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- In a coastal garden a
very early decision must be if you wish to erect a windbreak to create
a more pleasant, calm micro-climate. By planting a mixture of
trees in shrubs in a line perpendicular to the direction of the most
damaging and prevailing winds you can make a tremendous
difference, Aside from not being blown over in the winter when
you go outside it also it also vastly increases the range of plants
available to you. Due to your proximity to the sea there is a
naturally mild climate, so you can now stuff your garden full of
tender plants which before would have unable to take the salty
winds. Unfortunately there is no such thing as an instant living
windbreak, it may take many years for a large windbreak to reach an
effective side, so until it is ready you must either wait or garden in
a style more suited to exposure to the wind. The use of
artificial windbreak materials are useful for speeding establishment
of young plants in a windbreak but are no substitute in exposed sites
in the long term. The use, as one famous gardener put it, of
'Christians-to-the-Lions' if you can bring yourself to do it is
invaluable, stick quick growing, and very tough large shrubs out
front, like Salix caprea and Olearia lineata
'Dartonii' to soak-up the worst of the damage until the main windbreak
behind can get started and then take them out. Another major
drawback of a windbreak is that by definition it places itself between
you and your view.
- Where as a windbreak
will allow for a greater range of options for your garden in the long
term, a garden without will allow you to start on your final concept
almost immediately as the level of shelter is nearly as good as it
will get. In such cases options are limited to plants that not
only suit the conditions of the site as laid out in the previous
section but are also able to stand the full force of the wind.
Garden size and time constraints often limit people to the later
option, but within this there are many, many fine plants, some
familiar, many less so and some wholly unexpected. One can also
combine the two somewhat by using mini-windbreaks of small groups of
robust shrubs on their own or with a couple of small tough trees to
create smaller protected areas in their lee, without sacrificing much
of your view
I have written a page specifically about choosing, siting and
erecting a windbreak & hedges.
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The
'Marlborough Rock Daisy', Pachystegia insignis & a Sea Holly, Eryngium bougatii,
2 fine examples of plants which will thrive in even the most exposed coastal
garden without the need for a windbreak.
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- Rainfall. What is
the average annual precipitation and how is it distributed through the
year. With little rain in the summer watering may well be necessary
so taps may be needed in the garden. If rain in winter is more
easily measured in meters than millimetres growing succulents and many
Mediterranean shrubs is out of the question without exceptional
drainage. The west of the British Isles has a moist maritime
climate with few areas with less than 700mm annually and few with much
in excess of 2,300mm with much of the northern part towards the upper
half of the scale. High rainfall does not exclude one from gardening,
on the contrary, there are temperate regions which have more than 7
meters of rain annually, and they all have lush indigenous vegetation,
so if there are plants that will grow in these extremes why not here?
- Temperature and day
length. The British Isles sit at a high latitude (c. 50º
to 61ºN) and thanks to the Gulf Stream, coming up from the Gulf of
Mexico, a surprisingly mild climate. If one travelled due west
across the Atlantic from anywhere in the British Isles landfall would
be made in the tundra of Newfoundland and Labrador or even the
southern tip of Greenland if you live in Shetland. Though the
Gulf Stream keeps the climate mild we still have the day length
effects of high latitudes, this is especially pronounced in Scotland
where in summer the sun seems to barely set before it rises again and
hardly gets up in the winter. At higher latitudes the sun's energy
also strikes the earth at a less direct angle than nearer the Equator
so there is less intensity to the sun the further north one
travels. Winter cold is an important factor as it is a major
limiting factor in what plants may be grown. It is exceptional
for anywhere on the West Coast to experience more than -12ºC and some
parts barely feel frosts deathly touch. The mildness of the
winter climate allows us to chose from literally thousands of
different varieties of plants that colder areas cannot grow without
protection. But as a consequence of our high latitude and the
maritime influence, the maximum summer temperature, especially in the
West of Scotland, is quite low. So apart from getting sunburnt
less often, plants from more Continental climates, such as trees from
the Eastern United States which require a hot and well defined summer
to fully ripen the wood for the coming winter struggle.
- A spin-off from the
above consideration is if there will be a conservatory or greenhouse
to protect particularly tender plants for the winter. This
allows you to grow on young plants more easily, grow Tomatoes,
Courgettes and such in summer and if you have a passion for a particular
plant group such as orchids or cacti you can grow them in controlled
conditions. With somewhere to keep them for the winter one can
make a spectacular show of half-hardy perennials and tender shrubs for
the summer. This was all the rage amongst Victorians who would
'Bed-out' anything, even if it needed to be or not! It is this
trend which William Robinson attacked in his seminal works 'The Wild
Garden' and 'The English Flower Garden'. It is valuable for the sheer
impact it can have and for brightening those dull days.
The problem with greenhouses and conservatories is their initial
cost, maintenance and also the extra work involved in the plants grown
in them. Consider also what your greenhouse is to be made
of, though if you can afford it one made of glass is superior, in an
exposed site it may be too vulnerable or even dangerous and a
polytunnel is cheaper to replace.
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Three
fine container subject for coastal gardens, Agapanthus inapertus ssp. holandii,
Agapanthus thrive near the sea and flower better when growing tight, such as
in a pot. Hebe venustula, many of the smaller Hebes do very well in
containers and can put on a brilliant show of flowers and foliage.
Aeonium arboreum 'Arnold Schwarzkopff' a spectacular succulent from the
Canaries, quite tender and disliking winter wet it thrives near the sea and
is widely naturalised on the Southern California Coast.
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- The Level of
maintenance you are willing to carry out (or have carried out on your
behalf). Do you want an intricate and vast garden with rock
garden, lawns, herbaceous borders, woodland, pond garden, herb garden,
etc. If you do are you willing to employ an army of gardeners or
spend hundreds of hours a week yourself in the garden to keep it up to
the level you want. Low maintenance is the best approach for the
majority of us who only have an afternoon a week to spend in the
garden. Simple modifications can save hours of maintenance, use
plants with ground-covering properties of similar vigour in
association so that when they have filled out they leave few gaps for
weeds, mulching beds and infrequently used areas of grass can have
bulbs planted in them, or given over to meadow, so adding to the
aesthetic and saving on mowing. Container gardening is becoming
ever more popular for reasons of our busy lifestyles, remember though
a plant in a pot needs watered more often than if it were in the
ground, selecting more drought tolerant species helps in the summer
but on the flip side they may need to be put under the eaves in the
winter to keep some of the rain off. Vitally important with
coastal garden is selecting pots which are heavy and broad-based enough
not to blow over in the wind, despite being more fragile and often
more expensive a ceramic pot has a distinct weight advantage, also
remember that a terracotta pot dries out quicker than a plastic one.
Old gardening lore states that many plants also seem to grow better in
clay pots than plastic ones.
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