Cascais Coastal Frontage
Cascais · 2023
The previous lawn had burned out in the salt wind year after year. The owners wanted a front garden that looked intentional and coastal, and that could survive on rainfall alone once established.
The challenge
Constant onshore wind and salt spray ruled out most ornamentals, and the free-draining sandy soil held neither water nor nutrients for long.
Our approach
We built a gravel garden over improved sandy soil, planting in drifts of wind- and salt-tolerant grasses and shrubs that self-seed lightly and knit together into a low, moving mass.
The outcome
A frontage that moves with the wind instead of fighting it, needs no supplementary water in a normal year, and looks composed from the road.
How we built it
Four phases, priced up front.
Every phase was scoped in the estimate before we broke ground, so the owner always knew what came next and what it cost.
- 1
Site assessment
Exposure survey, soil test, and a written estimate before design.
- Wind and salt-exposure survey
- Sandy-soil drainage and nutrient test
- Itemised estimate agreed up front
- 2
Design
Gravel-garden layout and a coastal drift-planting palette.
- Gravel-garden extent and levels drawn
- Salt-tolerant drift palette selected
- Self-seeding zones planned for spread
- 3
Build
Soil improvement and gravel mulch laid across the frontage.
- Sandy soil improved and graded
- Gravel mulch laid to suppress weeds
- Boulder accents set as windbreaks
- 4
Planting & handover
Drift planting established with a short watering-in window.
- Grasses and shrubs planted in drifts
- Short establishment watering scheduled
- Low-water care plan handed over
Planting palette
Chosen for the site's light, soil, and exposure — built to hold its form on minimal water.
- Festuca glauca (blue fescue)
- Armeria maritima (sea thrift)
- Eryngium maritimum (sea holly)
- Pittosporum tobira 'Nanum'
- Euphorbia characias
Materials & structure
The hard landscape that carries the planting and the years of use ahead.
- Self-binding coastal gravel
- Granite boulder windbreaks
- Improved free-draining topsoil
- Steel mowing edge
- 120
- m² transformed
- 0
- litres summer top-up*
- 11
- weeks on site
Want a garden like Cascais's?
Book a site visit and we'll price your property the same way — a fixed, itemised estimate before any design work begins.
Site visits across Lisbon and the coast. Written estimate within five working days.