Coastal Planting

Strong winds, salt-laden air, and sandy soils prompt a careful selection of plants that can thrive in these conditions while maintaining their beauty year-round. For inspiration, we turn to the flora of South Africa, New Zealand, Chile and Australia — regions where plants have evolved to endure similar coastal extremes while offering striking colours, textures, and structure.

Braving the Elements

As we look to balance beauty with durability in our Channel Island gardens, amongst the new trees to consider are the South African Cape Chestnut with its scented flowers and the Metrosideros, a coastal evergreen tree commonly known as the New Zealand Christmas Tree. Flowering in our summer, the Metrosideros is one of the more colourful wind- and salt-resistant trees, making it well-suited for our gardens. There are a number of varieties but we will be going for one of the hardier ones from Burncoose Nurseries in Cornwall, who are specialists in temperate planting. The Manuka Honey tree is another tough and resilient native New Zealander that provides inspiration for the Channel Islands’ maritime climate, with an impressive display of bright white flowers appearing in early summer, while its needle-like leaves are well adapted to cope with fierce exposure.

The Support Acts

Creating a striking and interesting garden, which complements rather than disturbs the natural aesthetics of the landscape, relies on conjuring a sense of visual cohesion while layering unusual textures, colours and shapes. We continue to seek inspiration from shores afar, from the Chilean myrtle, with its lovely white mottled reddish bark and fragrant white flowers in late spring, to the spectacular flowering beauty of the South African protea.

Capturing rhythm and movement in our Channel Island gardens is important to create a sense of harmony with the windswept coastal scene. As we look to include herbaceous interest through varieties of South African Agapanthus, the bugle lily Watsonia and the ‘sword lily’ Gladiolus, the strap leaves of the Gladiolus and the Watsonia will sway in the wind. These vibrant flowers can be complemented by the Gomphostigma virgatum ‘White Candy’, native to riverbeds in South Africa and Zimbabwe and characterised by slender, flexible, silvery grey branches with small white flowers responsive to the breeze.

Focusing on creating adequate ground cover allows the taller species to float and hover above an abundant floor of greenery. We look to the popular Elephant’s Food, Portulacaria afra, which earnt its name due to its starring role in the diets of South African elephants, for its ability to remove more carbon from the air than most other plants. Other ground cover options include the ice plant Lampranthus, which blooms in vibrant daisy-like flowers, or the textural Asparagus densiflorus ‘Myersii’, often known as the foxtail fern due to the soft, fluffy appearance of the bright-green needle-shaped fronds.

Many Channel Island properties with cliffside views share elevation changes, which can be transformed into design features. Valley slopes can incorporate water into their design, which creates a visual sensory connection between each level, its flow altering from calm pools to falls and trickling stream as it changes direction and speed of descent. Integrated seating can be built into banks, alcoves concealed for private escape, with pathways winding through a diverse plant palette to make for a dynamic and immersive experience.