CHAPTER  XXVII
 

                         Seaside Planting.



The moderating influence that the sea  has upon temperature and the

greater degree of humidity it imparts to the atmosphere are, on the whole,

favourable to  vegetation.  This is very evident all  round the coasts of

the British Isles, even on the east coast, where, in sheltered valleys,  trees

and shrubs can be grown that  are too tender for similar positions inland.

On the western and  southern coasts, where  the influence  of the  Gulf

Stream  is more directly felt, this  phenomenon  becomes  much  more

evident, and a vegetation of an almost subtropical character is supported.

There is no point,  therefore, in the long  lists usually given in books and

articles on this subject, made  up  of trees and  shrubs  that are  known to

thrive in the vicinity of the sea, provided they are not actually exposed to

the full force of sea gales.  Such  lists might be extended so as to include

almost all the subjects dealt with in this work.

    The  one problem in seaside  planting is to  find  trees  and shrubs

that will withstand the full blast  from  the sea,  carrying, as it does, more

or  less  salt-laden  moisture with it.  Once a rampart  of such vegetation

has been  made of sufficient width and height  to stand  between the

garden and the sea, the rest becomes comparatively easy.  The clothing

of exposed headlands must, of course, always be difficult, just as is that

of windswept  elevations  inland, the only difference  being that, near the

sea, the  additional  drawback of  salt in the atmosphere  has  to be

encountered.

    In  planting absolutely naked ground  in such places it  saves much

time and  trouble if some, perhaps only temporary, windguard be set up

to  start with;  it may be a low  wall, a  bank  of  earth, or even  wattled

hurdles.   Behind  this the first plantings are  made, and  it  need  hardly

be  said that small plants only must  be set out, and they  must stand

thickly together for mutual protection.  By this means they  are enabled

to get a firm hold of the soil before they reach above their  shelter.  When

that happens their growth may be very slow indeed, but each successive

row grows higher than the one in front  of it, so that  ultimately there is

formed a  bank  of vegetation  sloping upwards from the sea, which makes

an admirable first line of  defence.

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