Desinging a Alpine Garden

The thing about alpine plants is that they are very hardy and can grow in a number of difficult locations. Have a look at just a few ideas for planting with them...

Can anything be done with a rocky bank with little soil?

If you have a rocky area in your garden, which seems to contain more rock than soil, you can still try planting on it, by designing a scree garden. This type of garden is devoted to those alpine plants which thrive naturally in the rock-strewn slopes of mountains, where soil is exceptionally sparse and rains drain away quickly. Such plants can be a bit tempremental, but, once established, put down deep probing roots which grip onto even the most perilous slopes. Erinus alpinus is the easiest scree plant to grow, seeding itself and producing neat little mounds of foliage which bear masses of starry flowers. Some are a deep lilac-blue, but there are pink varieties and white ones, too - all flowering from late spring well into the summer. Many saxifrages are natural scree plants, as are alpine violas such as Viola biflora. The white-flowered Arenaria balearica clings to rocks and stones in a minature green carpet, while Gypsophila aretioides, which is also white-flowering, grows in hard green hummocks.

The genera draba, sempervivum, rosularia, azorella and raoulia all include species suitable for a scree garden and are worth trying in your setting.

Fancy constructing a 'sink garden'?

A sink garden is a great way to brighten up your patio or paved area. Get hold of an old kitchen sink, throw the plug away and stand it on raised bricks. It should stand in a fairly sheltered, yet sunny, corner of your space. Fill the lower third with a layer of broken crocks covered by a layer of gravel or shale. Top up with a mixture of soil, peat and grit or sand in equal parts.

Go for smaller alpines to make the most of your space. A dwarf conifer and perhaps a small rock or two among them can radically improve a design. Alpines are usually bought as growing plants in small pots from a nursery or garden centre - try to find one which stocks a good collection. They can be transplanted from pot to sink at any time. When choosing, give special consideration to dwarf species of aethionema, campanula, dianthus, gypsophilia, sempervivum, saxifrage and sedum.

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