Chris is a gardening writer and nature enthusiast. He graduated from Oxford Brookes University in 2022 with an MA in Psychology. Chris works with the Leeds Green Action Society, helping their food cooperative by growing various fruit and vegetables on their two allotments in Hyde Park, Leeds.
Reviewed By COLIN SKELLY
Colin is a Horticulturist and Horticultural Consultant with experience in a range of practical and managerial roles across heritage, commercial and public horticulture. He holds the Royal Horticultural Society’s Master of Horticulture award and has a particular interest in horticultural ecology and naturalistic planting for habitat and climate resilience.
Contributions From JENNY SHUKMAN
Jenny is the co-owner of Picts Hill Alpines and has had many years of experience in the different aspects of horticulture, including lecturing and tutoring on official RHS courses. She has also published a book about garden design and has been featured in academic articles about horticulture.
Head up into the mountains and you’ll see a completely different palette of plants and flowers to those you see at lower altitudes.
An alpine garden is a special type of garden designed to replicate these mountainous growing conditions as closely as possible, giving this captivating set of plants an opportunity to thrive in your very own backyard.
In this guide, we’ve collaborated with Jenny Shukman, Co-owner of Picts Hill Alpines.
What Is An Alpine Garden?
To expand on the brief introduction above, an alpine garden is one specifically designed to simulate the conditions and replicate the flora that grows naturally at high altitudes.
This is achieved through several means, one example of which is switching out regular garden soil for sandier, well-drained soils, along with gravel and rocks to align more closely with the stark and barren mountaintop conditions.
With these changes, it becomes possible to grow a set of plants that might not otherwise thrive at lower altitudes, and to bring their aesthetic from the far reaches of a mountain range to the comfort of your back garden.
The first alpine garden is attributed to Anton Joseph Kerner, a renowned Austrian botanist.1Kerner von Marilaun, Anton Joseph. (n.d.). JSTOR. Retrieved March 9, 2023, from https://plants.jstor.org/stable/10.5555/al.ap.person.bm000152118
The concept has since spread far and wide, garnering enthusiasm from gardeners around the world.
So popular are alpine gardens, in fact, that the Alpine Garden Society (AGS) was formed in 1929 to support any gardener looking to learn more about this type of gardening.2Alpine Garden Society Homepage. (2023, March 16). Alpine Garden Society. Retrieved March 20, 2023, from https://www.alpinegardensociety.net/
How To Make An Alpine Garden
Hopefully by now you’re inspired to begin turning your backyard (or at least a section of it!) into an alpine garden.
Here’s how to do it:
1) Decide where your alpine garden will go
So far we’ve alluded to alpine gardens as fairly big undertakings, prone to make use of a large portion of your outdoor space.
This doesn’t have to be the case, however.
Alpine gardens can range in size from a full backyard, right down to a trough or even a flower pot.
“You can create an alpine garden in many different ways and it doesn’t need to be on a large scale,” Jenny shares.
“All sorts of containers can be used and raised beds work as well. Choose rocks to suit the size of your container.”
2) Make sure the spot simulates the desired conditions
Whichever size alpine garden you go for, keep in mind that you’re aiming to recreate mountain conditions as closely as possible.
This means lots of exposure, no shelter from the wind, and less moisture than you’d usually find in your garden.
“Crevice gardens are an effective way of displaying alpines, where the rocks are placed vertically and close together to provide narrow planting pockets,” Jenny recommends.
“It is also important to display them where you can appreciate them and where you can look after them easily.
“Raised beds work well for this, or simply a few clay pots on a patio table.
“As well as being able to enjoy them better, you will be able to quickly spot any problems.”
Unless you’re working with a particularly large garden, it’s not unusual at this stage to struggle to find the right spot.
Most of us will have gardens without a spot that’s shade-free all day.
If this is the case, look for the spot that gets the most sunlight compared to everywhere else.
Avoid a spot near buildings, trees, and other tall plants.
Ideally it will be as open as possible from all sides, letting the air circulate undisturbed.
3) Try to position your alpine garden against a natural background
When you’re up a mountain, it’s unlikely that the splendorous plants and their bright flowers will be set against a brick wall, a wooden fence, or some similar man-made backdrop.
Whilst we appreciate that space may be a limiting factor here, we do advise trying to find as natural a background as possible.
Something that gives you and your guests an opportunity to suspend disbelief, and imagine themselves atop a mountain peak somewhere in Europe, rather than being sat in a British back garden.
“Trying to create a naturalistic backdrop was the reason that Victorian estates sometimes spent vast amounts of money in converting quarries, importing stone or even creating artificial stone to build immersive alpine experiences,” explains Master Horticulturist Colin Skelly.
“Rest assured, more modest efforts also make the required impact.”
4) Remove the weeds
This is good advice for any area of your garden, really, but it’s especially important for an alpine garden. For two reasons:
- Weeds will break the illusion by mixing two distinct aesthetics.
- Alpine plants are susceptible to being damaged by weeds.
For best results, take special care to remove all weeds from your alpine garden spot before planting anything, then remain extra vigilant and quickly remove any industrious weeds that break cover.
5) Ensure good drainage
This is of paramount importance.
Alpine plants require far less moisture to thrive, and will suffer if left standing in moist soil for too long.
“Most alpines don’t mind the cold, but damp weather can cause problems,” says Jenny.
“Make sure they are in well-drained soil or compost and provide good airflow.
“Don’t overcrowd the plants and provide a good layer of horticultural grit or stone chippings to cover the soil or compost.
“Quickly and carefully remove any foliage that shows any sign of succumbing to the damp.”
Choose sandy soil or gravel to allow water to drain away quickly and easily from your alpine garden.
“Use free draining soil or compost mixed with horticultural grit, and add a layer of grit or stone chippings on top,” Jenny explains.
With Jenny’s advice in mind, if you’re working with a spot that currently has regular soil, we recommend working grit or sand (or both!) into it to bring it in line with what these plants need.
“Top up the mulch of horticultural grit or stone chippings when needed,” Jenny adds.
“This will prevent the alpines from sitting in wet soil and prevent them from rotting.”
6) Add rocks
If you’re working with a space big enough to allow it, incorporating large rocks is a fantastic way to cultivate the alpine garden aesthetic.
You can buy stones from garden centres and outdoor shops, or go straight to the source and approach stone merchants directly.
Limestone is often found in natural mountainous conditions, and makes a popular addition to home alpine gardens.
Try not to get too hung up on the exact size and shape of the stones you buy, instead accepting that a rugged and unplanned selection will probably end up looking better than rocks fastidiously chosen to match each other.
“Try not to let any weeds get established as they will be difficult to remove if their roots grow under the rocks,” Jenny explains.
“Pull them out carefully by hand when they are still seedlings.”
7) Plant your garden
Once everything is ready, it’s time to start planting out your alpines.
“Select plants with a theme,” says Jenny.
“For example, you could opt for a range of sempervivums to provide all year interest and other alpines with similar properties to provide seasonal colour.”
You have a lot of other options here, so let’s take a look at a few:
- Buy mature alpine plants from a garden centre. This is a great way to get your garden looking alive from the outset, which is motivating and encouraging. Choose a few plants you like, double-check that their needs align with your conditions, then take them home and plant them out.
- Grow alpine plants from seed. Each plant has different requirements so we won’t go into all of them here, but it’s possible to grow a range of alpines from seed.
- Participate in the AGS seed exchange.3Seed Exchange. (2022, October 3). Alpine Garden Society. Retrieved March 20, 2023, from https://www.alpinegardensociety.net/seed-exchange/ Each year the Alpine Garden Society run a seed exchange where alpine gardeners – from amateurs through to seasoned vets – can find unusual seeds they may struggle to find elsewhere.
Whichever combination of options you choose, planting things out into your alpine garden is probably the most exciting step.
This is when your plans and potentially hard labour morph into a tangible medley of beautiful plants.
8) Other tips
We highly recommend checking out the AGS website, along with other resources designed to help budding alpine gardeners find their feet.4Beginner’s corner. (2023, January 4). Alpine Garden Society. Retrieved March 20, 2023, from https://www.alpinegardensociety.net/beginners-corner/
Like many niche types of gardening, alpine gardeners are a vibrant and enthusiastic community ready and willing to help newbies get acquainted with the technique.
There are plenty of books about alpine gardens, too: Great if you’d like to delve a little deeper into the area, and to bolster your understanding even more before setting out on your very own project.
What Alpine Plants Might You Use?
As well as sedum, pictured above, there are plenty of exciting and attractive plants that feature frequently in alpine gardens.
Here we’ll showcase a few to give you a feel for what you could be working with.
Rock Cress / Arabis alpina
This flowering Brassicaceae boasts delicate white flowers, above a tuft of rugged leaves.
Hailing from only a few places on the Isle of Skye, it’s a tricky plant to find in the wild.
This goes some way to explaining its appeal to alpine gardeners, who can, with care, bring something quite rare to their garden.
Pasque Flower / Pulsatilla vulgaria
With bright purple petals surrounding a sumptuous yellow centre, the pasque flower brings a bold splash of colour to any alpine garden.
The plant is related to the buttercup family, and is found naturally in various parts of Europe.
Yellow Helmet Flower / Scutellaria orientalis
Comfortable growing in the harsh alpine tundra, the yellow helmet flower features small tubular flowers (no points for guessing which colour they are), alongside deep green, ridged leaves.
Seeing this plant, it’s obvious immediately that it cut its teeth somewhere harsh and unforgiving.
Alpine Geraniums / Geranium macrorrhizum
This Geranium is suitable for growth in UK gardens – one of the few plants you’ll find regularly in alpine gardens to do so.5Alpine or Rock Geraniums. (2020, July 24). The Hardy Geranium Nursery. Retrieved June 27, 2023, from https://hardygeraniumnursery.co.uk/2020/07/24/alpine-or-rock-geraniums/
Its bouquet of gentle purple flowers, above bright green leaves which share their distinctive shape, is eye-catching and attractive.
Candytuft / Iberis sempervirens
Bunches of white petals dancing aloft from the ground, the candytuft lives up to its light and airy name.
Ranging all over Europe, parts of Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, this plant hails from far and wide.
Its attractive bloom makes it a popular and viable addition to any alpine garden.
See this guide for more alpine plant inspiration. And this guide if you’re looking to grow your alpines in a trough.
Ain’t No Mountain High Enough
Whatever your alpine garden plans, we hope this guide has helped to clarify concepts and point you in the right direction.
It’s our belief that every gardener has the potential to create an alpine garden, even if they’re working with very restrictive spaces.
While it may not be possible to build a large one suitable for strolling through, all of us can at the very least create an alpine planter, rich in exotic and intriguing plants that will delight and dazzle.
Happy alpine gardening!
