Starting an Alpine garden

Macker

Any advice ,its 3mX2m ,south east corner ,raised about 40cm and filled with topsoil ,very good drainage ,do I need to incorporate grit and sand and if so how deep, any other advice appreciated, probably do the ground work this year and planting next year ,any advantage of buying plants this year and overwintering?

looksee

Bear in mind you are not in an alpine climate, yes include grit, they mostly prefer a gravelly soil, and suggest you put in some large rocks, create a little escarpment rather than spotting them around the place, some plants will need the shelter, from rain rather than cold. Do a bit of research on alpines, a lot of stuff that gets planted isn't alpine at all (though might suit the climate better). No reason why you would not plant them now, damp in the winter is the main problem but they will have to cope with that at some stage.

If you want a fairly authentic alpine bed I suggest you read up as much as you can find before buying plants, it can be quite specialised.

https://www.alpinegardensociety.net/plants/7-growing-secrets-of-the-alpine-gardener/

Some good advice in this link

Macker

Thanks folks ,not looking for authentic as such just a gravel patch with plants that stay small ,John Lord did a couple of videos on his YouTube channel but didn't mention what they grow in ,other youtube channels suggest digging down 18 inches which I'm not prepared to do

looksee

Provided the ground is free draining there's no need to dig down that far, all the small plants you mention are fairly shallow rooted.

Macker

would it be worth while filling larger pots with a suitable soil mixture and burying them