by Laurie Keit

Cool winds, foggy conditions, salty air, poor soils — these are just a few of the many challenges we face as coastal gardeners. Believe it or not, it is possible to have a jaw-dropping coastal garden. The following tips were designed to help the do-it-yourself gardener.

First assess your site. Key elements include:

Soil: Do you have sandy or clay soil? If you don’t know, grab a handful, wet it slightly and squeeze. If it holds together and becomes sticky, you have clay. Push a wire or piece of rebar into the soil. If it won’t go in easily, you have compaction and this will need to be addressed in order for your plants to thrive. 

Salt: Salt-laden fog and ocean spray are tough on plants. Choose salt-tolerant plants such as rosemary, rockrose and ground morning glory. Leach soils out of root zones on salt-sensitive plants such as rhododendrons by periodically hosing off the leaves and flushing out the root zone with a bucket of water.

Sun: “Full Sun” means a minimum of four hours of direct sun daily. Shade-loving plants belong on north-facing walls.

Water: Keep plants with similar requirements together. Water-wise plants include natives, succulents and Mediterranean plants.

Wind: Plants with thick leaves will resist wind and salt burn. Physical windbreaks, man-made or plant screens will be useful in creating a more hospitable microclimate for plants. Conifers, lilac and Viburnum are examples of windbreak plants.

Match plants to the architecture of your home. For example, bungalows go with cottage-style plants, stucco with Mediterranean plants and succulents.

Look to nature and neighboring gardens for clues. What plants grow together? What plants do you like that are thriving in similar conditions?

Coast plants for you to try:

Trees: bottlebrush, strawberry tree, purple leaf plum, fruitless olive, Podocarpus.

Shrubs: rockrose, Euonymus, Fothergilla, star jasmine, laurel, Pittosporum, Indian hawthorn, cotoneaster, Leptospermum, Euryops, sage, Hebe, lavender, pineapple guava, Escallonia, Ligustrum, Griselinia, hydrangea, Westringia, lemon leaf.

Perennials: Artemisia, yarrow, chrysanthemum, thrift, Jupiter’s beard, ground morning glory, ice plant, Felicia, sea lavender, sunrose, Phormium, Santolina.

The plant’s size and form depend on the cultivar. Do your homework to avoid creating maintenance problems. 

Successful gardens are ones that you want to spend time in. Make sure to include windbreaks (man-made or plant-based), heating and lighting in your designs. 

Happy Gardening!

Laurie Keit has been designing residential gardens since 2001 through her company, Seasonal Celebrations. An 18-year Pacifica resident, Keit may be contacted at 650-722-0091 or by e-mail at keit@sbcglobal.net.