Landscaping in Alpine Soil Types

Mountainous regions present unique gardening challenges, in part because alpine locations often have poor-quality soil. A good alpine landscape design will incorporate native mountain plants, since they are able to withstand harsh soil and weather conditions. It is also easier to make use of the rocky landscape by incorporating it in rock gardens or raised beds, rather than replacing the soil.

Alpine biomes often have little soil, and what soil is available is typically dry and of poor quality for most garden plants. Mountainous landscapes are more rock than soil, which limits the variety of plants you can use in a landscape. Plants adapted to mountainous regions, however, thrive in poor soils. They are so efficient at using the nutrients found in alpine soils that a rich, organic soil is actually unhealthy for them. If you do choose to add more soil to an area where you intend to grow alpine plants, mix 2 parts garden soil with 2 parts inorganic amendment such as pumice, grit or sand. You can add up to 1 part organic matter, like compost, to this mix when growing woodland or rock garden plants.

Since alpine soils are already rocky, one of the simplest landscaping plans for this soil type is to design a rock garden. A typical rock garden contains rocks of varying sizes, including large rocks that weigh near 200 pounds. They work best when about one-third of the rock is buried, and when the rocks are arranged to create natural pockets of soil between them. Some good perennials for alpine rock gardens include white stonecrop (Sedum album) and showy stonecrop (Sedum spectabile), both hardy in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 3 through 9. Annual flowers for a rock garden include allysum (Lobularia maritima), moss rose (Portulaca grandiflora) and vinca (Catharanthus roseus).

Large plants native to mountainous regions work well as a backdrop to rock gardens, as windbreaks or as the main feature in an alpine landscape design. Good trees include Amur maple (Acer ginnala, USDA zones 2 through 8), Tatarian maple (Acer tataricum, USDA zones 3 through 8) and common chokecherry (Prunus virginiana, USDA zones 2 through 6). All three grow well in altitudes up to 8,500 feet. Some shrubs can be planted at even higher elevations. Both Siberian peashrub (Caragana arborescens, USDA zones 2 through 7) and hedge cotoneaster (Cotoneaster lucidus, USDA zones 3 through 7) grow at elevations up to 10,000 feet.

If you want to grow plants that need deeper or more organic soils than alpine locations supply, building raised beds is another landscaping option. Raised beds built of native rock will blend right in with the rest of the landscape, while still supplying a place to grow a wider variety of plants. Keep in mind that the plants must still be hardy enough to withstand alpine weather conditions, including cool temperatures and dry soil. Plants that grow in a high elevation, but require organic soils, include Colorado columbine (Aquilegia caerulea, USDA zones 3 to 8) and prairie smoke (Geum triflorum, USDA zones 2 through 8).