Alpine Garden Ideas, Tips & Guides

A call this a rock box as it is one way of displaying rockery plants above ground level.

There are a host of different Saxifraga or singular Saxifrage. They make for an interesting group to grow and collect both in the garden and in troughs or pots depending on the variety. Saxifrage kolenatiana has rosettes that throw up spikes of flower in summer similar to its better known Saxifrage relative ‘London Pride’.

Yesterday I visited the 2018 alpine event at Harlow Carr. I was very impressed and I am sure the other people who braved the elements were well satisfied.

Botanically we refer to a rosette as a circular arrangement of leaves with all the leaves at a single height. On Succulents these rosettes usually sit near the soil.

A rock garden is a grand place to display your alpine plants. You can shade them with rocks, provide deep root runs and provide rain cover with perspex roofs

Art can be found in many situations and you don’t need to look too far in the alpine house.

I am no great fan of large leaved hostas probably due to lack of space in my garden where I prefer to grow other plants. However the dwarf varieties are easy to get on with.

The Pacific Bulb Society has a large report on numerous species.

Tale Valley nursery hold a national collection of these floriferous plants.

Saxifraga Fortunei ‘Cherry Pie’ looks good from late August through Autumn with these cherry coloured flowers. It is recommended as a good plant for moist woodland as it is happy with partial shade. Grows 8-10″ tall with flowering spikes above bright palmate, green leaves.

Your own rock garden does not have to be as large as that at Kew. You do not need to demonstrate every regional zone on the planet. Nor do you need specimen plants that grow in all the range of soil conditions and climates. Better to concentrate on doing one or two things well.

Crevice gardens are all the rage at the moment. The careful alignment of rocks can create some interesting locations for alpine and rockery plants. They are also very good for helping wild life to thrive. See pictures of the Alpine Garden society rock supplier.

Primula is a genus with over 500 species and numerous hybrids, divided into 30+ sections.

I have reported before about the Alpine house at RHS Harlow Carr. Now we can begin to see the fruits of all the labours both in growing and display.

One of the smaller varieties of Campanula should ring a bell for rockery or alpine gardeners.

This is labelled as Iris Cyclogossa, but, I believe it is actually Iris Aucheri. – a dwarf form of the Juno Iris. See: Growing Iris Aucheri

There are enough different saxifraga within the genus to satisfy the most ardent plant collector and breeder.

Sedum spathulifolium make dense mats of grey foliage. The cheerful yellow flowers can be up to 3″ across.

You do not need to garden on top of a hill or mountain to have an Alpine garden but it helps. Alpine plants tend to have deep roots and a deeper dislike for wet around their necks. Many alpines are bulbs and use other tactics to survive harsh conditions. For every generalisation there is an exception and this book gives you a better insight into Alpine plants.