plants – A Home by the Sea

Having a home by the sea has many advantages, however, one disadvantage, is the poor quality of the soils for gardens and the difficulty in growing plants that thrive in coastal areas.

Coastal soils are often sandy and have poor water retention ability but might also be heavy, salty and highly alkaline. This means their PH level is about 7 or above, which makes growing plants quite tricky.

If I wanted to grow Azaleas, Camellias, Magnolias or my favourite flowering shrub: Gardenias, for example, the coastal soils would need organic and chemical* help.

*Please note growing azaleas, camellias, magnolia and gardenias will require a specific fertilizer or may wither or develop yellowing leaves, without the right conditions.

As some of my garden had already been established, adding large quantities of peat moss, compost or organic matter wasn’t going to be a viable option, so in order to change the PH of the soil, I needed to look at other options.

It’s always best to test the soil’s pH level and follow instructions to the “T” when using anything to change soil pH.
If your soil is highly alkaline, adding sulphur, peat moss, sawdust, or aluminium sulfate can help neutralize it.
Adjust soil pH slowly, over time, avoiding any quick fixes. You can simply add plants suitable for alkaline soil. Read more about Plants For Alkaline Soils
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/soil-fertilizers/plants-for-alkaline-soil.htm

Damage to Plants from High Ph Levels

The first warning sign that the plants in my garden were suffering from a high Ph level was leaves turning yellow with a green midvein, evident firstly with the alkaline sensitive Gardenias and later, the Murraya, or Mock Orange, and some of the small Cupheas bordering the garden.

My next step in remediation was to stabilize the Gardenia, in situ, with an appropriate chemical fertilizer suitable for the sensitive likes of those plants and plant out more alkaline-tolerant species, as well as add organic matter where possible.

Lots of blue colour in this garden. Westringia (a native Coastal Rosemary), Juniper, Strelitzia and of course, Lavender. All plants that thrive in coastal areas.

Within a few weeks of applying the fertilizer, the Gardenias and Magnolia had shiny new green growth. I applied a general fertilizer to the Murraya and the Cupheas and although slower, they are responding with new buds.

Growing Lavender in Coastal Areas

Lavender plants are a sound choice for coastal areas as they relish well-drained sandy soils and don’t mind wind. The ones I planted thrived in soil that had an upper layer of very sandy alkaline loam with an underlying, also alkaline, clay. They are especially beautiful now, in full bloom. No fertilizer needed, or signs of alkaline damage, so far.

Lavender plants make spectacular borders and vary in height: Lavender dentata, for example, grows to a height of 60 cm and can be pruned to a ball shape lightly after flowering.

Growing Your Own Lavender Plants

Lavender blossoms make excellent cut flowers,or can be used in dried flowers arrangements or potpourri. After flowering, I remove the lavender flowers from the stems and pot up the trimmed down leaf tips and place them in potting mix after first dipping the ends in rooting powder and then seal them with a plastic bag for several months. After that, you should have some established new Lavender plants.

It’s really a plant that keep on giving.

Lavender is known for its therapeutic properties.

Growing Olive Trees in Coastal Areas

Contrary to popular belief, Olive trees do not really have troublesome root systems, and as they do like coastal conditions they can also tolerate alkaline soil, well, provided it is free draining. A great choice for a coastal garden particularly with their grey-green foliage.

Olive trees take about 7 years to produce fruit. Sadly, we had to leave a beautiful olive tree at our former location, when we moved to the ‘Home by the sea,’ one that was close to flowering and producing olives.

The tree was about five years old and about 3 metres tall. It was not in a position of full sun, but we do live in the sub-tropics, so the sun is stronger here. Olive trees seem resilient to pests, so are a great choice for coastal and Mediterranean-style climates.

Plants suitable for Alkaline soils:

Some other plants that cope well in Alkaline soil types are listed below.

Herbs/Vegetables for Alkaline Soils

Thyme
Parsley
Oregano
Asparagus
Sweet Potato – my plants are thriving. Just pop them in and watch them grow.
Beets
Cabbage
Cauliflower
Cucumber
Celery

Parsley can be used as an edible border plant as it is a splash of greenery and handy for use in making Tabouli or salads in the kitchen. It is a herb that does like alkaline soils.

My Sweet potato and Rosemary plants – the Mock orange in the right hand corner of the photos still has some alkalinity damaged yellow leaves

Shrubs and Trees for Alkaline Soils

Viburnum
Cotoneaster
Mock Orange
Honeysuckle
Spiraea
Hydrangea
Lavender
Rosemary
Juniper
Olive Trees – as long as the soil is free draining.

Enjoy creating a Coastal Garden

food, health

Chiaro What?

June 23, 2020June 23, 2020 Forestwood

The term chiaroscuro stems from the Italian words chiaro (“clear” or “bright”) and oscuro (“obscure” or “dark”), and refers to the arrangement of light and shade. Chiaroscuro, uses a single light source—such as a lit candle or an open window—to dramatically brighten figures against a dark background. This emphasis on tonal contrast employs intense contrasts of light and dark.

I think this photo employs the Chiaroscuro effect.

Firsts are always special. This was the very first fruit from my garden.

The Gooseberry plant reminds me of being a child and playing in my Grandmother’s garden, where Gooseberries like this grew wild. The paper cases are a delight to pull apart even when you all grown up.

Inside you’ll enjoy a slightly tart berry, just bursting with flavour. A superfood with lots of goodness as a bonus.

Reversing the ‘chiariscuro’ effect so that the background is light and foreground darker, can produce interesting results, especially at sunrise.

discover.wordpress.com/

environment, home

Grow Your Own Lemons

February 17, 2020February 18, 2020 Forestwood

How much better is it to source organic citrus fruit straight from the garden?

Fruit that you can be sure is free from pesticides and sprays, because you have picked it directly from your own backyard?

If you have only experienced food purchased from the supermarket, you don’t know what you’re missing. Home grown fruit is so much juicier. This applies to most foods, freshly sourced.

It is not as hard as you think to grow your own food, even with limited space.

Benefits of Growing Your Own Fruit

save on packaging waste with supermarket products
better nutritional goodness
increased levels of juiciness and palatability
using your property to productive use
promoting food sources for bees

Unfortunately, those sad supermarket lemons sit in freight or storage for two weeks, before hitting the supermarket shelves, and then spend far more time in the supermarket, itself. Finally, someone purchases them, takes them home and pops them in their fridge, so they could be up to one month old or older, when they use them for meals. Eeew? Not really nutritionally sound.

I don’t have the space for a garden and my soil quality is poor, I hear many lament.

Citrus trees, such as lemons, can be successfully grown in pots, as long as they are positioned in a sun drenched spot, in the garden or courtyard and a good citrus fertiliser added in Autumn.

Meet ‘Lemon Heaven’ – a new seedless variety of lemon tree.

It is the latest addition to the Home by the Sea.

If you live in Australia, a dose of citrus food in small amounts monthly from August to mid autumn will help the little tree along. I also added some Seasol to the pot to help the new addition settle into family life at the Home by the Sea.