Gardens with Regular Winds

Enjoying breathtaking views and a sense of seclusion are just a few of the highlights of living and gardening on a hillside. But the same breezes that cool you on hot days can torment plants when the wind gains strength and whips everything, shredding leaves, limbs, and toppling pots. City gardeners with rooftop or terrace gardens face a similar challenge, as do seaside and lakeside gardeners, and even those with gardens that overlook an empty field. If the wind where you live sometimes nearly blows you off your feet, imagine what it can do to your plants.

The care-free way to cope with a windy site is to grow plants that can stand up to or bend with the wind. When selecting wind-worthy plants, look for those with small leaves on flexible stems like forsythia, roses, and catmint, which all bend in the wind. Ornamental grasses, designed by nature to endure the full force of a prairie storm, are also mainstays in windswept sites. Avoid plants with broad, easily tattered leaves or brittle, breakable branches. When it comes to wind resistance, stature is also important. Ground-hugging plants like dianthus, sedum, petunia, and groundcovers like epimedium and sweet woodruff form a carpet that allows the wind to roll right over them without damage. When battling garden winds, you can also make your garden more care-free by filtering the wind with windbreaks of trees and shrubs. You can also diffuse its force with strategically placed picket fences or lattice panels, which break the force of the wind while allowing air circulation, a deterrent to fungal diseases.

The following articles reveal special techniques for gardening in wind, including tips for thwarting its attendant problems, such as wind laden with salt spray whether from the ocean or winter road salt. Keep your eyes open for natural sources of inspiration, then fill in the blanks with our palette of carefree, wind-tolerant plants.