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Will an alpine garden work with long hard winters?
in Plants
I live in an area that can be cold and windy. The winters here have killed countless plants in my garden. I want to make a small alpine garden but I'm worried that come winter everything will die. It surprised me to learn a lot of alpine plants aren't that hardy. What have your experiences been please? Maybe there are there some plants that are especially tough/weak? Maybe it's a no-go? Thanks
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However, many plants that are called alpine in GCs etc, aren't really alpine plants as such. They just tend to be called that because they're small - in size and flower. They aren't necessarily very, very hardy, although many will be in most of the UK, but not all.
Dry cold is ideal, wet cold isn't, so it also depends on where you're located and what your climate is like.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
If you find some true alpine plants and you can provide them with sharp drainage they should be ok.
Wet cold is the problem. True alpines can often survive very low temperatures, but not if they are soggy. In the wild they may be frozen but will often be protected from wet and from extreme temperature fluctuations by a blanket of snow.
I guess you'll need to do a bit of research, and avoid anything which needs protection from winter wet.
If you can provide good drainage and protect them from winter wet then you can grow alpines. If not, you need a plan B.