ASK DIARMUID

Q

I RECENTLY moved to Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way, five minutes from the sea. I have tiny front and back suburban gardens. They are presently very wet with pools of water in some areas. Could you advise me about how to look after them as I love gardening? My neighbour tells me nothing grows here except a few hedging plants, and even they don’t do very well. Anything I have in pots has been damaged by the wind. Hoping you can help.

Marie Hughes

A

IF you are in a very exposed situation you will need to create some form of shelter belt to give smaller plants a chance to establish themselves. This could be a windbreak hedge. The rule of thumb is to take a walk in your area and take note of what is doing particularly well.

Use plants that have adapted their leaves to survive salt and wind. For example, the leaves of escallonia are slightly sticky which repels salt, elaeagnus has leathery leaves with a silvery underside, and hebes have double thickness skins.

Within your garden, plant silvery looking shrubs such as lavender, santolina, corokia and olearia which have fine layers of hair that protect from dryness. The thick strappy leaves of phormiums (pictured) and cordylines will also survive a whipping from the wind and I’ve often seen lots of mop head hydrangeas flowering merrily on the Wild Atlantic Way. Wait until you’ve had a couple of weeks of dry-ish weather before working on your garden – or you risk damaging your soil.