Windy areas can pose problems that keep you from having an enjoyable yard or commercial landscape. Even slight breezes are inconvenient in picnic areas.
If you’re plagued by whipping winds, you can create effective windbreaks that protect specific outdoor living spaces to make them far more comfortable. There are three ways to create a windbreak or screen.
Fences and walls are highly effective at deflecting wind away from small, often-used outdoor living spaces. They can be costly, though, particularly if you opt for transparent materials that allow light to pass through. Not surprisingly, they also need to be well reinforced.
Short, dense shrub hedges around living spaces, allowing users to sit in the protected area while gazing over the top of the barrier at the view. Though it lacks a view, 10-foot tall shrubs are the answer for greater wind reduction.
Shrub hedges take time to mature and reach their full effectiveness. If you choose hedges that naturally reach the desired height, you can allow them to grow into their natural shape. With other choices, size and shape may be controlled by regular pruning or shearing.
Landscape designers are moving toward a more diverse combination of different shrubs for protective diversity. Not only does this add interest; it also protects the hedge should certain varieties by struck by a pest or disease.
‘Windrows’ – a single row of identical trees planted close together – have long been used by farmers to protect fields, orchards and home sites. It can work just as well for your landscape. As trees mature, in some cases to 30 feet depending on variety, they can significantly change the micro climate. There is no other way to create a similarly sized wind barrier.
Windrow trees tend to be tall and narrow with dense foliage for maximum wind blockage. Many evergreens make good windrows.
The downside to using trees for wind control is that they take time to mature. The early years may have little to no reduction in wind. Planting larger, older trees is not viable because they will not have time to develop a sufficient root system to anchor them against gale force winds.
Fortunately, your office building or home needn’t be whipped by gusts of wind, or many other common landscape challenges for that matter. Frontier Landscaping’s services include remedies for just about any landscape challenge you’re facing.