Sand gardening isn’t about beach-themed gardens (or even Japanese zen gardens). This sand garden technique is a fresh, expert-led approach to creating beautiful, low-maintenance planting that thrives without watering or fertilizer. In this video, I visit West Dean Gardens in Sussex to meet Tom Brown, head gardener, Daily Telegraph columnist, author and TV broadcaster.
Tom explains how a 10cm layer of sand – or crushed concrete – can transform the way we garden—reducing weeds, protecting roots, and supporting drought-tolerant planting that still looks lush and full of flowers. We visit the sand garden in the Sunken Garden at West Dean and then go over to the ‘Concrete Garden.’ Both are stunning, even though it’s been a difficult summer weather-wise.
Is it time to ditch the mulch and re-think the border?
This could be the sustainable border solution you’ve been looking for.
00:00 What a sand garden is (and isn’t!)
00:42 West Dean College & Gardens: https://www.westdean.ac.uk/gardens
01:00 Tom Brown on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tombrowngardener
01:45 Sand gardens explained
04:10 How do you plant plants in sand?
05:47 Does sand gardening reduce weeding?
07:20 How low maintenance is sand gardening compared to traditional flower borders?
07:40 Is sand gardening good or bad for the soil underneath?
08:50 What gardens are NOT suitable for sand gardening?
09:50 Tom’s favourite sand garden plants
11:11 How far apart to plant plants in a sand garden
11:33 How do you choose the sand for a sand garden?
12:22 A closer look at some top sand garden plants
12:54 Is a sand garden good for pollinators?
13:12 Rosa mutabilis – a charming ‘species rose’
13:43 Oregano ‘Herrenhausen’
14:02 Using creeping thyme instead of a lawn
14:48 What to do with a sand garden in winter
16:00 Grasses for a sand or concrete-rubble garden
16:45 What time of year should you start a sand garden?
17:37 Going over to the Concrete (concrete-rubble) Garden
19:20 How to plant into concrete rubble
20:40 What to do with a concrete rubble garden in winter
22:20 Tom’s top plants for concrete rubble – coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)
22:31 Silphium mohrii – an unusual plant for a concrete rubble garden
22:43 Aster ‘Monch’
23:03 Miss Wilmott’s Ghost (Eryngium giganteum)
23:20 Should you start with a sand garden or a concrete-rubble garden?
24:12 Are sand gardens or concrete-rubble gardens safe for dogs and other pets?
Points summarised in the post here: https://www.themiddlesizedgarden.co.uk/sand-garden-bold-new-trend-resilient-garden-design/
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29 Comments
My soil is very sandy and always dry, but I'm determined to grow roses. Hopefully adding compost and manure will help it retain moisture.
Excellent! American here, are you using the term sand to describe a fine clean aggregate stone similar to a pea gravel or are you saying you use an actual layer of clean sand like a pool filter sand? The video appears to be using a small angular gravel in the sand layer but that could just be a top dressing. Thank you!
Thank you Alexandra. I think this video was very timely and so informative. I have a collapsed building of flint and cob which I wonder if, with attention to the alkaline ph it must have, I could maybe use as a medium to grow some of these plants that never seem to survive in my traditional borders. Lots of food for thought, thanks again 😊
I have weeds that are a problem in my driveway namely purslane.
But it's nice when the holly hocks, sea holly and catmint come through
Such an interesting topic.
Thank you for the interesting topic of this video.
One of my favorite plants for a sand garden is Gipsophila perennial.
WOW!!! What a great episode!!!! So timely! You really have the best posts! I happen to have gravel toward the end of my garden where I sit and quite surprised that it became a house for self seeders like Verbena Bonariensis, Stipa Tenuissima, Knautia Macedonica , Mexican fleabane and even Astrantia! Could be because of some layer of soil that gets brushed from the borders and settles underneath the gravel! I must try this on my borders as I’m delighted they are healthy considering there’s absolutely no fertiliser ❤
I have an 18’ – 19’ round sand area garden. I was afraid to plant in-ground so had pots around it. We put large flagstone around the outer edges but inside on the sand.
It was an area we had our above ground pool for 6+ years. It was hard packed clay & sand. Didn’t know what to do w/ area but decided to put a couple of large chairs & a little table & fountain. Surrounded w/ potted plants. Looks great – really great. The seller part is my God the weeding bud so easy! Just easily pull up any weeds. A rake or hand pull. No root resistance. Upkeep is a breeze. I’m actually thinking of adding lots of sand & pea gravel over the other 2 large native pollinator gardens I have.
As someone from Vancouver Canada who has a similar problem hot hot dry summers and wickedly wet winters it's a fantastic idea but here in British Columbia we have a lot of Evergreen greens and leaf litter particulates are an absolute catastrophe for any sort of gravel or rock garden inevitably it turns into a mess of soil and gravel as evergreen (redwoods Cedars etc. ) fronds are so small and break up on contact that the whole thing can get away from you really easily. so I would've actually put this particular problem higher up as a warning because that is a lot of work to get all of this product in and switching your guarding over thinking you're doing good and solving a problem. Speaking from experience on this one. 😂 though it does make me wonder whether a finer sand would work for us because the particulates would sit on top and not get into all the cracks and crevices you could then easily remove it but it's an absolute nightmare trying to pick out cedar pieces from gravel.
I can’t stop replaying that part.
Can one use sand in pots
The gardens are beautiful. I've been fortunate to visit a couple of times. Before Tom arrived, the gardens are looking , different, and lovely.
I have one flower bed that has a high sand content (not my doing) and it is the bane of my garden. It’s on the west side of the house and sits in full sun. I’ve lost so many plants trying to find ones that will work. So far, I’ve only found one perennial, a salvia, that does okay in the hot dry conditions of summer and the cool, rainy winters. I curse that flower bed every day!
Am I correct to assume this is only for new gardens? You cannnot simply add sand/gravel onot an existing, fully planted bed?
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I am officially a disciple of Tom Brown! Anytime you interview him I take notes and have incorporated his tips for borders and mixed beds into my own practice. I have heavy soil, but this was still so fascinating.
Also Alexandra, you've asked all my burning questions!!!
Star Wars mugs 😂
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Thank you, this is really interesting. I'm wondering what happens to the plants if they experience a DRY winter, following a dry summer and autumn; or follwed by a dry spring and summer? Wet winters are not guaranteed. Wouldn't the plants experience extreme stress in such cases? I'm thinking of the early years of the new millennium, when the southeast experienced several consecutive years of far less than average rainfall. Trees particularly were incredibly stressed and many died.
This is a high level, serious discussion
As a southern Californian, we always garden like this – it’s kind of our native soil 🤷♀️
Totally fascinating, but so hard to take in the practice of not feeding at all, ever! And then taking away anything that may become food. It's mind blowing. It would be interesting if comparative analysis was done of the soil after some years.
Absolutely brilliant and beautiful 🤩 I have considered similar experiments and this is very encouraging although we have a lot of clay soil where I garden. I might experiment with a similar technique in containers.
I was thinking of creating a Sand garden to try and have more drought tolerant plants, but then decided against it. I believe if there were to be some mass trend of sand gardens this is just going to heat up the earth, so I'm going to go in the opposite direction and plant as many trees shrubs as I can to create enough canopy to keep what's underneath cool enough for creatures and other plants…
This has been an excellent post. We (a group of volunteers in conjunction with a local council in London) are soon to landscape a disused children's playground in an old cemetery. It has a high sky factor with little shade and two sides with heat retaining walls. We hope to apply dry garden principles with future maintenance and sustainability in mind. Tom Brown's comprehensive information is practical and inspirational. Good questions too, Alexandria. Thank you.