants with original branching are placed in the foreground. Plants of the same type, shape or variety are planted singly or in groups, but not scattered throughout the site.

To enhance the contrast, 1-2 small but original plants are planted in front of the group. To ensure that the planted plants do not close together as they grow, gaps are left between the groups. With skillful selection and proper placement in a small area, you can present many diverse and interesting plants.

When selecting flowering plants for rocky garden It is best to be guided by the time limits of their flowering period. This will allow you to achieve constant changing flowering of species in the created plant composition.