A school garden and outdoor classroom,
right next to the beach
Coastal/beach gardens exist in an unique environment which can give rise to severe growing conditions. They are also fantastic opportunities for the creation of exciting gardens but are seldom exploited as such by their owners.
My observation of coastal gardens, is that those right on the shore tend to do nothing or very little with their garden (other than a tamarisk or euonymus windbreak), whilst those a little further inland try to ignore the fact that they are by the sea. They try hard to make the garden look like every other suburban plot, using the same plants and the same features. What a wasted opportunity! As a result the garden can look rather drab for much of the year because you just can't win using that approach.
Not a theme park
Before we go any further, I'd just like to assure you that I don't think your garden should become some kind of seaside theme park, awash with fishing nets, bouys and lobster pots! No-one is likely to want to live with such things, except erm, fishermen? What I mean is, the garden has to feel like a real garden, embedded within it's coastal environment. It doesn't want to look like some show garden from Hampton Court.
I say that gardeners in this position are lucky and can truly interact with and reflect their location. Here on the southern coast of the U.K. the climate is generally mild, although not exotic but we can grow a number of Mediterranean climate plants quite successfully.
The Mediterranean climate type includes other global locations with similar characteristics: California in the U.S., parts of Chile in South America, the Cape area of South Africa and areas of southern coastal Australia, so the scope for plant selection is actually quite wide.
This garden, fronts onto the beach, surrounded by an old sea wall. Breakwater timbers form a substantial pergola. However, there's not a fishing net or lobster cage in sight!
Plant selection will vary according to your location and there will be three limiting factors: tolerance of salinity and windburn and avoidance of frost and winter waterlogging of soil. Generally, the better drained your soil, the tougher these plants will be. If it's wet and frosty, they will be more likely to suffer.
Don't assume that all beach-fronted gardens are sandy and free draining, either. Quite often on the Sussex coast the sand and shingle can be overlaid by a metre or two of heavy clay. I recently saw one garden that fronted the beach with a small bank and Tamarisk hedge, yet the lawn had been flooded by the rains and remained underwater for much of the winter!
How easily we can find inspiration for our coastal gardens - this sand-dune deckwalk would remind any garden user of the sea's proximity.
The most important thing is that the garden should invoke the character of the coast. But coastal towns and sea-fronts can be drab places, especially out of season. Winter storms can be dramatic, envigourating experiences, but on average days, grey clouds and rain make everything look flat and dull. Everyone just shuts up shop and waits for summer to arrive again.
That's why I like to inject a bit of Mediteranean into my gardens. Good winter structure and form mean that the garden still looks good and in mild winters, many plants keep right on flowering. I stood, in January 2001, in the garden pictured top left, which is right on the sea-front in W Sussex. I couldn't believe how uplifting the garden was (and you may remember how wet and miserable that winter was), whilst all around, other gardens seemed enveloped in gloom.
A beach climate dictates a certain kind of landscape. Go with it, shaping you garden with the wind and the salt and the general mildness. Using these elements, the garden doesn't have to be bleak and bare, doesn't have to become a twee themed show garden, but can become something with a real sence of place, firmly rooted in its environment. Few gardens can be so edgy, raw and wildly beautiful.
Now read coastal plants to learn more about suitable varieties!