bestgardening.com Garden Style- Coastal and Seaside Gardens

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Gardening near the coast presents a special challenge, and one that New Zealand gardeners cope with especially well! Our major cities all lie along the coast, so salt wind and beach gardens are not just something that weekends are made of.

Coastal conditions can vary markedly, from the moist, warmth of the South Island's West Coast to the dry, heat of the Hawkes Bay and Gibsorne, and then the sub-tropical north. Different plants will succeed in these various areas, but some coastal toughies will be found in gardens almost from North Cape to Bluff.

Coastal gardens often have poor, sandy soils or else clay that bakes hard in summer and becomes treacherous and glues to your spade in wet weather. There are stones and sea birds to contend with, and salty, salty winds. Yet gardening with the conditions and not fighting them has made some of the loveliest gardens.

Use existing planting
Resist the urge to rip out whatever is currently growing in your new seaside garden or on a very exposed coastal site. The planting may not be to your liking but the existing plants will provide shelter for new garden candidates and their roots will help to bind the soil and hold it until new plants can replace them.

Wind
Wind is the main enemy of the seaside garden, drying out soil and causing plants to lose moisture, as well as tearing at their foliage. The salt carried on the wind will scorch leaves and may result in stunted growth-this is not the territory to plant a delicate maple or tall, brittle delphiniums.

Solid walls increase turbulence and can make your gardening even tougher going. Consider making a windbreak fence to enable plants to establish- there are a number of woven and knitted windbreak cloths available which will make a world of difference and enable your garden to establish much more quickly. An old-style brush fence, with twiggy manuka or similar branches, caught between wires, will also provide good wind shelter.

Make sure you stake your new plants firmly, and anchor their roots with a rock, this will also help to conserve moisture as the underside stays moist in dry periods. Do not select tall or whippy specimens chose a smaller lower grade which will catch less wind until they are established and their roots more firmly into the soil.

Water
Water foliage lightly every few weeks, or after a strong, salty blast to remove some of the salt deposits on plants that are struggling to establish. His will not replace a good soak at the roots, which should be made every week or so, until the plants can maintain themselves without additional water.

Soil Preparation
Soil preparation is always critical to the success of a new garden, and never more so than on light and sandy or heavy clay coastal soils. Try to dig in plenty of organic matter when preparing your planting areas and always mulch the soil well. If you are able collect seaweed to make compost or use as mulch.

Continue to feed the garden each year by spreading a layer of mulch about 3-5cm deep and digging in organic material whenever planting or working the ground. Gradually you will see the soil structure improve. If the ground is very dense clay, incorporate a good helping of grit along with the compost to help break up the soil.

Plants for the Coast
There is a long, long list of plants that love the coast, and perhaps pre-eminent among them is our Pohutukawa, Metrosideros excelsus. These lovely trees can be seen just above the sand on beaches and clinging, precariously to cliff and banks.

Another tree that revels in being by the coast is the ngaio, Myoporum laetum, but plant this with care as its leaves are toxic and can poison browsing stock. The glossy green leaves and mounding habit, bending with the prevailing wind, make this a lovely plant. It is frost tender, especially when young, and cannot be grown by inland gardeners.

The oleander (Nerium oleander) is poisonous; lovely but not to be planted where browsing animals can eat it.

Griselinea littoralis, the broadleaf, is also an ideal coastal plant, the shiny leaves protected it from excessive moisture loss and make it a very attractive hedge or background tree. Pittosporum crassifolium and P. tenufolium and cordylines will also thrive by the coast. Solitary cordylines are often seen along our coastlines.

If the soil is reasonable (i.e. not light and sandy) try a kowhai (Sophora microphylla and S. tetrapetra, one of our loveliest spring flowers. It will brighten your garden, although it is not a shelter tree!

A grouping of cordylines will make a striking outline against the sky and coastline, plant to one side of your view to create a 'frame'. Cordylines are extremely tough, wind and salt tolerant but may need rabbit protection when young.

The olearia family (Olearia chathamica, O. solandri and O. paniculata) and corokias (Corokia cotoneaster, C. x virgata 'Bronze King' and 'Red Wonder') will all make a good, dense hedge or shelter and will protect your garden and your sitting out area from coastal breezes and wind.

The rowans are worth a try, Sorbus aria will cope with coastal conditions as will Norfolk pines (Araucaria heterophylla), which are often seen along beach front drives.

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