Having a beautiful garden in a mountainous area is not a utopia! Composing with the local flora well adapted to the climatic conditions and adding a few notes of horticultural species are the secrets of success!
Specific conditions
Mountain climatic conditions are very specific. The winter is very harsh, the frost is sometimes present during long months with early or late frosts, the snow covers the ground and the trees with its heavy coat. To complete the picture, the wind often blows very hard, especially in deforested areas, so the plants are exposed to difficult conditions and must be well adapted to this environment to survive. The winter being very long, the period of growth of the plants extends only over 6 months at most. They then benefit from exceptional light conditions and the heat necessary for their development.
Adapted plants
This worrying climatic picture should not make the gardener give up. Many plants can find a place in high-altitude gardens! Local flora should be favored because they are perfectly adapted and will have no problem growing.
To structure the decor, think of trees such as firs, pines or cedars, always majestic. Birch trees are also very well suited to this type of condition, and will brighten up the garden in the spring with their white bark.
For shrubs, the choice is also very important. Boxwood and yew can be used as hedges or borders, ivy can be used to cover facades, while cotoneaster, Forsythia intermedia, mahonia or rowan, so dear to birds, can be planted at the bottom of the beds.
In the foreground of the bed, think of hellebores that bloom even under the snow, perennial carnations, Phlox subulata, but also ligularia, yarrow and mullein, all of which are very resistant to cold.
Take advantage of these ideal conditions to create a colorful rock garden of alpine plants. Alysses will form wonderful golden carpets while arabis will cover the rocks with small white flowers. To give color, auberets will take over as well as campanulas and sedums.
To stagger the blooming until the end of the summer, think of the Aster dumosus, which resists temperatures of -15°C and is covered with small pale purple daisies.
Annuals and bulbs to complete the decor
Once the adapted perennials are in place, all that remains is to add a few annuals or biennials around the house to brighten things up. Snapdragons are a good choice, blooming early in the season and lasting for many months, followed by wallflowers and Clarkias. In the background, think of Delphiniums proudly bearing their deep blue flowers.
To decorate your window boxes, the alpine forget-me-not and the petunia grandiflora will make a beautiful association, you can add a lobelia plant for its small clouds of light flowers.
In suspension, the falling violas will be wonderful as well as the ivy pelargoniums, ideal in baskets at the entrance of the house!
Finally, consider hardy bulbs. They can survive and naturalize in the ground without worry. This is the case with crocus chrysanthus or tomasinianus, the small cyclamen europeum, but also the famous snowdrops that are well named, imperial fritillaries, Narcissus and the little jewels of Iris sibirica.
