Guide
Plants that survive salt wind
Salt tolerance is not one property. It matters whether the salt arrives as spray on the leaf or as brine at the root, and most planting failures at the shore come from confusing the two.
Direct spray lands on foliage during onshore wind and storms. A plant that tolerates it has either a waxy cuticle, fine hairs, or small leaves that shed the load. Bayberry, beach plum, rugosa rose, and switchgrass all handle it. Japanese maple, hydrangea and most broadleaf ornamentals do not, which is why they look scorched on the windward side by August.
Soil salinity is a separate problem, and it shows up in low-lying lots and anywhere the water table is brackish. Roots in salty soil cannot take up water even when the ground is wet, so the plant shows drought symptoms in a soaked bed. That one is solved by drainage and by species selection, not by watering more.
The practical approach on an exposed lot is layered. A tough outer screen takes the wind and the spray, and everything you actually wanted to plant goes behind it. Once that screen establishes, the range of what will grow on the sheltered side widens enormously.
The short version
- Salt spray on leaves and salt in soil are different problems with different solutions
- Bayberry, beach plum, rugosa rose and switchgrass tolerate direct spray
- Plant a windbreak first, then plant what you actually want behind it
- Drought symptoms in wet soil usually mean salinity, not thirst
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