Design Gardens for Coastal Conditions

Clive Abben has lived on the Mornington Peninsula for 9 years, of which the majority of his time has been the selection and overseeing of the planting for 100 acres of gardens, bearing in mind coastal conditions.

Clive has a wealth of plant knowledge in regards to drought tolerant and hardiness of coastal planting

The “Village Glen” (a large retirement complex), is where these works were carried out , and as one of the specifics was that there was no irrigation. the plants used (after initial watering in) had to survive periods of drought, coastal soils and adverse weather conditions, including very strong winds.

Teaching garden and landscape design at diploma level at Chisholm institute of Tafe, Rosebud, has meant liaising with many fellow horticulturalists with a vast knowledge of the coastal gardening conditions.

Due to the fragile nature of the coastline, we need often to look no further than the Peninsula’s wide variety of indigenous plants; they are drought tolerant and thrive in the Mornington Peninsula's weather and soil conditions.

To be waterwise in your garden design, why not try…..

A dry river bed.
Drought resistant /tolerant plants.
Local indigenous plants.
Recycling Grey water.
Removal of lawn areas & replacing with crushed rock/mulch/drought tolerant plants.