STYLE: GARDENS : Two by Two by the Sea

Blessed are those who live on the coast, for they shall have clean air, cool summers and free beach parking. What they don’t have is growing room. But as these two seaside plots show, a lot can be done with very little.

In Manhattan Beach, the garden of Scott and Meredith Manhard features heaps of flowers, a trickling fountain, a vegetable patch and a shady seat--all within a 21-by-21-foot space. To soften the edges of the square, Redondo Beach garden designer Cathy Clous planted ‘Silver Dragon’ liriope, Geranium sanguineum , lamb’s ears and catmint ( Nepeta faassenii ) and let them spill into a central pool of Del Rio pebbles. She covered a garage wall with trellissed abutilon and used Pittosporum crassifolium and strawberry tree ( Arbutus unedo ) to block views of nearby homes.

In Venice, Lee Hendrix faces a different scene from the rear windows of her bungalow: a lusty herbaceous border created by Woodland Hills landscape designer Sandy Kennedy. Screened with lattice and sheltered with a pergola, the landscape is a study in greens well-suited to the coast: Buddleia, artemisia, alstroemeria and ornamental grasses share space with sages and lavenders, as well as the mildew-resistant roses ‘Climbing First Prize’ and ‘Climbing Queen Elizabeth.’ A cottage-style front garden includes color-happy cosmos, coreopsis and mandevilla.

Despite the heavily alkaline coastal soil, both gardens grow well, the first because it’s fed with compost, the second because Kennedy replaced a third of its soil before planting. “The high humidity and temperate beach climate,” Kennedy says, “is wonderful for many plants.” A lucky thing for gardeners on the edge of the Pacific.