Growing a garden a hundred feet from breaking surf is a challenge. The plants are constantly bathed in salt spray, which most species find intolerable. Winds push plants into distorted shapes and cool foggy weather\ makes it impossible to grow heat-loving varieties.

This garden presented an additional challenge - dreadful adobe clay soil that had been saturated with crude oil for nearly a century when the site was an onshore oilfield from the late 1880s through the 1980s.

We were able to find a number of things that not only tolerated, but actually seemed to enjoy, these difficult conditions. Plantings include cypress and Australian tea trees, Artemisia 'Powis Castle', Westringia fruticosa, lavenders, Penstemon varieties, native seaside daisy, and red fountain grass. Irrigation is by drip and overhead sprinkler system. The soil is covered with mulch to conserve water and discourage weed growth.

This property was featured in the February, 1995 issue of Sunset Magazine, and also appears in the Sunset Western Landscaping Book.