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Seaside gardens

Jules41Jules41 Posts: 178
in Plants
Having just spent a wonderful holiday in Wales with my little nephew, his questions about seaweed got me thinking.  I wondered if any forum member was lucky enough to live near the sea. I'm sure it has it's challenges but I realised I know very little about the plants that thrive there, let alone anything about seaweed! For example what is this, I'm sure it's fascinating 

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  • josusa47josusa47 Posts: 3,530
    All I know about seaweed is: 1. They're not plants, they're algae.  2.  It makes a great mulch.  3.  It's free.

    Gardens very near the sea often suffer high winds, sometimes laden with salt spray.  Wild plants adapted to these conditions are typically low growing, and have blueish, greyish or silvery foliage.  So that's what you look for when choosing garden plants.
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    edited August 2018
    Possibly laver ... appropriate as you were in Wales ... laverbread bacon and cockles are one of the best breakfasts ever.  

    http://www.gallowaywildfoods.com/laver-seaweed-edibility-identification-distribution/

    Seaweed is part of an important natural habitat and my understanding is that growing seaweed should not be removed without a licence.

    Local gardeners do sometimes use it on their gardens, but hopefully with permission.  To take seaweed laying loose on the shore you should first seek permission from the local authority or harbour master or you may be committing an offence.  

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





  • Ladybird4Ladybird4 Posts: 37,906
    Hello Jules, it looks rather like Sea Lettuce or Ulva lactuca. Laver tends to be very dark in colour and is almost black when cut.
    Cacoethes: An irresistible urge to do something inadvisable
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    You're probably right Ladybird ... it's a long time since I was gathering it on the Gower with Aunty B  :)

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





  • Ladybird4Ladybird4 Posts: 37,906
    Brings back memories of Marine ecology studies for me. Never stopped raining!
    Cacoethes: An irresistible urge to do something inadvisable
  • Jules41Jules41 Posts: 178
    Thanks everyone.  Sadly I live a long way from the sea but I vaguely remember a GW programme on a garden on a stretch of pebbly beach and the unusual plants that the owner used. Even though it wasn't green and lush, it looked very beautiful. 
  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889
    @Jules41
    You might like Derek Jarman's garden at Dungeness in Kent.
    https://www.google.com/search?q=derek+jarman+garden&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjg88DzgoHdAhXBJVAKHdEpAwcQ_AUICigB&biw=1366&bih=620
    Devon.
  • Jules41Jules41 Posts: 178
    Thanks @Hostafan1  I'm really happy - that was the garden I was thinking of ! Thanks again 😊
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    It is an absolutely gorgeous garden ... there's loads of photos of it online if you google, and he wrote a fabulous book about it (almost the last thing he did) ... you'll have to put it on Santa's list   https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/195036.Derek_Jarman_s_Garden 

     :) 

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





  • Jules41Jules41 Posts: 178
    🎄🎁😆
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