Editing Alpine garden

{{Short description|Garden specialized in alpine plants}}
[[File:Alps-Garden Schachen.jpg|thumb|An alpinum adjacent to the [[King's House on Schachen]] in [[Garmisch-Partenkirchen]], [[Germany]]]]

An '''alpine garden''' (or alpinarium, alpinum) is a domestic or [[botanical garden]], or more often a part of a larger garden, specializing in the collection and cultivation of [[alpine plant]]s growing naturally at high altitudes around the world, such as in the Caucasus, Pyrenees, Rocky Mountains, Alps, Himalayas and Andes.  It is one of the most common types of [[rock garden]].

Although it is often associated with rocks, an alpine garden does not require rocks to thrive. It is the alpine plants that is the focus, not the rocks.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Harding |first=W. F. W. |title=Alpine Gardening: A beginner's guide |publisher=The Alpine Garden Society, L. Baker (Printers) Ltd. |year=1981 |isbn=0 900048 38 7 |location=Birmingham |pages=1–2 |language=en}}</ref> Scientifically, alpine plants are characterized as plants that grow above the tree line in mountainous regions, where the environment makes it hard for plants to produce woody tissues.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Wilford |first=Richard |title=Alpines: from Mountain to Garden |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |year=2010 |isbn=978-1-84246-172-3 |location=Surrey, UK |pages=1–7 |language=en}}</ref> From the horticulture perspective, any plants with a suitable size and is able to withstand harsh conditions such as a rock garden, trough, or raised beds could be considered as alpine.<ref name=":0" /> They are often smaller in statue and more hardy.

An alpine garden tries to imitate the conditions of the plants' place of origin. One example of this is using large stones and gravel beds, rather than the soil that naturally grows there. Though the plants can cope with low temperatures, they dislike standing in damp soil during the winter months. The soil used is typically poor (sandy) and extremely well-drained. One of the main obstacles in developing an alpine garden is the unsuitable conditions which exist in some areas, particularly mild or severe winters and heavy rainfall, such as those present in the United Kingdom and Ireland. This can be avoided by growing the plants in an [[alpine house]] (essentially an unheated [[greenhouse]]), which tries to reproduce the ideal conditions, or just covering them with a raised sheet of glass in winter. According to some Austrian sources, the first true alpine garden was created by [[Anton Kerner von Marilaun]] in 1875 on the Blaser Mountain, in Tyrol, Austria, at an altitude of {{convert|2190|m|ft|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{Austriaforum|AEIOU/Blaser}}</ref>

==Vegetation==
[[File:BF alpine gardens 1.JPG|220px|thumbnail|right|[[Betty Ford Alpine Gardens]]]]
Typical plants found in an alpine garden include:<ref>{{cite book|title=Collins complete garden manual|year=1998|publisher=HarperCollins|location=United Kingdom|isbn=0004140109|pages=290}}</ref> 
* ''[[Androsace]]''
* ''[[Arabis alpina]]'' (rock cress)
* ''[[Campanula]]'' - alpine species
* ''[[Dianthus]]'' - alpine species
* ''[[Gentiana]]''
* ''[[Geranium dalmaticum]]'' (cranesbill)
* ''[[Globularia]]''
* ''[[Iberis sempervirens]]'' (candytuft)
* ''[[Leontopodium]]''
* ''[[Phlox subulata]]''
* ''[[Pulsatilla vulgaris]]'' (pasque flower)
* ''[[Primula]]'' - alpine species
* ''[[Ranunculus]]'' (buttercup)
* ''[[Rhodanthemum hosmariense]]''
* ''[[Saxifraga]]'' - alpine species
* ''[[Scutellaria orientalis]]'' (helmet flower)
* ''[[Sedum spathulifolium]]'' (stonecrop)
* ''[[Sisyrinchium]]''
* ''[[Thymus (plant)|Thymus]]'' (thyme)

==Botanical gardens with an alpine house or garden==
[[File:Bielefeld Botanischer Garten Alpinum 1.jpg|thumb|The alpinum in [[Botanischer Garten Bielefeld]], Germany]]
[[File:OrtoBotPadova Roccera alpina.jpg|thumb|Alpinum in [[Orto botanico di Padova]], [[Italy]]]]
;Austria
* [[Botanical Garden of the University of Innsbruck]]
;
;Belgium
* [[Plantentuin Universiteit Gent]]
;
;Canada
;* [https://espacepourlavie.ca/en/gardens-and-greenhouses/alpine-garden Jardin botanique de Montréal]
;* [https://www.ualberta.ca/botanic-garden/gardens/patrick-seymour-alpine-garden.html University of Alberta Botanic Garden: Patrick Seymour Alpine Garden]
;* [https://botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/visit/garden-highlights/e-h-lohbrunner-alpine-garden/ University of British Columbia: E.H. Lohbrunner Alpine Garden]
;* [https://mlarochelle.net/ Alpinegium]

;China
* [[Lijiang Alpine Botanic Garden]]

;France
* [[Jardin des Plantes]]
* [[Jardin botanique alpin du Lautaret]]
*[[Jaÿsinia|Jardin botanique alpin La Jaÿsinia]]

;Germany
* [[Botanischer Erlebnisgarten Altenburg]]
* [[Botanical Garden in Berlin]]
* [[Botanischer Garten Bielefeld]]
* [[Botanischer Garten Düsseldorf]]
* [[Botanischer Garten Gießen]]
* [[Botanischer Garten der Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main]]
* [[Botanischer Garten München-Nymphenburg]]
* [[Botanischer Garten Münster]]
* [[Botanischer Garten Marburg]]
* [[Botanischer Garten Potsdam]]
* [[Botanischer Garten der Ruhr-Universität Bochum]]

;Italy
* [[Orto botanico di Padova]]

; Slovenia
* [[Alpine Botanical Garden Juliana]]

; The Netherlands

* [[Botanische Tuin Fort Hoofddijk]]
* [[Hortus Botanicus Amsterdam]]

;United Kingdom
* [[Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew]]
* [[RHS Wisley]]
* [[Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh]]

;United States
* [[Betty Ford Alpine Gardens]]
* [[Denver Botanic Gardens]]

==See also==
* [[List of garden types]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
*{{in lang|en}} [http://www.alpinegardensociety.net/ Alpine Garden Society]
*{{in lang|en}} [http://www.nargs.org North American Rock Garden Society]
*{{in lang|en}} [http://www.srgc.org.uk/ Scottish Rock Garden Club]
*{{in lang|en}} [http://www.nzags.com/ New Zealand Alpine Garden Society]
*(English) [http://www.alpinegardensociety.ie/ Alpine Garden Society - Dublin Group - Home Page]
*{{in lang|nl}} [http://www.rotsplantenvereniging.net/ Nederlandse Rotsplanten Vereniging] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150517014906/http://www.rotsplantenvereniging.net/ |date=2015-05-17 }}
*{{in lang|nl}} [http://www.vrvforum.be/ Vlaamse Rotsplanten Vereniging]
*
*[https://archive.org/stream/makingrockgarden00adamrich#page/n9/mode/2up ''Making a Rock Garden'' by Henry Sherman Adams, 1912]
*{{librivox book|title=Making a Rock Garden | author=Henry Sherman Adams}}

{{Horticulture and gardening}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Botanical gardens]]