Plants for a coastal garden in Mallorca

On an exposed coastal plot the plants that survive are the ones with small, tough or waxy leaves: tamarisk, mastic, myrtle, rosemary, juniper, sea daffodil and Aleppo pine. Everything softer goes behind them. Salt-laden wind burns new growth, and no amount of watering compensates.

The front line

Tamarisk is the classic first defence here, because it takes salt spray directly and keeps growing. Juniper and mastic hold the same line lower down. These plants are not there to be admired at close range. Their job is to break the wind so that everything behind them can be a garden.

Build in layers

Shelter works in steps rather than as a wall. A low tough layer at the exposed edge, taller planting behind it, then the ornamental part of the garden in the lee. A solid wall or fence often makes things worse, because wind lifts over it and drops with force a few metres in, which is why hedges outperform barriers on the coast.

What to keep out of the exposure

Citrus, hydrangea, most soft perennials and anything with large thin leaves. They can live on a coastal plot, but in a courtyard or behind the shelter belt rather than facing the sea. Pots on an exposed terrace need weighting or moving, since the wind here regularly does the moving for you.

Irrigation on the coast

Sandy coastal soil drains fast, so runs are shorter and more frequent than inland while planting establishes. Check drippers more often too. Salt and wind-blown sand block emitters, and a coastal system left unchecked for a season usually has several zones that are watering nothing.

The wider planting list is in Mediterranean garden plants that work on Mallorca, and screening options in privacy hedges. For an exposed plot, send photographs and say which way the wind comes from.