Starting to tackle the garden.

Your place is probably like the New Jersey, USA shore line. So what plants grow well along the New Jersey Shore Line, USA, would be a google question. I am going to check it out.

I found this:

Recommended Plant Selections for Seaside Gardens:
Gardening along the coast presents some unique challenges. Here are some hardy plants that can withstand wind, sun and salt.
Drought-tolerant perennial sedums are easy to grow around rocks and sand because their roots are shallow and will hold on to just about anything. Their leaves are so firm and waxy that salt, which can poison a plant, just beads up and falls off or dries without leaching into the plant. Hostas also have waxy broad leaves that repel salt, and while these plants prefer shade, they can withstand a hot coastal wind.
The delicate leaves of lamb's ear (Stachys byzantina) are furry to the touch--perfect protection from harsh salt air. The salt adheres to the fuzz and dries up without ever getting to the plant itself. Lamb's ear is often found growing wild in coastal climates, says Richards.
The silvery gray color of lavender and artemisia reflects sunlight away from these plants so they don't burn up and dry. Hardy, fragrant rosemary also does well in drought conditions, and its shallow root system allows it to grow most anywhere.
Varieties of evergreens such as juniper, barberry and cedar thrive in coastal climates thanks to their hardy foliage and sturdy branches. Another plus: They do well with little water and don't mind sandy soil.
Cosmos is a sure thing for seaside color. This plant will grow anywhere, says Richards, and the poorer the soil, the better it does. Though the flowers and stems appear fragile, they stand up to ocean breezes amazingly well.
So keep these plants in mind as you're designing your garden:
Shrubs:
Japanese barberry (Berberis)
Juniper (Juniperus)
Mother of thyme (Thymus serpyllum)
Perennials:
Artemisia
Butterfly milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa)
Baby's breath (Gypsophila)
Plantain lily (Hosta)
Hens-and-chicks (Sempervivum tectorum)
Lambs' ears (Stachys byzantina)
Annuals:
Cosmos
China pinks (Dianthus)
Marigold
Salvia
Tip: If you want a sure bet for color and a good garden along the coast, container planting is the answer. That way you can add peat moss and humus to native sandy soil to hold moisture, and you can shade or shelter plants by placing containers against a wall or fence where they aren't so exposed to the elements.

 

Hi All,

I would advise a look at Artemisia, but if you don`t want any cordylines like your neighbours have then I would advise you have a good gander at a hibiscus then. Kath-you`re a hard woman to please.

 

LOL, nah just want something thats a little different, but the second pic down of those is different from the normal cordylines around here. I've looked at the artemisia and it's a nice grey colour, so would show up as a feature type plant being grey. Likewise rosemary, greyish foliage and then the pretty little flowers looks nice - might be adding the rosemary to the list of possibles.

It's a case of finding out what's locally available and then working from that, hopefully all the plants I'm looking for I'll be able to get in more or less 1 hit

 

Hi Kath,

Up as late as me then. Just off to see if I can sleep at last, but have been thinking of your dilemma and come up with a couple more for you.


Muhlenbergia-capillaris or






Blue oat grass

 

tha 2nd one is blue oat grass-for some mad reason it wouldn`t let me copy and paste the name

 

I'm off to the garden centre today armed with a list, not buying anything today just going to look to see whats available and to work out costs. Wish me luck, lol, I'll probably come back with something for the little one as he loves plants, his violas I bought him that were almost dead and vastly reduced are still flowering well and he even helps to water them each day

 

So Katherna, what is the update on your venture?

 

Lollipop that Muhlenbergia-capillaris looks lovely. it would sound lovely in the wind too

 

Katherna don't limit yourself to just the local garden centre as I find these are expensive try the internet. You get a much better deal and the plants come to u so no dirty boot of car. Most of mine have come from online suppliers and more of the plants I have bought online have survived whereas the garden centre ones seem to come with diseases etc and die off

 

Theres no local car boot sales :( The local (ish) outdoor market has been closed :( so no cheap plants. I've decided to get a wintersweet for against the wall. Some astilbies, a couple of bits of hardy geranium, and some spring bulbs so far. I'm going to have a look at some grasses as well.

Yesterday I cut a lot of the bramble that was in the corner of the large part of the front garden, then set about lifting the branches up on the coneaster. I thought they were about 3' tall as the plants been regularly stood on by the local kids using the wall as a shortcut. How wrong I was! The longest branch is over 6' so it's now being trained up the wall along with the smaller branches. Hopefully now as you can see sme soil down there instead of a blanket or green the kids will see it as being further down to get to the railings and once it starts to bush out a little (light has to help plants grow as it was pretty dark down there until I'd sorted out the bramble) so fingers crossed. My willow is being made smaller in height when it's stopped raining and then I've got to cut the berberis to a better shape and size as it's got a little large. I post some pics once I've done a little bit more.

I'm starting to get into the gardening so when it's not raining I'm out there doing little bits and bobs, it's difficult to do anything big time with a 2 year old and a dog helping, lol.

 

Well chopped the berberis (coat and gloves on in the sun, lol) back to a better size and shape. although it looks a little bare now but I know it'll grow back as I've had to cut it back a lot harder than I have this time.
Trimmed the cotoneaster plants. The kids have already broken one of the wires I'd put up to help me train one of the conneasters so I'm going to have to repair that piece and I'm going to sort out a piece of reed screening to pop onto the fence panel to try to stop them using the end of the garden as a short cut (I've got lots and lots of the reed stuff as my parents gave me some of thiers that they'd used and some uncut). I've just got to decide if I use the thinner reeds or the fatter ones.
I think my palm thanks me for cutting back the shrubs so that it can spread out it's leaves (haven't tried to get the rubbish out from under it yet, those spikes are leathal underneath the leaves) I've already had one misshap with it splitting my thumb, so it'll be coat and gloves on again to do that.
Pulled out a small compost heap amount of grass from the boarder, still got lots of grass to get out of the boarders (around the tree and the other prickly shrubs).
The small patch near the front door still smells, but I've turned the soil and hopefully it'll start to smell less once I've got the hebes out (I think it's those 2 plants that are keeping the smell in the area as I've not been able to turn the soil), on the plus side theres tons and tons of worms, big fat juicy worms.

 

Well done Katherna,

I think the very first thing I learned about gardening was to watch out for canes blinding you and wear gloves for all things-even though I still sometimes can`t remember where I put the blessed things and just dive in.


The worms are, I have found, my best friends. They solve a huge amount of problems and save me a great deal of hard work. I am quite loathe to dig incase I accidentally chop one and am forever finding them a good hiding spot should I unearth one or two occasionally.

Unfortunately it is getting to that time of year when I have to turn over my soil as I have clay issues and find this is pretty much the best solution to that.


What are you going to do with those hebes-did you say? Sorry perhaps I should reread the whole thread again to refresh my memory.

Anyway well done and good luck with the smell.

 

I think I might have to uproot them, they're very very one sided and took the brunt of the leaked 'water', they are trying to grow though from the bare side, a few green leaves have appeared, although if I put new plants in they'll act as a wind break for them while they're new.

 

You can get that with hebes-I once lost the entire middle of one once, never did get to the bottom of it but I had to pretty much butcher it-it`s taken years to get back to where it once was.

 

Okay, so I can chop them down in height I might just do that then I'm not bothered if it takes a few years for them to get back. My OH says I'm a hack and slash gardener (he doens't do gardening at all, although he's useful for digging holes in the clay) as I'm usually armed with pruning shears, loppers and a saw.