Notes From My Garden

Alexandra Campbell celebrates the charms of seaside gardens.

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THIS is the time of year to dream of seaside gardens. I live near Whitstable, so I love peering over white picket fences when I go swimming in the sea.

While the ideal seaside garden overlooks a beach, you can create a seaside look in any garden. The seaside look works particularly well in small gardens.

Seaside gardens don’t have lawns. They have gravel, shingle, decking or stone. They don’t always have borders, either. Plants grow out of the shingle, in pots or in raised beds.

Allow one or two distinctive flowers to self-sow across the gravel in a natural way. California poppies, cosmos, dill, fennel and valerian all have a seaside feel.

Humble, cheerful plants like poppies, marigolds, achillea and lychnis look good, too. And I love seeing the purple heads of verbena bonariensis almost floating in the air above a seaside garden.