Island Life Magazine Ltd August/September 2007 | Page 72

life GARDENING Alan Titchmarsh SEASIDE GARDENS Photo by Niall McDiarmid Sun, sand and seagulls … the scent of suntan lotion on the breeze … oh, yes, I do like to be beside the seaside. But when you’ve had enough sunbathing and swimming and snorkelling, there are always the gardens to look at. You can’t expect too much in the way of horticultural excellence right next to the beach, where the wind and salt spray are at their worst, but in the five mile zone that lies slightly back from it – where there’s some shelter and the hot-water-bottle effect of the sea keeps conditions warmer in winter - you’ll often find a lot of interesting plants that don’t survive half so well further inland. All along the south coast, you’ll discover a wide range of subtropical plants thriving. 72 Cornwall is well known for its palms. It also has the hottentot fig, which grows right down to the beach in places; it’s a mesembryanthemum-like plant, originally from South Africa, with huge yellow daisy flowers up to five inches across that only open in the sun, and mats of thick succulent ‘fingers’ for leaves. In some south coast gardens you also see the sorts of exotics that only grow in conservatories elsewhere. Sometimes they are just put outside for the summer, but it’s amazing how many now survive all year round in a mild sheltered situation. If you feel like making a special trip, the subtropical gardens on the island of Tresco in Scilly (the Abbey Gardens), and Abbotsbury in Dorset, give you a real feeling for what is possible. And the Isle of Wight is always great for plants and garden-visiting - you see fascinating plants everywhere; Osborne House is a great day out and Ventnor Botanic Garden is not to be missed if you’re a keen plants-person. But it’s not just on the south coast that you’ll see good seaside gardens; all round our shores there are wonderful plots where the owners have taken the trouble to plant good seaside-proof windbreaks. Thick hedges of tamarisk, largeleaved Euonymus japonicus, Cupressus macrocarpa or even the dreaded Leyland cypress stand up well to salt sprays and filter out salt and slow down the wind, so that a fair old seaside garden can be created in their lee. Take a copy of the National Garden Scheme’s Yellow Book with you to the seaside, and if there’s a private garden opening close to the coast while you’re there, go and visit - you’ll be amazed at the creativity people have used to beat ‘impossible’ conditions. And if, freshly inspired by your summer hols, you feel like having a go yourself, a seaside-style area can make a very attractive and easily maintained ‘garden-withina-garden’ back home. I did it myself, round the hut that I used for writing my novels, at my last house. A bit of beachhut styling and jaunty colour scheme led out into a small seaside garden that was easily made, quick to maintain and, if I say so myself, very effective. The trick is to forget conventional lawns and flower beds and instead draw your inspiration from what you see round you at the seaside – a mixture of sand, pebbles and shingle, with old sun-bleached and weather-worn timber set up to look like breakwaters or driftwood. Add a lobster-pot, and odd bits of nautical flotsam and jetsam, with suitably maritime plants – especially seaweedy-shaped species, and shrubs pruned into wind- Island Life - www.islandlife.tv