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Brachyglottis 'Sunshine' on the Dover coast.

Walk the headland path south of St Margaret's Bay and you will pass dense mounds of silver-grey foliage that hold their shape in gales that strip the leaves from less adapted plants. Most of that growth is Brachyglottis (Dunedin Group) 'Sunshine', still catalogued by many nurseries under the older name Senecio 'Sunshine', and it is probably the most reliably salt-wind-tolerant informal hedge shrub you can grow on the Dover chalk coast. What it asks of you, and what changes by exposure level, is worth knowing before you plant.

Why the felted leaf is the adaptation that matters

Brachyglottis 'Sunshine' is native to the coastal and subalpine scrub of New Zealand's South Island, which explains why it handles the conditions above St Margaret's Bay as readily as it does. The white-to-silver felting on the leaf surface is not purely ornamental: it reduces the rate of moisture loss through the leaf, which matters in coastal positions where dry wind is a constant stressor even when rainfall is adequate. It also forms a barrier that slows the absorption of salt deposited by spray, reducing the foliage scorch that affects less adapted species after hard onshore gales. The underside of the mature leaf, also felted, adds to this effect. After an autumn gale that leaves salt deposits visible on glass and car paintwork across St Margaret's at Cliffe, the visible damage on Brachyglottis 'Sunshine' is typically minimal compared with what happens to adjacent smooth-leaved evergreens.

This adaptation puts it in a different category from other popular informal hedging plants for coastal gardens. Escallonia, griselinia and olearia are all genuinely salt-tolerant, but their tolerance comes mostly from physiological toughness and fast recovery rather than a structural leaf adaptation of this type. The RHS notes that Brachyglottis 'Sunshine' is particularly suitable for coastal gardens as it stands up well to strong winds and salt-laden air. For a full comparison of which species suit each exposure level on this stretch of coast, including which ones belong in the primary windbreak row and which are better as secondary planting, see our salt-wind resilient species guide.

What to expect at each exposure level

The character of the plant changes substantially between a clifftop position and a sheltered town garden. On the most exposed ground between South Foreland and the northern end of St Margaret's Bay, Brachyglottis 'Sunshine' behaves like the classic wind-pruned coastal scrub it is: compact, spreading, the branch structure oriented away from the prevailing south-westerly, rarely exceeding 80 to 90 centimetres of height unless it finds shelter behind a wall or bank. At this level it is best treated as an informal low hedge or border shrub rather than something you will clip to a formal line, because the wind will shape it more effectively than any hedge trimmer. The silver mounds that colonise the more sheltered sections of the chalk downland slopes above the Bay are largely this species, and they demonstrate what it looks like when given the conditions it is adapted to.

In the village itself at St Margaret's at Cliffe, and on the lanes between the village and Kingsdown and Ringwould, the same plant behaves differently. In a sheltered south-facing front garden it can reach 1.5 metres in height with a spread of similar size, the foliage is a little greener on the top surface and the summer flowers are more prolific. This is where you can achieve something closer to a managed semi-formal hedge, cutting once after flowering in late summer and again lightly in spring before growth begins. The resulting shape is softer than a formally clipped yew or escallonia but it gives a consistent boundary screen at a reasonable height with minimal maintenance.

In Dover town gardens, particularly in the CT16 and CT17 area where gardens are more sheltered from Channel exposure, Brachyglottis can grow quickly and become open and leggy without regular attention. The yellow daisy flowers in June and July are attractive and the silver foliage provides year-round interest, but in a fully sheltered position the plant's natural growth habit tends upright and open rather than the tight mound it forms on the clifftop. Plan for two cuts a year to maintain a compact shape in sheltered positions.

The yellow flowers and what they mean for pruning

Brachyglottis 'Sunshine' flowers in June and July, producing dense clusters of bright yellow daisy-like flowers along the branch tips. If you are growing it mainly as a hedge shrub, the flowers are a bonus rather than the primary goal: the plant's main value is the year-round silver foliage. But the flowers matter for pruning timing.

The standard recommendation, and the approach the RHS endorses, is to prune once a year after flowering, once the blooms have faded in late July or through August. This keeps the plant compact and prevents the legginess that develops if it is left uncut for more than one season. The cut itself should be light: remove the flowered stems and tidy the overall shape, but do not cut back hard into old wood unless you are attempting a rejuvenation, because Brachyglottis can be slow to recover from severe cuts into the grey, woody base growth. This is an important distinction from escallonia or privet, which will break from old wood readily if cut hard.

The timing of the post-flowering prune, in late July or August, overlaps with the tail end of the nesting season. Under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, section 1, it is a criminal offence to damage or destroy an active wild bird's nest. The practical nesting period runs from 1 March to 31 August. Brachyglottis is used by nesting birds: its dense, low structure provides cover for dunnocks, sparrows and wrens in particular. Before cutting in late July or early August, check the hedge carefully for active nests. If you find one with eggs or young, leave that section uncut and return after the young have fledged, usually within two to three weeks. The practical alternative is to delay the annual cut until September, once the legal window has fully cleared, which is also when the summer flower stalks have dried off and are easiest to remove cleanly. For a full guide to how the nesting season law interacts with the coastal cutting calendar at each exposure level, see our hedge cutting timing guide.

Planting and establishment on chalk

Brachyglottis 'Sunshine' establishes readily on the chalk-based, free-draining soils that run from Walmer through Kingsdown and St Margaret's at Cliffe to South Foreland. It requires well-drained soil and tolerates alkaline conditions, which the chalk-on-flint geology of this coast provides naturally. The RHS notes the plant handles dry conditions once settled, which is a genuine advantage on chalk that drains fast in dry springs and summers. It does not tolerate waterlogging: avoid planting in any low-lying area that holds water after winter rain, which is unusual on the chalk clifftop but can occur in town gardens with clay-modified subsoil.

Plant in spring or early autumn. Pot-grown stock is available year-round so there is no strict seasonal window in the way that bare-root hedging imposes. Space plants 60 to 80 centimetres apart for a continuous informal hedge line; 50 centimetres is not too close if you want a faster initial join-up, as the plants will knit together within two to three growing seasons at that spacing. At clifftop level, plant the row on the landward side of any existing primary windbreak rather than into the full exposed position from scratch. Even a temporary low windbreak fence on the seaward side will improve establishment rate significantly in the first winter before the roots have settled. The chalk-soil preparation and aftercare in our chalk-soil hedge establishment guide applies to Brachyglottis as it does to any new hedging on this stretch of coast.

Brachyglottis is drought-tolerant once established. This is a genuine advantage on chalk soils that dry out quickly: once the root system is settled, usually by the second or third growing season, the plant requires little supplementary watering. In the establishment year, water regularly through any dry spell in the first spring and summer.

Varieties: 'Sunshine Improved' and 'Walberton's Silver Dormouse'

The standard Brachyglottis (Dunedin Group) 'Sunshine' is the most widely available variety and the one with the longest track record in British coastal gardens, holding an RHS Award of Garden Merit. Two variants are worth knowing about.

'Sunshine Improved' is a selection offering slightly more compact growth and heavier flowers according to some nurseries. In practice the differences from the standard form are subtle, and the basic 'Sunshine' performs well on the Dover coast without needing to seek out the improved form.

'Walberton's Silver Dormouse' (sold under the trade name 'Walbrach') is a significantly more compact cultivar, reaching around 60 to 80 centimetres in height with a spread of similar size. Its foliage is whiter and more intensely silver than the standard 'Sunshine', making it more striking as a contrast plant in a border or as a low edging hedge under about 70 centimetres. The RHS notes it as particularly good for coastal gardens. For the exposed clifftop positions at St Margaret's Bay and South Foreland, the standard 'Sunshine' is the more proven choice: it has naturalised in British coastal gardens for well over a century, while the compact cultivars have a shorter track record in the most demanding conditions.

Combining Brachyglottis with other coastal species

At clifftop and Bay level, Brachyglottis works well as a low foreground planting in front of a taller windbreak hedge of escallonia or griselinia. The silver foliage contrasts sharply with the dark glossy green of Griselinia littoralis and provides visual interest at ground level where the taller windbreak hedge is bare below. This layered approach, tall windbreak behind, low salt-wind-tolerant foreground planting in front, is the classic coastal garden structure for the most exposed positions on this stretch of coastline. For the full logic of how to plan a layered windbreak, see our windbreak hedge design guide.

In village and sheltered positions, Brachyglottis combines well with other grey-leaved plants that flourish on chalk: Stachys byzantina (lamb's ears), Artemisia and Santolina all share a similar silver palette and tolerate the same free-draining conditions. As a hedge shrub in a mixed boundary it provides consistent silver-grey year-round colour while accompanying seasonal plants provide variation.

Sources: RHS, Brachyglottis (Dunedin Group) 'Sunshine' plant profile (rhs.org.uk); RHS Plants shop, Brachyglottis (Dunedin Group) 'Sunshine' (rhsplants.co.uk); Gardeners' World, Brachyglottis compacta 'Sunshine' plant profile (gardenersworld.com); Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, section 1 (nesting season offence, 1 March to 31 August). Place names verified: St Margaret's at Cliffe (CT15), St Margaret's Bay (CT15), South Foreland (CT15), Kingsdown (CT14), Ringwould (CT14), Walmer (CT14), Dover (CT16/CT17).