Gardening on the beach

annie123

Does anyone here live/lived directly on a beach? if so I need your help.

My mum lives in a bungalow which is directly on a beach on the south cost, open the back doors and after a small concrete patio area its sand dunes.
It does have some shrubbery stuff growing but that's it.
My mum would love some flowers and if possible tomatoes.
I can set her up with tubs etc but I live 80 miles away so will not be able to maintain them.
She had a stroke at Xmas and has some mental health issue but is up and walking and understands simple instructions up to a point eg if I tell her to water the tubs she will do it daily if they need it or not!

I have looked in neighbours gardens but they are either left as is or all paved with pots which seem empty at the moment.

Her front garden which is about 25' deep must have some soil as it has buddleia and leylandii in addition to the grasses that you get on sand dunes.

I've been gardening for years but never on the coast or sand so am really lost.

Anyone have any ideas for tubs or directly in the ground plants that can tolerait salt air, wind, sun, rain and snow! ok thats a bit much, summer salty air will do;) I would be very grateful.

forgotmyname

Tubs maybe hard work in the summer, Drying out too quickly. What about raised planters?

sirbrainy

Don't know what they're called but those pink flowered plants that look like succulents are a good idea - they naturally love the seaside and are easy to propagate

Nuttygal

I've been googling this rather than having past experience etc so please don't take anything I say as being right! Lol- it might give you some things to look into though.

Gaillardia fanfare can grow in sand according to google and they thrive in poor soil apparently.
Allegro grasses
Some herbs apparently- thyme, marjoram, sage
Sedum
Daylilies

These are possibly worth investigating- they may be totally useless or just right- I hope my googling may have helped a wee bit though xxx

annie123

Nuttygirl your googling was more productive than mine, I kept getting great gardens on the florida coast,
I wish:cool:
Some good finds, thank you.
I have a sedum which I can split and I had thought of herbs but wasn't sure about the salty air but they are not expensive and I have lavender cuttings from last year that I can try there


forgotmyname.good point, will get her some big tubs, thats easy as hubby makes great pallet wood tubs:D

sirbrainy still trying to work out which plant you mean but I'll get there;)

Thank you

yumyums

Would this help?
http://apps.rhs.org.uk/plantselector/

Haven't tried it myself, sorry

annie123

YES IT IS:j

It has a coastal filter so I'm guessing that they have taken into account salt air and possible drifting sand.
I've just had a quick go and am amazed how many results came up.

Maybe it won't be so different from my own garden, just no double digging will need doing:D
Thank you

Primrose

If your mum really wants to grow some tomatoes in containers, she'll need a variety that grows low and is exposed to the wind as little as possible so I suggest a tumbling variety which is suitable for hanging baskets. They grow less than a foot high as a small low bush which needs no staking with sticks or sideshooting, Most garden centres will sell a tumbling variety which are marked as suitable for hanging baskets and they can also be grown in patio containers as long as they're well watered. Look for a variety called Tumbler, or Tumbling Red, or Tumbling Yellow.

However if the lleyandi are causing a lot of shade on her patio, very little will grow successfully in heavy shade without sunshine.

annie123

The lleyandi are at the front and not too tall yet.
I grow lots of different types of toms every year but wasn't sure of the salt air, dont get much of that here in London!
Good idea re hanging baskets; may be good for her as the water can drain through easily, she will water them daily, even in the rain:o

Primrose

Mesambryanthums (spelling ?) would do well in that type of environment. You can see them planted in rockeries along the promenades at places like Eastbourne on the south coast. They're low spreading succulent plants with pink & yellow daisy-like flowers which only open in direct sunshine. However they seem to survive the salty wind and air.

annie123

Thats a good idea, I had some here once on my shed turf roof, but next doors cat kept sleeping on them:mad:
Mum would like them, proper flowers she would say and I've plenty of time to sow some:)
I'll try some nasturtiums too, they self seed all over my garden and I end up giving them away at my garden gate.