Alpine Landscape Design

Alpine landscape garden design will take you back to flashes of Julie Andrews dancing in a beautiful meadow filled with green grasses and alpine flowers as seen in the classic movie The Sound Of Music.  Alpine gardens are domestic or botanical gardens specializing in the cultivation of alpine plants which grow naturally at high altitudes around the world, on such mountains as the Caucasus, Pyrenees, Rockies, Alps, Himalayas, and Andes mountains.

An alpine landscaped garden tries to imitate the conditions of the high altitude plants’ place of origin, for example, large stones and gravel beds. Though the plants can often cope with low temperatures, they dislike standing in damp soil during the winter months. Alpine plants are used to growing at high altitude where the soil is typically poor and sandy but extremely well-drained. One of the main obstacles in developing an alpine garden is the unnatural conditions which exist in some areas, particularly mild or severe winters and heavy rainfall.  This is avoided by growing the plants in an alpine house or unheated greenhouse, which tries to reproduce the ideal conditions.

Alpine Plant Hardiness Zones

Alpine plants don’t only grow at higher latitudes.   One of the biggest distinctions is that the lower bound of a tropical alpine area is difficult to define due to a mixture of human disturbances, dry climates, and a naturally lacking tree line.   The major difference between tropical and arctic alpine zones is the temperature differences.  The tropics have both summer-winter cycle every day, whereas the higher latitudes stay cold both day and night. In the northern latitudes, the main factor to overcome is the cold temperatures.  Intense frost action processes have a profound effect on what little soil there is and the vegetation of arctic alpine regions.  Tropical alpine regions are subject to these conditions as well, but they seldom happen. Because northern alpine areas cover a massive area it can be difficult to generalize the characteristics that define the ecology.   It is always best to determine what hardiness zone you live in and then decide if the plants you want are suitable for your climate.  If you are set on a particular plant you can always engineer a microclimate to cultivate what you want.

Alpine Plants

Typical alpine plants grow together as a plant community in alpine tundra.   Alpine plants are perennial grasses, sedges, forbs, cushion plants, mosses, and lichens.   Alpine plants must adapt to the harsh conditions of the alpine environment, which include low temperatures, dryness, ultraviolet radiation, and a short growing season.  The list for alpine plants can be extensive, and this by no means is an extensive list but these are typical plants one a person could cultivate in their own yard given the right conditions.   We have broken this down for you into two areas, Alpine Plants for the Shade and Alpine Plants for Open Sun.

Alpine Plants for Open Sun

  • Acaena ‘Kupferteppich’
  • Aethionema Warley Rose
  • Alyssum spinosum Roseum
  • Artemisia schmidtiana Nana
  • Aubrieta 
  • Cotula hispida
  • Crepis incana
  • Delosperma
  • Erodium
  • Helianthemum
  • Lewisia
  • Morisia monanthos
  • Rhodanthemum hosmariense
  • Sedum 
  • Sempervivum
  • Thymus 

Alpine Plants for the Shade

  • Acaena                                                                                                             
  • Aquilegia
  • Arenaria balearica
  • Astilbe
  • Campanula ‘Foerster’, ‘Kathy’, ‘Resholdt’s Variety’
  • Chiastophyllum oppositifolium
  • Cyananthus 
  • Cymbalaria
  • Geranium sanguineum Striatum
  • Houstonia
  • Hypsela reniformis
  • Leptinella
  • Mimulus
  • Potentilla x Tonguei
  • Pratia
  • Ranunculus ficaria
  • Saxifraga mossy types
  • Saxifraga x primulaize Salmon
  • Sedum Weihenstephaner Gold, Fuldaglut
  • Veronica prostrata
  • Viola Julian

Alpine Garden Yard Features

Alpine yards,… as with any yard, no matter what landscaped design theme you decide have particular features every yard possesses.  Some of the features we are talking about are seen in most yards, but it’s up to you to decide how you will introduce these features into your alpine themed garden yard.

First,  get a feel of the land by walking around.  Is there a hill you can use that drains easily?  Is there a low area that retains water?  Does grass grow well?  Is it rocky?   As you look around pay close attention to what your land is telling you comes naturally.  What may seem a disadvantage can sometimes be used to your advantage.  With a shovel and some work that low spot that retains water can end up being a water feature.   That hill is perfect for a terraced garden with a sitting area. Or if it doesn’t have many character traits don’t be afraid to artificially engineer them by hauling in dirt or digging a hole.

Next, you’ll want to think about your approaches to the features you decided that you want to include.  No matter what features you decide to incorporate, and in order to stay with the alpine styled garden be sure to include the alpine plants near your features.  If this seems like a daunting task for you,  invite a friend over to bounce ideas around or contact a landscape designer to give you some ideas.

To finish up, features that are incorporated into any landscape design can be broken down into these five categories;  Pathway Features,  Rock Features,  Water Features, Yard Features, and Construction Features.  Here is how you might unpack these categories with links to some pages of interest.

  1. Pathway Features;  Driveways, Walkways, Trails, Stepping Stones
  2. Rock Features;  Large Decorative Boulders,  Rock Gardens, Grottos. FirePits, Rock Walls
  3. Water Features;  Fountains, Pools, Ponds, Streams, Waterfalls
  4. Yard Features;  Grasses, Trees, Shrubs, Flowers, Recreation Areas, Putting Green
  5. Construction Features;  Outdoor Kitchens, Gazebos, Playsets, Barns, Pergolas, Observatories