home » Beauty secrets » Where to get stones for the alpine slide. Where to get stones for the alpine slide. Selection advice. Which stones are better to choose

Where to get stones for the alpine slide. Where to get stones for the alpine slide. Selection advice. Which stones are better to choose

An intricate composition of rocks and mountain plants will be a great addition to the design of your backyard.

Properly approaching the creation of a rock garden, you can independently create a beautiful and bizarre slide with bright greenery and fragrant flowers.

And here it is of no small importance what stones for the alpine slide were chosen.

What stones are better to choose?

Each of them has a different acidity, brittleness, ability to weather, as well as absorb air and moisture. Therefore, it is necessary to choose stones taking into account the characteristics of the plants that you plan to plant.

Rocks are presented in various options. So, today the following types are considered ideal rocks for landscape design, in particular, the creation of slides:

Sandstone
Granite
Limestone

Let's talk about each breed separately.

Sandstone

Due to its coarse-grained structure, smooth sandstone is simply made for decorative purposes. In addition, it has a wide variety of shades: cream, red, sand, brown.

Another advantage of this stone for an alpine slide is its slow aging, i.e. sandstone remains strong for a long time, which is also an excellent basis for planting plants.

This type of stone is easily combined with any greenery, so you can safely give preference to the plants you like without fear that the "sandstone" will not get along with them.

Granite

Granite boulders are stones with a dense, fine-grained structure. They, like sandstone, are offered in a variety of shades. A little advice: if you decide to create a rock garden yourself, choose light-colored granite.

The advantages of granite include its high strength, but at the same time, it should not be forgotten that it is very difficult to process, because. has a lot of weight.

Before wondering where to get a stone for an alpine slide, make sure that the plants you choose will get along with it. Granite affects the acidity of the soil, so conifers, heathers and rhododendrons are most often combined with it.

It is best to use this stone to create individual elements of slides that adjoin the banks of water bodies. It is in these places that granite looks very natural.

Limestone

Limestone rocks include cracked tuff and decorative dolomite. They are simply created for landscaping.

Limestone is remarkable in that it allows air and moisture to pass through, and also normalizes the composition of the soil, creating an optimal environment for growing alpine plants.

Limestone looks the most natural and harmonious. over time, its surface is covered with moss and lichens. It is also the most convenient stone in processing, because. its corners are automatically smoothed as a result of the influence of weather conditions.

You can buy such a stone for an alpine slide in several colors: white, gray, golden, cream, with a bluish tint. Thus, it is allowed to realize any design idea, no matter how extravagant it may seem.

But at the same time, it affects the composition of the soil, so it cannot be combined with plants growing on acidic soils.

Among the variety of rocks you can also use slate and any material with a layered structure, including textured slate granite (gneiss).

Many build slides from ordinary stones that can be found along the road. They are granite boulders created by glaciers in ancient times. Among them, only occasionally you can find pieces of limestone and other minerals.

You can buy stones for an alpine slide in specialized stores. Breeds should be chosen thoughtfully and carefully. It is desirable that stones of the same type participate in the creation of the rock garden.

The basis of the alpine slide is a stone composition, diluted with a plant component. And choosing the right plants is not difficult. Various stonecrops, young, saxifrage, phlox will look great when proper care behind them. As for the stones, lovers of landscape experiments have “punctures” with this. Illiterately selected and laid out stones in the composition completely negate the potential success of the operation. AT best case such an alpine slide will look like an awkward accumulation of stones, at worst - like a pile of construction debris. Therefore, the choice of stone material for the alpine landscape must be approached with all responsibility. This is what we will do now.

Stones for an alpine slide should be in harmony with the plants and create a single whole with them

strength. The stones form the frame of the alpine slide, so it is important that it does not tend to collapse. This is especially true of the "fundamental" stones on which the composition rests and which will have to be stepped on when caring for alpine plants.
Moisture resistance and durability. The stone elements of the slide will be in the open air, respectively - under the influence of precipitation, winter freezing and thawing. Therefore, their durability will depend on the degree of moisture resistance and frost resistance of the selected stones.
Naturalness. It is undesirable to use artificial stones for rock garden, for example, concrete boulders or bricks. Their origin, even with a brilliant performance, will be noticeable and the very meaning of the alpine slide will be lost - a complete recreation of the mountain landscape in a modern garden.

Rounded, perfectly smooth boulders look like foreign objects on an alpine hill. They are only relevant if the rock garden is complemented by a stream or a landscape waterfall. The presence of water, which “wears away the stone”, can justify rounded shapes. For other mountain compositions, specimens with uneven edges, preferably with traces of erosion, are suitable.

Stones with traces of destruction (visible cracks, cells, holes) look best in the composition of an alpine hill

To emphasize the naturalness of the rock garden, stones of different sizes are used - from 10 cm in diameter to 60-70 cm. For surface filling, even finer material is used - gravel, crushed stone, expanded clay, pebbles. Remember that stones of the same size and shape, even laid in a fantasy, “landscape” order, will create an image of “artificiality”.

The color of natural stones can be different. These are reddish tones, and greenish-gray, and yellow, and white. Usually, stones of the same shade are selected for rock garden. In any case, the plants will add their own colors to the composition and it is undesirable that the resulting color scheme be too lurid.

Yellowish sandstone serves as an unobtrusive background for bright alpine plants.

The best rocks for the alpine landscape

There are types of stones that are traditionally recognized as the best for creating an alpine slide. They lend themselves well to processing, emphasize the beauty of alpine plants and have a set of unique properties. What are these stones? There are several options.

Option #1 - Limestone

A very good choice. Limestone has the ability to look natural in any landscape composition. Its corners are quickly smoothed out by the wind, mosses and lichens begin to grow on the surface. The structure of limestone is porous, rough, capable of retaining moisture for a long time and nourishing plants planted nearby.

The limestone alpine hill looks like a real piece of the mountain Alps

The color of limestone can vary from white to yellowish or light gray. The inclusion of various impurities (manganese, magnesium, etc.) in the composition gives the stone a reddish, greenish, dark gray or brown hue.

Option #2 - tuff (travertine)

Another calcareous rock, with a pronounced cellular structure. Thanks to this, the tuff is very light and this allows even a woman designer to experiment with its position.

Tuff, due to its cellular structure, is considered one of the best stones for an alpine slide.

Tufas cannot boast of bright shades. Their colors are white, beige, coffee, slightly reddish. Their most important beauty lies in the almost airy structure, consisting of many small cells.

Tuff is a malleable, soft, easy-to-work material. Often it is drilled or manually gouged holes in the type of planting pockets for planting. The holes are made cone-shaped (with the wide part up), usually through. The diameter of the hole at the top is 5-6 cm, and more can be done. A 3-4 cm stone prepared in this way is dug into the soil on an alpine hill. The roots of plants planted in pockets will eventually be able to grow through the holes and gain a foothold in the ground. In addition, porous tuff will absorb moisture from the soil and the need for frequent watering of plant compositions will disappear.

Option # 3 - shell rock (shell rock)

Shell rock is a special type of limestone, consisting of the remains of petrified shells. The structure of the rock is porous, moisture permeable. Shell rock, like tuff, can be used as a planting container for plants with a small root system.

Various unpretentious succulents grow well in cellular shells

The colors of the shell rock are white, cream, beige, yellow, pinkish. Interesting specimens of shell rock are sold in pet stores for decorating aquariums.

Option #4 - Sandstone

Sandstone is often used for landscape compositions due to its cheapness and availability. It can be yellow, gray, beige, reddish, orange. Due to the rough surface, layered structure, sandstone harmoniously fits into the natural corner of the garden. This stone is durable, it weathers a little, retains its shape well.

Sandstone has a neutral reaction, so absolutely any plants can be planted next to it.

On sale there are instances of sandstones with a "perforated" structure. They look like Dutch cheese. These stones are not cheap, but they look great. In addition, unlike shell rock, they are very durable. Alpine Spartans are planted in sandstone holes: juveniles, saxifrage, carnations, beetroot, etc.

Rejuvenating and caustic stonecrop grow in the destroyed "cells" of sandstone

Option #5 - Slate

This rock has a layered arrangement of constituent minerals. Splitting, a block of slate forms thin and completely flat slabs. They are often used in landscape design to create retaining walls, artificial rocks, grottoes and alpine slides.

White, yellow, burgundy, red, brown shades of slate are in perfect harmony with each other and are often used in combination with each other.

Slate slabs form mini-rocks, paths, rock garden terraces

Option #6 - Granite

Granite is a dense rock with a fine-grained structure and noticeable speckled inclusions on the surface. The stone is difficult to process, as it has a large weight and hardness. At the same time, granite is durable and looks very natural as an element of an alpine slide.

Granite of light gray color is a durable and strong basis of an alpine slide

Granites of pink, white, bluish-gray and green colors are considered the most decorative. It is better not to choose black granites, their color in the compositions of amateur designers often looks dull.

Option # 7 - pebbles, crushed stone, gravel, expanded clay

All these materials are used for mulching or filling voids in stone compositions of alpine slides. Crushed stone and gravel, covered between large stones, give the composition an ease and airiness. Pebbles are used to create dry streams or to fill paths in rock gardens. Expanded clay retains moisture well, so it is great for mulching the upper layers of the soil.

Pebble dumping forms paths in rock gardens and mulches the soil

Where to buy the necessary breeds?

Suitable stones can be collected independently on the banks of rivers, in the steppe, in quarries. If there are natural deposits of shale, sandstone or granite nearby, and you have a car, go to the place and collect whatever your heart desires.

You can also buy stones. For example, in the nearest quarry (place of rock extraction). Or from representatives of landscape organizations that sell interesting specimens of sandstone, shell rock, tuff. Often they are put up for sale with the names "natural stone", "landscaping stone" or something like that. Small, "perforated" shells can be found in pet stores, in the department of goods for decorating aquariums.

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They say that happy people look at the sky, and sad people look at their feet. We can assure you that many people have become happier precisely because they carefully looked at their feet, and did not look at the clouds. We not only urge you to follow their example, but also explain what exactly you need to pay attention to and what places to walk in order to find a real treasure among ordinary stones: diamonds, amber, gold and even meteorites.

website draws your attention to the fact that the legislation of each country restricts the activities of prospectors for minerals and precious metals in different ways. Therefore, before you go on a search, find out which finds are not in violation of local laws.

Amber

Where can I find: The most affordable option is to go to the Baltic Spit. Amber is mined along the entire length of the Baltic coast in Poland and the Kaliningrad region. There are deposits in other places, for example, in Ukraine in the Rivne region, in the Dominican Republic, in Burma, but only in the Baltic you will be offered an excursion that includes collecting amber on the shore and in the waste land of the quarry.

It is better to go in late autumn, winter or early spring. After storms, the course of amber begins. Strong waves wash away the amber-bearing rock and throw up heaps of driftwood and algae on the shore, in which you will have to rummage to find amber. Experienced hunters do not wait until amber is thrown onto land. They enter the icy water, fish out accumulations of fin and algae with large nets, carry the wet pile to the shore and carefully sort it out in search of pieces of amber. It is believed that the most productive storm is short-lived, because a prolonged storm will simply carry all the washed amber back to the sea, and it can only be obtained if you have a diving suit and good cold tolerance.

The most expensive and rare specimens of amber are pieces with insects, small animals, fry, blades of grass, etc. trapped millions of years ago in resin. Such inclusions are called inclusions. And the value of such finds often exceeds the value of diamonds.

meteorites

Precious stones and metals can be bought at every jewelry store. But you won’t find meteorites there, because they are much rarer, which means that it’s much more pleasant to possess them. Large meteorites that form funnels fall very rarely, and small ones more often. They are worth trying to find.

Where can I find: People who have made the search for meteorites their hobby advise beginners who have not yet acquired a metal detector to start searching from flat roofs.

Yes, it sounds strange. But the fact is that on the roof you will not be distracted by objects of terrestrial origin and it is there that you can find a lot of micrometeorites. Do not disregard the holes under the drains, which could fall into meteorites during heavy rain along with water flows. Check out your finds. All meteorites have a "melting crust" - a thin layer of melted substances that make up the "guest from space", and regmaglipts - small depressions located over the entire surface of the meteorite body. These are the main, but far from the only signs. Specialists, for example, employees of the meteoritics laboratory of the GEOKHI RAS, will help you finally determine the origin of the finds.

Diamonds

If you think you're lucky, then try your luck in search of the hardest mineral on our planet - diamond. Although it's not just luck, of course. Washing diamond-bearing rock in a special sieve is hard work that may not pay off. Therefore, tune in not to the discovery of the century, but to an unusual adventure that you will tell your friends about for a long time to come.

Where can I find: The world's only diamond quarry "Diamond Crater", open to visitors, is located in the USA, in the state of Arkansas. Any found stone is yours. So keep your eyes open and don't miss the gem: it can easily mislead you with its unassuming appearance. Rough diamonds are nothing like the sparkling diamonds we are used to seeing in jewelry stores.

Gold

Now that you've learned how to handle the sludge pan in a diamond pan, it's time to go for the gold.

Where can I find: In principle, you can pan for gold or find a nugget in any other country, but Australia has the most loyal laws in relation to free prospectors.

Australia beckons not only with gold. It is also famous for its opals: most of these magnificent stones are mined here. As in the case of gold, anyone can try his hand at prospecting. But with opals it is more difficult, because if you do not have special equipment, you will have to wander through the old tunnels, peering into the worked out rock, in the hope that those who were here before you missed a few good stones. However, this often happens. Opals glow in the ultraviolet, so if you take an ultraviolet LED flashlight with you, you will definitely not be left without a find.

The main idea of the rock garden is to recreate the natural mountain landscape on the site. To achieve the natural look of an alpine slide, stones and plants are carefully selected when creating it. Any design objects should repeat the natural alpine landscape, bringing a unique flavor to the site.

Rock garden stones

When arranging an alpine slide, it is important to give it a natural look. Therefore, the choice of stones is a crucial step towards creating a picturesque decorative rock garden. Ideally, if you look at examples and types of rock gardens, photos with alpine views on the Internet or in landscape magazines. When “watchfulness” appears, the hands themselves will do as they should.

See step by step instructions"How to make a simple rock garden with your own hands." Another option is to create a rockery, a special kind of rocky flower garden, in which large stones and undersized ornamental plants occupy most of the overhang.

Where to get stones for rock garden

Each owner himself extracts stones for the rock garden. You can buy them (in the online store) or get them yourself in the mountains, on the sea coast, in quarries, local quarries.

8 tips for choosing stones for rock garden

Buy stones with your own hands, so as not to get a pig in a poke.
Choose unpolished stones with a natural texture to look as natural as possible.
Use stones only rocks - limestones (white, golden, cream), sandstone (gray and red), tuff (travertine), granite , slate .
Give preference to stones with a beautiful, graphic shape and curves.
Avoid using concrete debris and pressed stone.
Stop for one rock garden on one type of stone and use only that.
Arrange the stones randomly (do not make even rows).
Try to choose the most favorable angle for each stone in order to demonstrate its beauty and shape.

When creating an alpine slide, stones weighing from 10 to 100 kg are used. For a rock garden approx. 2 x 3 m will need at least 2 tons of stone.

Plants for rock garden

Landscape designers claim that only alpine plants that grow wild in the Himalayas, Alps and rocky mountains can grow in rock gardens. And it is right! Not all plants are suitable for rock garden, even if they are short and ground cover.

Plant plants on an alpine hill in a chaotic manner. There are 3 ways to plant plants:

with the help of an embankment and the creation of a raised flower bed,
on a stone wall or on artificially created rocks,
create an alpine lawn or path.

Names of plants for rock garden

For ease of perception, we will divide the list of plants conditionally into several groups: primroses and bulbous plants, herbs, ground cover, undersized and medicinal plants.

Primroses and other bulbous plants for rock garden:

white flower,
crocuses,
muscari,
primrose,
blueberry,
lumbago,
pushkinia,
chionodox,
iris undersized,
kandyk,
tulips, etc.

Perennial plants for rock garden:

ferns,
fescue,
gypsophila,
sour,
aquilegia,
alpine poppy,
sunflower,
felt yarrow,
evening primrose,
hawk.

Ground cover plants for rock garden:

saxifrage,
stonecrops (undersized and ground cover species),
plantain,
Phlox subulate,
beetroot,
gentian,
duchenea,
creeping tenacious,
iberis,
krupka,
spurge,
obrieta,
rezuha,
mother of thousands,
erinus.

Low-growing plants for rock garden:

short bows,
azorella trifork,
aster stunted,
pinnate carnation,
geranium,
Carpathian bell,
coreopsis,
cat paw,
penstemon,
breaker,
cyclamens,
edelweiss,
yaskolka.

Medicinal plants for rock garden:

skullcap,
rhodiola,
colchicum,
snakehead,
bloodroot.

Plants - aggressors for rock garden

Aggressive plants grow rapidly, occupy large areas and can crowd out the rarer representatives of your rock garden. Therefore, they must be planted with caution.

These include:

rocky beetroot,
aubriette
stonecrop,
rezuha.
skolka

Also, undersized species of bulbous plants and dwarf coniferous trees or shrubs are planted in rock gardens.

Coniferous plants for rock garden

Coniferous plants set the rhythm and core of the composition, so with their proper placement, you can achieve amazing views of the alpine slide. Representatives of conifers in rock gardens can be formed for a more lush crown and bushiness. Spruces, for example, can be cut, and in pines, pinch the tips of fresh shoots.

Low-growing coniferous plants for rock garden

mountain pine (various varieties),
black spruce "Nana", dwarf spruce "Little Gem",
thuja western (some varieties, such as "Hetz Midget"),
yew berry "Standishii",
microbiota,
junipers,
balsam fir "Abies balsamea", Korean, one-color,
pseudo-hemlock (compact varieties),
drooping thujopsis "Thujopsis dolabrata".

Landscape designers actively use all kinds of stones to decorate man-made reservoirs. With their help, you can mask the artificial materials used in the construction of the pond in the country, as well as give the pond a more natural and picturesque look.

We offer you a brief instruction on the choice of stones for arranging reservoirs and how to lay them.

Where Can Stones Be Used?

Stones are widely used to give the pond a finished look. They find application:

in the coastal zone. Place here several large rounded or irregularly shaped stones. They will become an element that limits the zone of the reservoir;
in shallow water. It is appropriate to place several stones partially hidden by water, as well as pebbles covering all shallow water;
at the bottom of the pond. In deep (more than 1 m) reservoirs, the bottom usually does not require decoration. But you can lay a few large stones that will be visible through the water column. They will look especially impressive at night with the device. Also, the stones perfectly mask the submersible pump, making it indistinguishable at the bottom of the pond;
on the islets. Several large stones are located on the area of the island, as well as on the coast;
as part of a waterfall. Flat stones are used to form a cascade, a plane from which water will fall to the next level. Stones of suitable shape and size are used to form an artificial hill;
at the source of the spring. As a stone from which an artificial spring will beat, a beautiful block is chosen. A hole is drilled in it and a pump is connected - it turns out simple, but very;
in the construction of fountains. Decorative stone is used to mask the nozzles of the fountain and the hose through which water is pumped by the pump.

Below is one of the examples of decorating ponds with stones.

Which stone to choose?

Image	Description
	Granite. Widespread in nature a natural stone, which will look appropriate when decorating the thresholds of streams, waterfalls, ponds. It may have a light gray or pinkish tint.
	Marble. posh decorative rock. Depending on the type of impurities, it has a green, blue, red, yellow or black color. It can be used in the form of plates (polished or not) for facing, device.
	Limestone. Sedimentary rock of grayish-white color without gloss. Given its ability to dissolve in water, alkalizing it, limestone is used for dry work, for example, for laying along the contour of the coast or paving paths.
	Sandstone. Sandstone slabs of gray, red or yellow shades are often used for the construction of thresholds for ornamental streams, man-made hills for waterfalls, cladding of ponds and as a covering for garden paths.
	Basalt. Natural stone of black or grayish color, having a dense or porous structure. Most often, basalt is used in the construction of waterfalls and for paving paths.
	Gneiss. Close to granite in composition, the greenish-gray gneiss stones have a characteristic layered structure. This allows you to use them in the design of the bottom and coastal parts of the reservoir, the formation of a waterfall.
	Dolomite. This mineral may be colorless, white or yellowish in color. Thanks to its glass luster, it is excellent for decorating fountains, springs and waterfalls - structures where water movement takes place.

The video below shows an example of the design of a reservoir with stones: there was a place for both springs and a waterfall.

About artificial stone

Those who are not going to carry heavy boulders or hire lifting equipment for this purpose can use artificial stone. It is a decorative product made of fiberglass, hollow inside and having a hole in the bottom.

Outwardly, such stones are almost indistinguishable from natural ones, they have a characteristic relief and color. Their main application is the masking of pumping equipment, hatches, various technological units. But they can also be used as an independent element of landscape design, for example, this applies to huge decorative boulders.

In the pond, large stones look great, half or a third submerged in water. Especially if their surface is decorated with live moss. But for its development, the block must be in a shady place.
Do not want the water to bloom actively in the pond? Then try to avoid the use of limestone, which reduces its acidity, which, coupled with good natural light in the pond, leads to the development of algae.
If a film was used as a waterproofing of a reservoir, do not place stones with sharp edges, heavy boulders in the reservoir and next to it. To be safe from above, the plastic film can be covered with a layer of geotextile.
Be very careful about masking the edge of the pond - you should not make a heavy stone necklace around it, which will look redundant. Make the stone outline intermittent by diversifying the design of the coast with sand mounds or plants.
Combine the stones used in the construction of a hydraulic structure with the materials used in the construction or decoration of buildings on the site. For example, if marble was used for lining the columns of the gazebo, then it can also be used to decorate the fountain.

Even with a single stone, you can make a good waterfall. Confirmation of these words is in the video below.

Stone laying options

Stone laying is carried out in two ways: with and without mortar. The use of cement mortar is justified if it is necessary to strengthen the banks of a reservoir, equip a stream bed, build a complex structure of a waterfall or fountain. In these cases, use a mixture of sand and cement grade not lower than M300 in a ratio of 3:1.

Dilute the mixture with water to the consistency of fatty sour cream. To give the solution characteristic waterproofing properties, add up to 10% liquid glass to it, then mix thoroughly. Apply the solution with a layer of the required thickness, then moisten the stone and fix it in the desired position.

Immerse smooth rounded stones into the solution by 2/3 of the volume - this will prevent them from falling out of the nest later. After three days, the masonry mortar will acquire sufficient strength.

Laying natural stone is a real art. Even if you plan to reinforce the masonry with mortar, try to assemble it without it first. So you can choose the optimal size and shape of the bricks of your design. High-quality stone finishing implies the presence of a minimum thickness of the masonry joint from the mortar, which is achieved by carefully considering each step.

The approach to laying stones when decorating and strengthening the banks of the pond is largely determined by the slope of the underwater part of the coastline. If it does not exceed 30 degrees, then the stones can be laid without mortar, but for a tighter fixation, greasy clay should be used. In other cases, it is better to use a solution on cement.

Alternatively, a row of stones up to 0.5 m high can be laid, after which cement mortar is poured into the space between the film and the stones. Only after its setting can you continue to work on the same principle.

As a parting word

Fight the temptation to turn your pond into a stone-lined pool! Remember that moderation is important in design. Pay more attention to those that will delight you with their greenery and flowers.