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Seaside Gardens
Gardening along the coast presents even the most skilledgardeners with challenges not encountered elsewhere. Naturalconditions along the coast create a very hostile environment forgarden plants. Wind, salt spray, dry sandy soils as well asactual sea water can make gardening along the coast difficult.All of these factors can cause problems for landscape plants andeffect how they grow. In fact, few plants can survive fullexposure to the ocean so site preparation and plant selection isperhaps even more critical here than anywhere else. Despitethese difficulties, however, there are techniques and guides youcan follow to create a more favorable environment for yourfavorite plants. Building windbreaks as protection from the elements is essentialto creating hospitable garden spaces along the coast. Windbreaksshould be planted with indigenous seaside plants. Here inMassachusetts, Rosa rugoas, bayberry and eastern red cedar havedeveloped along the coast and have proven their ability tosurvive the harshest of seaside conditions. They also createmore diversity in the garden as well as a habitat for nativewildlife. Find out what grows naturally in along the coast inyour area and use those plants to create a protected gardenspace. Begin the screen with a planting of lowe...
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...r growing shrubssuch as the above mentioned bayberry and rosa rugosa. This willbe the first line of defense against the ocean winds and saltspray. Next, plant rows or massings of taller evergreens suchas eastern red cedar, this will dampen the winds even further.Though the goal is to provide protection and create a retreatand from the harsh seaside winds, design a planting plan whichstill allows for beautiful views.Along with wind and salt, dry and sandy coastal soils canpresent gardeners with a challenge. Sandy soils are very welldrained and don't hold enough moisture to satisfy the needs ofmost plants. This holds true for some distance inland as well.In order to remedy this situation till the soil and add a fairlylarge amount of compost, manure and peat moss. This will helpthe soil retain the moisture necessary for plants to survive.Follow standard planting practices. Dig holes for trees andshrubs about twice the diameter of the root ball and just asdeep. Place the plant in the hole being careful not to disturbtoo many of its roots. Also, always plant so that the top of theroot ball meets the existing grade of the garden. Planting toohigh or especially too low will result in early plant decline.Begin backfilling the hole, at about half way fill the hole ...
...ithwater and let it settle. I usually do this twice to make surethere are no air pockets. Finish backfilling the hole thencreate a saucer around the trunk of the plant, mulch well andwater again.When planting a lawn along the coast the sandy soils create theneed for extensive site preparation. For lawns to thrive thesoil requires a certain amount of water retention. For bestresults, begin with 6" of topsoil. Topsoil holds moisture well,provides necessary nutrients and will prevent the leaching offertilizers. When seeding, use a mix of Kentucky bluegrass,fescue and rye. However, use a higher percentage of the droughtresistant varieties of turf such as fine fescue, red fescue andhard fescue. Be sure to water your lawn deeply. Shallow,frequent watering leads to weak root systems which remain closeto the surface. An alternative to a vast lawn is to allow nativegrasses to grow into a meadow, just be sure to mow them at leastonce each season to prevent trees and shrubs from taking hold.With proper planning, tree and shrub selection and plantingtechnique, seaside gardens can thrive. Gardeners along thecoast will find the work involved in overcoming difficult siteconditions well worth their time and effort, after all thegreater the challenge the greater the reward.
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