Coastal Gardening for Beginners: 12 Plants That Cope with Salt and Wind

Sea air is lovely to walk through and hard work to garden in. Salt rides on the wind and scorches leaves, winter gales strip moisture from evergreens, and sandy ground can drain a summer downpour away in minutes. None of that means a coastal plot has to look beaten up. It means choosing plants that have already worked out how to live there — and giving them a bit of help while they settle.

Whether you have a windswept front garden, a narrow strip behind a sea wall or a third-floor balcony facing the water, the same few principles apply. Get those right and the plant list below will do the rest.

What wind actually does to a plant

Wind damage is rarely dramatic. It is cumulative: leaves lose water faster than roots can replace it, growth comes out stunted and lopsided, and buds on the exposed side simply fail to develop. On cold coasts wind also lowers the effective temperature, so a plant sold as hardy can behave as though it were growing several degrees further north.

Salt adds a second problem. Fine droplets of seawater settle on leaves and draw water out of the tissue, which shows up as brown, papery margins and scorched tips — even on plants that have been watered properly. Salt also builds up in the top few centimetres of soil, which is why seaside beds often benefit from a mulch and the occasional flush of fresh water.

Three things to fix before you buy anything

Most coastal planting failures are site problems rather than plant problems.

1. Shelter. A solid wall sends wind over the top and dumps turbulent air behind it. Something semi-permeable — a hedge, slatted fence, woven hurdle or windbreak netting — filters the wind and calms a much larger area. Even a metre of low screen makes a real difference to small plants.
2. Soil. Coastal ground is often sandy, thin and low in organic matter. Dig in plenty of garden compost or well-rotted manure and mulch every spring. In pots, use a loam-based compost with added grit rather than a light multipurpose mix, which dries out fast in wind.
3. Water. New plants need watering for their first two summers, whatever the label says about drought. Once roots are established and the ground is mulched, most of the plants below look after themselves.

12 plants that cope with salt and wind

All of these are reasonably hardy, tolerant of salt-laden air and content on free-draining ground. They will grow inland too — they simply won't be tested in the same way.

Shrubs and hedging

• Griselinia littoralis — glossy apple-green leaves and a dense, upright habit make this one of the best evergreens for a coastal hedge. It wants decent drainage and some shelter from hard frost.
• Escallonia — pink, red or white flowers from midsummer, and it clips well. Trim after flowering rather than in autumn, so you don't leave soft growth to face winter.
• Olearia × haastii — silvery foliage, masses of small white daisies in late summer and a natural tolerance of salt spray. Makes an excellent windbreak hedge.
• Sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides) — the classic dune shrub: narrow silver leaves and bright orange berries in autumn. It suckers, so give it room, and you need a male plant nearby for fruit.
• Rosa rugosa — tough, thorny and generous, with scented flowers through summer and fat hips afterwards. It grows in poor sand and shrugs off hard pruning.

Perennials and silver foliage

• Euphorbia characias subsp. wulfenii — grey-green stems topped with lime-yellow flower heads in spring. Go easy with the secateurs: the milky sap irritates skin, so wear gloves.
• Sea holly (Eryngium) — steel-blue, thistle-like heads on stems that hold up in wind. It wants full sun and sharp drainage, and will seed about where it is happy.
• Sea thrift (Armeria maritima) — tight cushions of narrow leaves with pink pom-pom flowers in late spring. Ideal at the front of a border or the edge of a raised bed.
• Sea kale (Crambe maritima) — big, wavy blue-grey leaves and clouds of white flowers. It looks architectural in a large pot, and the young shoots can be eaten.

Low growers for gravel and pots

• Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) — English lavender is the hardiest choice. Clip lightly after flowering, never into bare old wood, and keep it lean: rich soil makes it flop.
• Thyme (Thymus vulgaris) — a low, wiry, aromatic evergreen that shrugs off wind and drought. As good in a gravel border as in a kitchen pot.
• Blue fescue (Festuca glauca) — a small evergreen grass with steely blue blades. Comb out dead growth with your fingers in spring rather than cutting it back.

A planting plan for an exposed balcony

Wind on a balcony is worse than in a garden, because there is no soil to anchor anything and pots dry out fast. Use the largest containers you can safely manage — 40cm across or more — and group them tightly so the plants shelter one another. Put a single evergreen shrub, such as griselinia or olearia, in the windward pot as a screen, then arrange lavender, thyme and blue fescue around and in front of it. Choose glazed or heavyweight pots over flimsy terracotta, sit them against the wall rather than on the open edge, and use saucers in summer so water isn't lost the moment it is poured.

Looking after seaside plants through the year

Prune in spring wherever you can. Cutting back in late summer or autumn encourages soft growth that gets shredded by the first gales. After a storm, check for plants that have been rocked loose — press the rootball back in and firm the soil around it. If leaves look scorched and papery after a spell of onshore wind, soak the foliage with fresh water from a hose or can; rinsing the salt off helps the plant recover. Do it in the evening or on a cloudy day so wet leaves don't burn in strong sun.

Feed lightly. Rich, fast growth produces floppy stems and tender leaves that wind ruins, so a spring mulch is usually enough.

Getting started

Begin with three or four plants rather than a whole border. Autumn is the best time to put them in: the soil is still warm, rain does the watering for you, and roots get a head start before the wind picks up. Watch your plot for a week first — note where wind funnels between buildings, which corner dries out first, and how far the spray actually reaches. Then put the toughest things in the worst spots.

Expect to lose one or two. Coastal gardening is partly about learning your own stretch of coast, and no list can do that for you. Ask at a local nursery what survives in nearby gardens; a plant that has proved itself a few streets away is worth more than any general recommendation. Give everything a full year before you judge it, and you will end up with a garden that looks settled rather than struggling.

Photo: PollyDot / Pixabay