Soil advice?

So, inspired by something I saw on Pinterest, I'm creating a 'fairy garden' (as you do). I have purchased six lovely little alpines for the purpose. Can I have some soil advice, please? I know they need to be well drained, and don't like to sit in water.
I have some general purpose compost, some sand, some pea-shingle, some ericaceous compost, and some cactus/succulent compost in the outhouse.
Is there any combination of the above that might work, rather than buying more specialist compost?

 

Hi

you want nothing with added peat so the multipurpose and ericaceous is out as it will hold the water over winter next to the roots which may cause the roots to rot , all the rest is ok but with anything Alpine add as much grit as you can is the trick to growing them well
John inns no 2 is ideal its NOT over rich in nutrients but what ever you add do the same with grit .

Spruce

 

Great, thank you. I've used a mixture of multipurpose, mixed with quite a lot of sand, and a good deal of shingle. Then I've topped it with cactus compost, so it shouldn't get too soggy. And I've built the whole thing on big rocks to drain away excess water (I may well bring it out of the rain in winter, anyway). It's my first attempt with alpines, so if they all die, I'll have spent a tenner and I'll try again!
I'll post piccies when the 'finishing touches' arrive. (All will become clear).

 

Sounds ideal to me what varieties are they

 

I've taken the labels off and put them 'somewhere safe,' so as soon as I find where I've put them, I'll tell you which alpines they were!
Will upload photos once my 'magic ingredient' arrives. It's all but finished, and looks lovely. Just waiting for the finishing touches...

 

Quick return to this thread, here's a link to the finished Fairy Garden I made last summer http://ro-ro-to-fro.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/fairy-garden.html
To update on the soil situation, the vast majority of these alpines did very well over the winter, and have thrived. Two of them (the two top right ones), I am pretty sure have died. They were similar varieties with tiny leaves. I'm not sure if it was cold or damp that got them, but all the other more 'succulent-like' varieties have done very well.
I don't have room to bring them indoors over winter, so I will replace the dead ones with similar thriving varieties. Soil worked a treat though! :-)

 

looking good , have you thought about putting under a cloche for winter , I know in Wisley they use pieces of glass with wire stuck into the ground to keep the rain off the tender ones ,,, well the ones that don't like getting water into the crown , glad the soil mix worked

 

For my fairy garden I used soil with good drainage properties – a mix of coarse sand, leaf mould and rotted manure.

 

Welcome to Gardeners Corner Rhana