Coastal Gardening

California Native Plants for Coastal Gardening

If you find yourself in August barely breaking a sweat and feeling a cooling breeze laced with the faintest hint of salt you have probably landed yourself a highly coveted Coastal Garden! Native plant choices that will flourish and enliven your garden are seemingly endless!

Listed here are just some of the many plants that will give your garden it’s sense of place, identifying it as a coastal California paradise. Transforming your garden with the use of natives and regionally appropriate plants will bring butterflies, birds and pollinators of all sorts as you create for them a true coastal habitat. So let the sound of the waves and the onshore breeze inspire you to turn your garden into your own beach retreat!

*regionally appropriate nonnative, ASH afternoon shade, SH shade

Tips for Planting

• Plant fall through spring, your success rate will be much higher than mid summer planting
• When planting avoid the heat of the day and heat waves
• Backfill with moist soil when planting
• When establishing a plant they will need more water than
  published requirements
• Pick up or download our planting guide or watch our
  planting video before putting plants into the ground
• Micro-climates are areas in your yard that don’t conform to
  average climate conditions and should be noted before planting (i.e. full sun site but even hotter than average due to reflected sun from walls and no air movement)
• Water deeply to reach the bottom of the root ball

Water 2x – 4x a Month

Botanical Name	Common Name	Size/Shape/Habit
Antigonon leptopus	San Miguel coral vine	Climbing
Carex pansa	California meadow sedge	1’x2’
Erigeron glaucus (selections)	Seaside Daisy	1’x 2’
Festuca californica	California fescue	2-3′ x 2-3′
Fragaria chiloensis	Beach strawberry	1′ x spreading
Heliotropium curassavicum	Salt heliotrope	<11′
Limonium californicum	Coastal statice	1′ x 2′
Stachys bullata	Hedge nettle	1′ x spreading

Water 1-2′ per month

Botanical Name	Common Name	Size/Shape/Habit
Abronia maritima	Red sand verbena	<1’x 6’
Arctostaphylos sp.	Manzanita	wide size range
Armeria maritima	Sea pink	1’x 1’
Artemisia sp.	Sagebrush	wide size range
Baccharis ‘Pigeon Point’	Prostrate coyote bush	1-2’x 8’
Ceanothus sp.	California lilac	wide size range
Cneoridium dumosum	Bush rue	3-5’x5’
Corethrogyne filaginifolia californica	Aster	1’x4-6’
Eriophyllum confertiflorum	Golden yarrow	2’x3’
Erysimum menziesii	Menzies’ wildflower	1’x2’
Frangula (Rhamnus) californica	Coffeeberry	5-15’x 10’
Gambelia sp.- Bush Snapdragon	Bush snapdragon	3’x 2-5’
Heuchera sp.	Coral bells	1-2’x 1-2’ SH
Iris Pacific Coast Hybrids	Irises	1’x 2’ SH
Isocoma menziesii	Goldenbush	1-3’x 3’
Monardella villosa	Coyote mint	2’x 2’
Salvia sp.	Sages	wide size range
Symphyotrichum chilense	California aster	1-2’x3’
Verbena lilacina	Lilac verbena	2-3’x 4’

Water 1x a Month

Botanical Name	Common Name	Size/Shape/Habit
Ambrosia chamissonis	Sand bur	1-3’x 5’
Atriplex lentiformis	Coastal quail brush	4-8’x 10’
Baccharis pilularis ssp consanguinea	Coyote brush	8’x 8’
Calystegia macrostegia	Island morning glory	climbing
Camissoniopsis cheiranthifolia	Beach primrose	1’x 3’
Leptosyne gigantea	Giant coreopsis	3-4’x 2’
Dudleya sp.	Live-forever,	1’x 2’
Elymus ‘Canyon Prince’	Canyon Prince wild rye,	3-4’x 3’
Encelia californica	Coast sunflower	3’x 4’
Epilobium sp.	California fuchsia	1-3’ x spreading
Eriogonum sp.	Buckwheat	wide size range
Iva hayesiana	San Diego marsh elder	1-3’x5’
Lyonothamnus floribundus asplenifolius	Catalina ironwood	20-35’x 15’
Malosma laurina	Laurel sumac	8-15’ x 12’
Mirabilis laevis	Wishbone bush	2’ x 3’
Peritoma arborea	Bladderpod	3-5’x 5’
Quercus sp.	Oaks	wide size range
Rhus integrifolia	Lemonade berry	5-15’ x 10+’