Garden position suitability for alpine garden

Hi all,

I'm potentially thinking of dedicating a section of garden to alpines. I currently have a small trough containing saxifrage alpino red, aubrieta Dr mules & regardo white. These have been in a south facing polytunnel and like it there but I want to test a location to plant them in the ground. I've moved the trough out to this position. Is there any reason why this is not a good test? I.e. could they do badly in the container but be fine in the ground in this spot or vice versa? The thing I know they hate is winter wet and I'm in Scotland, so got plenty of the wet stuff. Is wet more of an issue with a container Vs ground? In theory you have more control over container drainage.. The position is west facing but will get some south sun too but it is open and exposed. I assume alpines will grow in scotland and can't rule them out for it being cold and wet in winter?

Thanks for any advice

 

Firstly, let me say that I don't really have a clue about plants. Gardening was forced upon me by a house move and now I'm making it up as I go along! Having said that, I planted a North East facing railway embankment garden feature with a number of alpines in April 2024.

I live in Durham, in the North East of England, so while it may not be as wet as Scotland can be, the temperature and moisture levels can't be hugely different. I don't think the cold would be as much of an issue, as it tends to be cold up mountains anyway!

This is the embankment in July last year, with lots of plants in bloom. They get the morning sun, but due to a Hawthorn hedge to the left and out of shot, soon go into shade. They get a little more sun in the evening in the Summer.



The picture below shows a comparison between the first planting in April 2024 and January this year. In one season, everything has filled out pretty well and for the first half of last year, at least until the end of June, it seemed to do nothing but rain. The fact that the plants are on a bank, with a conifer at each end, my help with the drainage and waterlogging.

We planted Delosperma sutherlandii, Dianthus, Viola Molly Sanderson, Aubrieta axcent light blue, Arabis little treasure, Sedum, Pritelago, Aquilegia, Anacyclus, Armeria, Lupins, Hebe and Choisya. We also moved some Water Avens and Purple rock cress from elsewhere in the garden to there and there was a pre-existing Fuchsia. I'm sure quite a few of those came from the alpine section of garden centres and they all seem happy with their new home.

 

Thanks for your insight, the embankment looks good. It looks like quite a sheltered spot there with the bigger trees and bushes around. Interesting that it's not a super sunny aspect but they are doing well. Digressing from the question but have you lost anything to frost? I planted some delosperma last summer as you mentioned them but the prolonged hard frosts we've had got them. They were north facing though.

 

It doesn't appear that way so far and we've had several days in a row where the lawn was frozen over.

 

Hi,

If you are concerned about wet conditions, you could create a rockery and mix in lots of potting grit as well - that is assuming you like rockeries.

 

I did dig in quite a bit of sand to help with drainage on my railway embankment.

 

If you want "choice" alpines, then go the trough route. e.g. with choice plants from somewhere like Potterton's or Aberconwy. There's quite a few alpine nurseries in Scotland as well. Also, maybe join the Scottish Rock Garden Club, who are absolutely brilliant.

"Garden Centre" alpines. Then they're happy in the ground. The more exposed the site for alpines, the better. Make a soil mix of 50% grit.

 

I experimented with alpines a few years ago, in the ground and in a trough. I used a 50/50 mix of bought topsoil and horticultural grit in both locations. Over time, the ones in the ground succumbed to winter cold and wet. The ones in the trough fared better as they were in full sun for most of the day and I covered them with a plastic cloche to avoid the worst winter wet. I bought some of the plants from a specialist alpine nursery, D'Arcy and Everest. The best performing plants have been thymes, erodiums and delospermas.

This was my first trough planting:

 

Hi all, thanks for the comments. Seems like drainage is key then which I had expected. Hmm well I guess I can give it a try. I might go very small initially so I'm not changing a large area which would be labour intensive given the soil requirements, we're on clay so would need a lot of work to change it and then may not work long term. For now I'll leave the trough I have in the intended spot and if they fail over the winter I'll assume it would be a no go in the ground too. I have wrapped fleece around the trough to give a bit of frost protection at least.

 

Mine is also very clay soil.

 

Good to know, thanks

 

Alpines are sturdy plants in frost. They won't need fleece. It's too much wet that'll be the problem. A cover would be better than fleece.

 

Ah ok, the fleece was just because they were in a container. But you're right they do seem to like cover. If they go in the ground they won't get covered so might need to see how they get on without. If they don't make it maybe they're too much fuss for me

 

Alpine is defined as 'above the tree -line' which varies with latitude . Its taken as 650 metres(2350 ft) at 68deg N Sweden or 3950m (12,960ft)at 3 deg S Kilimanjaro.
Clearly plants have requirements of location regarding aspect, temperature range, moisture, humidity, ph, mineral availabilty, solar radiation and spectrum, soil texture and humus content, micro-organism association, all of which it will be necessary for you to replicate, more or less !

 

If you're buying a house, the mantra is Location, location, location.
If you're planting Alpines, the mantra is Drainage, drainage, drainage.
Once you have drainage sorted out, then they're easy peasy. (except for a very few specialist ones like Benthamiella.) Alpines love snow and cold so Scotland is good for them.