Why Shelter Matters in Coastal Gardens
South Coast of England is truly a beautiful place to live, the close proximity to nature while always being a stone throw away from the sea makes life down here one of the best spots in the country. However, those incredible views of the sea often comes with its own challenges when designing a garden. The conditions can be tough; from strong winds, exposure, considerable amounts of salt and the clay soil, all adds to the harsh environment. Creating a garden here can feel somewhat challenging, when in reality, it can be fairly simple with a few techniques and choosing to design with the wind in mind rather than fighting against it.
Typically, Brighton and Kent has strong prevailing winds along South West coast and the winds can behave differently in gardens. Often it can cause issues with both your plant health, drying out the soil and general outdoor comfort. Below are our top tips for how to tackle a windy garden
Wind Break Design Ideas for Coastal Gardens
Semi permeable windbreaks
Often to stop the winds, people lean towards solid walls and fences to block the winds when instead all you are doing is increasing the chance of wind tunnels and a more uncomfortable space. Instead, the best technique for slowing the winds is to create semi permeable windbreaks, this slows it and allows the wind to pass through. Great examples includes, slatted timber screens, woven structures, coastal multi stem trees. The image below is of a garden of ours in Eastbourne, the client had high winds coming down a walkway and causing wind tunneling, making the garden an uncomfortable place to sit, here we designed a slatted gate with planting in front, as well as a multi stem tree towards the end, this immediately reducing the wind intensity. Our client said “we are amazed by how such a simple technique of a slatted fence has stopped all our issues with the wind.”
Layered planting for shelter
Another technique for reducing the intensity of the winds and allowing your plants to thrive can be through the choice of plants and positioning. Here we suggest a layered system, adding different heights into your space, such as multi stem trees within the planting beds surrounded by different perennials and shrubs can create all the protection certain plants might need. Its as simple as taking a step back and thinking about the layout of your plants before planting. We often suggest you could layer plants to mimic nature, taller grasses can often create supports to taller unstructured plants such as Veronicastrum or Salvia Blue Spire
Positioning Wind Breaks Correctly
Now we have considered different types of wind protection as well as planting techniques, we need to consider the positioning of these items. The best idea is to locate windbreaks perpendicular to the prevailing winds. Seating and dining areas are great to focus on creating shelter. These are spaces in the garden where you will notice the winds more, here you could consider the idea of sunken seating, garden rooms, patio layouts (with strategically places planting cut outs).
Trees:
Silver Birch Multistem – beautiful peeling bark
Amelanchier lamarckii – for beautiful folage, flowers and amazing autumn colour
Osmanthus x burkwoodii – this is typically a shrub however it can be grown as a tree, great evergreen structure, can be both single stem as well as multi stem
Shrubs:
Pittosporum tobira – a dense compact shrub with small white flowers
Sarcococca hookeriana – great evergreen shrub, particually in shady areas
Grasses
Anemanthele – a beautiful orangey grass. However we would always recommend this in a larger garden, as it needs some space around it for it to really stand out (we love this one tho!!)
Carex – low growing clump forming (you can get this in lots of different varieties and colours)
Stipa – this seems to be in lots of garden designers garden and thats because its a great size, amazing movement and really picks up that coastal feel. However, it is known for having lots of baby Stipas, so be prepared for moving some of these around.
Miscanthus – this really has that height on your side, if your looking for a taller grass this is a great one to go for. It will help with the layering and supporting structures in your garden.
Perennials
Now this is the fun colourful part (!!)
Salvia – we ALWAYS recommend this, its a great plant for down south, the conditions suit it really well. It can come in lots of varieties, we love the Blue Spire, Amistad and last but defiently not least nemorosa ‘Caradonna’ a deep purple salvia with lots of color all season long !
Achillea – this plant can come in lots of colours, its typically a wildflower plant and so can cope well with the dry conditions.
Iris – LOVE LOVE LOVE, these seem to be everywhere at the minute and they really are quite a plant, amazing variety of colours and they love the hotter conditions which the South gets.
Now you have your plants and your ideas for structures. This is the part where the magic happens. Bringing all these elements together can really make your garden feel more comfortable and a space in which your plants can thrive. Think of ideas such as sunken seating surrounded by beautiful layered planting, a fire pit with stunning multi stem trees and low growing perenialls. A walkway with woven structures to break up your journey through the space. The ideas are endless and can be applied to your garden, focus on shelter as the foundation and then you can work around this. Dont think of it as trying to stop the winds, but instead focus on working WITH the winds to create a space which feels comfortable, serene and enjoyable. If you are still struggling to understand how to create a garden which works for you, feel free to reach out to us today, we can come around for a FREE, no obligation walk through of your space and see if, together, we can make it somewhere you want spend your time.
