If you’re lucky enough to have a coastal property, either as your main place of residence or as a holiday home, you’re sure to find the burgeoning trend of coastal resilience landscaping of particular interest.
Homes close to the sea, while beautiful, are being put at increasing risk by climate change and rising sea temperatures, so it will become more important for homeowners to put certain measures in place to ensure that their properties can withstand the elements while looking stylish at the same time.
The aim with this approach to landscaping is to work with the environment, with nature-based solutions a particular focus when planning projects.
For hardscaping materials, bring in the likes of gravel, shell and stone for paths, driveways and terraces, as these will support sustainable drainage, allowing water to soak into the ground and reducing flood risks.
Another option is to use sand to great effect throughout the garden. For example, you could investigate the benefits of dunescaping, where you mimic the coastal environs on your doorstep and create slopes and drifts of sand or gravel, coupled with open sandy areas to promote biodiversity and serve as a wildlife sanctuary.
Here, planting choice will be absolutely key as you’ll find that you’re relatively limited as to what you can grow, since you’re not dealing with soil. Look out for native varieties like sea thrift, marram grass, viper’s bugloss, birdsfoot trefoil, sea holly, lavender, rosemary, gorse, verbena and so on to create something stunning and unique.
What’s great about this design strategy is that you’ll be left with a drought-tolerant garden, so maintenance work will be kept to a minimum and your outdoor areas will be immediately more sustainable, since you won’t need to water as much.
Of course, these are only a few ideas – so if you’d like further help or advice, get in touch with the LW Landscapes team today.