Plants for coastal gardens with foliage and flower interest
Plenty of plants, of a variety of shapes, sizes and colours, thrive in coastal areas, so it's possible to create a full and attractive border even in these sometimes challenging conditions
Quick facts
- Plants in coastal areas need to be able to cope with salt ladened winds
- Plants often have adaptations such as waxy leaves or hairy foliage
- Choosing the right plants will ensure they are healthy and at their best
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The planting plan
This planting design provides a range of plants that once established will thrive in an environment exposed to drying, salty winds while still providing a variety of interest throughout the year.
Plants for coastal areas
© James Lawrence
Choosing plants for coastal areas
Plants such as Phormium, Griselinia and Crambe, have thick waxy foliage to help protect the leaves and to reduce stress caused by the weather exposure. The Tamarix has small scale-like leaves which, with a reduced surface area, make it less likely they are stripped of moisture in windy conditions. The Echinops and Eryngium have silvered leaved helping to protect the leaf surface and reflect strong light.
The groundcover Erigeron helps protect and cover bare soil thereby reducing erosion and the wind’s drying effect on exposed soil. They will also help prevent unwanted plants from self-seeding by covering areas of bare earth.Additional organic mulching can further help with soil moisture retention and weed suppression.
1 - Griselinia littoralis
2 - Tamarix ramosissima ‘Pink Cascade’
3 - Echinops ritro ‘Veitch’s Blue’
4 - Erigeron karvinskianus
5 - Crambe cordifolia
6 - Eryngium x zabelii
7 - Phormium ‘Sundowner’
1 - Griselinia littoralis is a fast-growing large evergreen shrub with bright green, rounded glossy leaves.
2 - Tamarix ramosissima ‘Pink Cascade’ is an arching, deciduous shrub with reddish branches clothed with tiny scale-like grey-green leaves. Small pink flowers in long feathery plumes are borne in late summer and autumn.
3 - Echinops ritro ‘Veitch’s Blue’ is an herbaceous perennial, with jaggedly-divided, prickly dark green leaves, whitish beneath. It has violet-blue flower heads on silver-green stems through the summer.
4 - Erigeron karvinskianus is a perennial forming a low-growing carpet, with hairy leaves and masses of daisy-like flowers, opening white but soon adopting a pinkish-purple flush.
5 - Crambe cordifolia is an herbaceous perennial with large bold, dark green, lobed leaves and branched sprays of small, scented white flowers in summer.
6 - Eryngium x zabelii is an herbaceous perennial with spiky, highly-divided, silver-green foliage. Stiff, branched stems are topped with blue, thimble-shaped flowerheads surrounded by a ruff of prickly, silver-blue bracts.
7 - Phormium ‘Sundowner’ is an evergreen perennial forming a clump of erect strap-like bronze-green leaves, striped towards the margins with red and pink.
About coastal areas
A simple planting plan helps create depth, interest and good coverage in a border.
The challenge of coastal areas
If you have room, it will help to make some shelter from the main wind direction. An extra wind break of shrubs will provide this and/or use a brushwood screen whilst they establish. A fence or a sturdy wall may be an option.
Why choose a sustainable planting combination?
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