Plant Doctor Archive

Plants for exposed deck

Please could you give me some advice as to what pot plants I can plant on a very exposed north and east-facing deck in Wellington? We live within sight of Island Bay on the south coast and get strong southerlies as well as north westerlies, but not salty winds. We'd really like to plant some large hardy plants that will give us some shelter from the winds and be easy to maintain.

I decided to seek the advice of a native Wellingtonian. Nicky Treadwell, one of our landscape architecture lecturers and former dweller on Wellington's south coast was happy to oblige. She suggests first of all building a fence or some other sort of wind-break.

If this is not an option, there are still a number of possibilities. Nicky recommends planting hardy natives such as flaxes, sedges (e.g., Carex), taupata (Coprosma repens) and other Coprosma species and varieties, and some of the tougher Pseudopanax cultivars. There are a wide range of cultivars available on the market and your local garden centre should be able to recommend the ones most appropriate in your area.

Advice by Dr Dan Blanchon from Unitec's Diploma in Sustainable Horticulture and Bachelor of Resource Management.

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