Western Morning News (Saturday)
Coastal vote
YOU DON’T NEED TO LIVE BESIDE THE SEASIDE TO ENJOY A RELAXING BEACHY GARDEN
SUN, sand, seagulls and the scent of suntan lotion on the breeze – oh, I do like to be beside the seaside, and when you’ve had enough sunbathing and swimming, there are always the gardens to look at.
You can’t expect too much in the way of horticultural excellence right next to the beach, where the wind and salt spray are at their worst. But in the five-mile zone that lies slightly back from it – where there’s some shelter and the hot-water-bottle effect of the sea keeps conditions warmer in winter – you will often find a lot of interesting plants that don’t survive half so well further inland.
All along the south coast you’ll discover a wide range of subtropical plants thriving. Cornwall is known for its palms and also has the Hottentot fig, which grows right down to the beach in places.
But it’s not just on the south coast that you will see good gardens. All around our shores there are wonderful plots where the owners have planted seasideproof windbreaks. Thick hedges of tamarisk, large-leaved Euonymus japonicus, Cupressus macrocarpa or even Leyland cypress stand up well to sprays, filter out salt and slow down the wind, so that a seaside garden can be created and protected in their lee.
And if these inspire you to have a go yourself, a seaside-style area can make a very attractive and easily maintained gardenwithin-a-garden at home.
The trick is to forget conventional lawns and flower beds, and instead draw your inspiration from what you see around you at the seaside – a mixture of sand, pebbles and shingle, with old sun-bleached and weatherworn timber set up to look like breakwaters or driftwood.
Add a lobster pot, odd bits of nautical flotsam and jetsam, and suitably maritime plants – especially seaweed-shaped species and shrubs pruned into windsculpted shapes.
Recreate the natural look of wilder parts of the coast with rugged shingle banks sporting horned poppies, sea holly and wild sea kale, rolling sand dunes landscaped with marram grass, or cliff tops studded with thrift and other little horticultural gems that adapt to life in hostile conditions.
The great advantage of not living by the sea is that you don’t have to use real shoreline plants at all, simply cheat and use cultivated plants to create the seaside illusion instead. As for artistic satisfaction, I can promise you will have more fun designing and creating a seaside garden than almost any other kind.
But practically speaking, there’s little to beat a heavy mulch of sand, shingle and pebbles for capturing the restful holiday mood. And that’s one area of the garden where you won’t have to worry about keeping up to date with routine chores.