- Thankfully there are a great selection of plants to provide solutions for lots of different windswept scenarios, whether it’s coastal conditions or inland whether you’re growing plants in beds or containers or on a balcony or a selection of plants for your front door.
- Some suitable hedging plants that a lot of coastal gardeners will most likely see in their surroundings include Griselinia, an excellent coastal hedge that’s evergreen and will tolerate partial shade and damp conditions. Or perhaps Elaeagnus - ideal for inland and coastal areas, salt wind tolerant and hardy to -15 and will grow well in exposed windy conditions with a dense bushy habit and a silver colour on the back of the leaf.
- If you were considering some trees for a windy area you wouldn’t go wrong with the likes of Crateagus Paul’s Scarlet - the flowering hawthorn tree, or a Weeping Ornamental Pear, lots of Sorbus do well in windy conditions or for something different Arbutus unedo - the Strawberry Tree - A small to medium-sized, slow-growing evergreen tree or large shrub.
- For smaller plants to consider for beds and containers that are well suited for windy areas - grasses tend to do very well and a very popular grass is Stipa tenuissima or Pony-tail grass a compact, evergreen ornamental grass it’s very low maintenance, drought tolerant and is rarely affected by pests and diseases. Other grasses like miscanthus and carex will tolerate plenty of wind also.
- Nepeta or catmint is another excellent choice for windy areas it has grey-green foliage and lavender-like flowers, great for bees and very easy to grow and Hardy Geraniums like Rozanne and Bloom me away have done really well this year - lots of long lasting blue flowers and can take the wind all day long.
- Cordylines are another very popular choice for windy and coastal locations with lots of different varieties to choose from - perfect for pots or beds. Phormiums have a similar appearance to cordylines with strappy leaves and are also a great choice for exposed sites and come in lots of different colours.Also worth considering are some low growing bulbs - dwarf daffodils like Tete a Tete or some dwarf tulips like Red Riding Hood, well able to stand up to windy conditions and ideal to grow in beds or pots - they can make a great combination in a pot with Cordylines for year round colour and your bulbs providing a welcome addition of flowers in Spring.
A few jobs for the week ahead;
- Autumn is an ideal time to sow wildflower seeds, prepare the ground in advance for best results by removing weeds and grass - established grass and weeds out compete the wildflowers so get rid of all the competition before sowing your seeds
- You can plant Autumn Seed potatoes now for a harvesting in the Winter - you could have new spuds for Christmas dinner
- Set your lawn up for the winter with some autumn lawn feed and consider scarifying and aerating the lawn - lawn care carried out in the Autumn really improves the appearance and your lawn overwinters in better condition
- Make some plans to plant up your spring flowering bulbs - snowdrops, daffs, tulips, bluebells, alliums a lots more varieties - great for pots and beds - these will all be arriving into garden centres over the next few weeks and can provide up to 6 months of colour from bulbs alone