SEASHORE PLANTINGS

The misty and enchanting atmosphere of coastal landscape attract more and more people to build their homes by the seashores. New homeowners often desire a luxuriant vegetation surrounding their dwelling for protection and privacy. However, the untempered winds and ocean spray present an enormous chal lenge to plant life to be able to stabilize in unsettled sand. It is crucial to select suitable plants which en dure the harsh environment for a successful seashore landscaping.

Plants that are able to survive in the rugged coastal environment must withstand the prevailing winds, tolerate the salt spray and be capable to set their roots into dry and porous sand. The use of native plants has become more acceptable by many contemporary gardeners and been boosted by the awareness of ecological and energy issues in coastal environment. It is a logical approach, because, native plants are the survivors that are tolerant and adapted to the specific conditions of seashores. However, some intro duced species which can do well in seashore conditions should also be included for increasing the stabliza tion of sand dunes and the aesthetic values along the shorelines.

An understanding of coastal ecosystem is essential to be able to position proper plants at the proper places. Seashore plantings serve an important function as natural erosion stabilization for dunes and bluffs along the coastline. There are four major coastal ecosystems could be identified on Long Island shores with distinct ecological characteristics.

Belt I - A. Seashore Conditions
Areas consist of relatively flat beach and beach dune that predominate the south shore of Long Island. The beach dunes immediately flanking beaches are known as primary dunes. The most common primary foredune plants are herbaceous perennial plants that die to the ground in the fall of each year and send up new shoots from their roots in the spring. These primary foredune plants act as dune stabilizers. They slow the wind at the dune surface, caus ing deposition of windborne sand. During storms their root systems help hold sand in place, thereby slowing the rate of dune erosion.

Coastal Plain Ecosystem

Coastal Sound Bluff Ecosystem

Narrow beaches backed by eroding sandy bluffs chara terize much of the north shore of Long Island, in cluding parts of the north shore of the south fork. Th beach bluffs flanking the narrow beaches on Long Island's northshore are over one hundred feet high in some areas. There are many good plants including, grasses, vines, low shrubs, and minor trees that can be used for bluff-stabilization projects.






Belt II Coastal Plain Ecosystem

Areas sit behind the sand dune or the bluff. Plants usually are more protected from the dunes, bluffs, screens, or artificial struc tures.

Belt III Barrier Beach Ecosystem

On barrier beaches, the secondary dunes lead to a protected bay. The back of the primary dune and the protected areas of secondary dunes are characteristically vegetated in a zoned mosaic pattern. This means that microenvironment conditions favor the dominance of various plants in relatively close proximity making generalizations about this area very difficult.

Two limiting factors seem to play a key role here though:
height above sea level and exposure to salt laden seabreezes. The lower the elevation the closer the plant communities are to the water table. The dry dune areas (at higher eleva tions) behind the beach are very similar in many respects to a desert environment for the stationary plants found growing there. It is very hot with sand surface temperatures of 120F not uncommon. It is also very dry. Rainwater percolates very rapidly through sand and so plants must have very deep root systems to reach the water table below.