Seascape gardening
By: by Anne Halpin ; photographs by Roger Foley.
Publisher: Storey Pub.
Published: 2006
Place of publication: North Adams, MA
Language: eng
Number of pages: 224
Subjects: Seaside gardening.; Seaside gardening -- Atlantic Coast (U.S.)
Description: In this lushly illustrated how-to book, veteran gardener Halpin (Homescaping; etc.), herself a seaside gardener on Long Island, delves into the difficulties, pleasures and practicalities of gardening by the sea. She presents an overview of the geology and geography of the Atlantic coast from Maine to South Carolina and discusses the elemental challenges of seaside gardening<U+2014>wind, salt, flooding, sand and sun. Suggestions for ways to work with or overcome these conditions include finding and sheltering an appropriate garden site, using native plants, creating windbreaks and improving the often poor seaside soils. Halpin presents "profiles" of 11 gorgeous seaside gardens varying in locale, from rocky southern Maine to marshy Maryland, and structure, some with formal and difficult-to-maintain plantings, others using native plants for low maintenance, with intriguing comments from the gardens' designers and caretakers about their failures, successes and passion for oceanside gardening. These gardens are mostly designed by landscape architects and professionally maintained, and may intimidate the DIY seaside gardener, but the book brims with practical information and lists of plants appropriate to particular situations. Almost half of the volume is devoted to an illustrated encyclopedia of seaside-compatible species, addressing hardiness, tolerance and recommended varieties.
Notes: Includes index.
Table of contents: title: Seashore environments; title: Profiles of seaside gardens; title: Planning and design; title: Care and maintenance; title: Top plants for seaside gardens.