Alpine House

Be inspired by Harlow Carr’s pick of alpine plants in the dedicated Alpine House, where raised planting beds allow visitors to enjoy these charming plants closer to eye level

Looking its best in...

  • Spring Androsace, Primula auricula and Draba
  • Summer Dactylorhiza, Lilium and Sempervivum
  • Autumn Gentiana and Cyclamen
  • Winter Dionysia, Primula allionii and Ranunculus calandrinioides

Pick of the alpines

The Alpine House was one of the first large-scale projects to be accomplished at Harlow Carr, after the garden came under RHS care in 2001. Its beds are made of rock re-used from a previous sandstone rock garden.

Today the Alpine House is home to more than 2,000 plants. All are native to mountainous regions from around the world.

Seasonal wow-factor

Landscaped beds provide year-round interest featuring plants with a range of qualities – sculptural shapes, attractive foliage and beautiful flowers.

In plunge beds, plants are rotated according to their season of interest, so there is always something special to see.

The display begins in January with spring-flowering bulbs, as well as saxifrages, primulas and Dionysia. Peak flowering time is March to May, when cushion plants such as Androsace (rock jasmine) are in bloom.

Alpine troughs and walls

The display continues outside the Alpine House, where raised beds, stone troughs and walls of tufa (a soft, porous rock) are packed with colourful alpine plants that thrive outdoors in the UK. The gardening team have found that plants from New Zealand grow particularly well in the Yorkshire climate.

Saxifrages, Primula allionii and Paraquilegia grow in the sandstone and limestone troughs, as well as in gaps within the tufa walls, which replicate the natural growing conditions of alpine locations. Some Saxifraga longifolia hybrids have self-seeded into the tufa.

Crevice planting

Slate from Honister Pass in the Lake District has been used to make creviced walls and incorporated into troughs as a medium for crevice planting – a traditional method used to display alpine plants since the 1870s.

The narrow, upright crevices direct root growth downwards, allowing for sharper drainage, and have proved particularly good for growing Campanula betulifolia and Primula auricula.

To grow alpine plants at home, fill a shallow container with a mixture of 70% compost and 30% horticultural grit, ensuring there are plenty of drainage holes. Fill it with plants such as Saxifraga ‘tumbling waters’, Lewisia cotyledon and Veronica umbrosa ‘Georgia Blue’.

RHS Garden Harlow Carr Horticulturist

Plants in and around the Alpine House

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The Royal Horticultural Society is the UK’s leading gardening charity. We aim to enrich everyone’s life through plants, and make the UK a greener and more beautiful place.