New Summer Home - Hardy Tropical Plants in Sandy Soil?

14 years ago

Hi Everyone,

My parents recently purchased a summer home in South Eastern NJ as a get away the whole family could enjoy. With Fathers Day coming up, and as a way to say thank you, I was thinking of doing a little landscaping at the house. I wanted it to feel as much as a tropical getaway as possible, but there are some variables that I am unaware of and was hoping some of you could lend some assistance. Here are the specifics:

Zone 7 and sits directly on the bay.

Soil is VERY sandy, almost like a beach.

Backyard is essentially in the bay, jutting into the bay with bulkhead dividing the yard from the water. That being said, I'm sure the soil (or really just sand) below is rather wet and with salty water, or at least I assume that's the case.

We won't be there year round, so we want something that is easy to care for and can be left outside all year round.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Anything you can provide would be MORE than helpful. I was looking for tropical plants for zone 7 in sandy soil, and I was having a lot of difficulty. So again, I would greatly appreciate any information anyone can provide!

I have pictures of the back yard, but I don't know how to upload them here.

Comments (3)

User
14 years ago
Some palms? Try Trachycarpus fortunei and Chamaerops humilis for starters. Many yucca species, certain agaves, hardy opuntia cacti will also do well.
gusolie
14 years ago
If your soil above the bulkhead is truly satured with brackish water and is full of salt, your plant list greatly diminishes...GREATLY.

Chamaerops humilis? maybe..it'll look awful after every winter...but you might have a better shot in a more seaside condition with saw palmetto--Serenoa repens.

I do believe njoasis' recommendations on yucca, the hardiest of agave and opuntia would be great as accents in beds of shore juniper, hens-and-chicks, and sedum groundcovers in huge sweeps.
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tropicalzone7
14 years ago
I think the best palms to use would be the sabal minor and the needle palm. Windmill palms will need protection during the first winter or two to get it started. Also buy palms soon because if they arent planted before fourth of july they may not set enough roots to successfully overwinter outdoors. There are some large needles off of ebay, but sabal minors are much harder to find. The larger the palm the better chance for survival.
Musa basjoo bananas will also make it feel tropical. They die to the ground at the first frost, but will come right back up by may. They are also on ebay. If you will be down their around the time the first frost hits then you can cut the banana down to about 3 feet so it is just a stalk, and then cover it up with old blankets to keep it warmer and plastic to keep moisture from coming in. Then you would also have to uncover it in april. Doing this would allow it to grow from the top of the stalk which means you would be starting out with a 3 foot banana in april instead of a banana comming out of the ground.

Yuccas are also a great option for a tropical look. Curve leaf yuccas will survive the winter no problem and will even flower in the spring and fall. Soft beaked yuccas are common, pretty, and hardy as well. The eastern prickly pear cactus will be a nice groundcover and will even flower. Psrrys agrave (Agrave americana) will grow into a nice plant and will survive your winters pretty well as long as its not planted in standing water.

Cannas are also nice, but have to be dug up every year or mulched VERY heavily in order to come back up. Then you would also have to take off the mulch in the spring.

Camellias are also really nice plants and will survive the winter very well. My zone 7 camellia is in bad soil, comletely unprotected, and still flowers every spring, and some times the flowers completly cover the entire bush. Its about 10-12 years old so it went through alot of cold winters. They stay green all year, but only flower in the spring so if you would be down their in mid april to early may you may not ever see any flowers.

Good luck and try to post pics!