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I have inherited a shingle garden

johnandchris.tolsonjohnandchris.tolson Posts: 3
in Garden design
The shingle is quite deep probably down to bedrock, previous owners have added clay topsoil and best they can dug it into the shingle, I have increased the size of the beds but need to know how best to:-
A. Increase fertility into the impoverished clay soils of differing quality.
B. What Flowering plants would survive best in this harsh coastal garden. No Phormiums, Phlomis, Yuccas or Large Succulents please.
C. In the still Shingle areas, small lawn sized what plants or seeds, would grow plants of flowering qualities
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Posts

  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    edited July 2018
    Hello and welcome :)

    My best suggestion is to read everything you can about Derek Jarman's beautiful garden on the edge of Dungeness beach ... better still, go and visit it  :)

    https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/sep/24/derek-jarman-garden-dungeness-alys-fowler

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • Joyce GoldenlilyJoyce Goldenlily Posts: 2,933
    Thrift would love it in your garden, sedums, various coloured flowers,  possibly some of the soft wafting grasses.
  • raisingirlraisingirl Posts: 7,093
    A Mulch every autumn (or spring) with good organic material - rotted manure ideally.
    B Eryngiums, sea thrift, creeping thymes. As Dove has suggested, visit or research existing gardens in similar locations or just go for a walk along the cliffs and dunes near you, take photos and ident the plants (people on here are good at putting names to plants given a decent photo) and find cultivar versions or seed of the wild plants to grow in your own garden. Also look at roof gardens - similar conditions on the whole.
    C Lots of alpines will grow in almost no soil and plenty if you make small pockets of gritty soil with a bit of shelter to roots from large pebbles, rocks and large pieces of wood, etc to help them get a firm foothold.

    The main thing you'll struggle with are tall trees and lush evergreens. But there are lots of plants that will tolerate coastal conditions very well if you get the hang of windbreaks and micro-climates.
    Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon

    “It's still magic even if you know how it's done.” 
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    Crambe cordifolia would love it.
  • josusa47josusa47 Posts: 3,530
    edited July 2018
    Look out for plants with silvery, grey-green or fuzzy foliage, they are usually drought tolerant and many of them are salt tolerant too. Horned poppies - grow wild on some beaches, attractive foliage, yellow flowers, extraordinary seed pods.  Erigeron, aka sea daisy, Centranthus ruber aka valerian, sea lavender, buddleia.
  • hogweedhogweed Posts: 4,053
    Have a good read of Beth Chatto's book The Gravel Garden. That will give you a whole host of beautiful plants that will thrive in your conditions. 
    'Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement' - Helen Keller
  • BijdezeeBijdezee Posts: 1,484
    You may have to dig holes and fill with compost, plant up then cover with shingle to get things started. I come from a similar area and Dove has it, look up dungeness.

    Red valerian, horned poppies, sea buckthorn, tamarisk, escallonia, griselinia. 

    There are lots but they need some soil under the stones to get started. 
  • johnandchris.tolsonjohnandchris.tolson Posts: 3
    Strange your suggesting Dungeness, my garden is about Two miles from Mr Jarmans, which I have seen a long time ago
    The suggestions are now on my list of look ups
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Oooh you lucky thing ... that'd be my Sunday afternoon walk  :)

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • LG_LG_ Posts: 4,360
    I would read about DJ's garden as it was, rather than visit it now for inspiration, tbh. Though it's a good example of how transient a garden can be, and how it can return to nature quite gracefully, I guess.
    'If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.'
    - Cicero
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