Gardens with Strong Winds

Gentle breezes are always welcome in the garden, but persistent, strong winds are another thing altogether. There's no doubt that strong winds stress plants, often snapping branches, tattering leaves, and sometimes stunting their growth. Beyond that, strong wind can keep small wildlife like birds and beneficial insects from visiting your garden, and the wind also has an exhausting effect on gardeners. If you crave relief from the wind, your key to a care-free garden is having a well-planned windbreak.

A windbreak is usually an arrangement of plants that breaks the force of the wind. Wind can come in different guises. Frigid blasts from the North accompanied by wind-driven snow can desiccate plant leaves, ruin the appearance of plants, and sometimes even kill plants. But windbreaks composed of several layers, or rows, of plants, which are called shelter belts, can reduce wind so effectively that homes protected by them may require up to one-third less supplemental heat in winter. In a good shelter belt, plants are planted in rows according to their heights, with short plants facing the full brunt of the wind, backed up by a row of intermediate-sized plants, which are in turn backed by tall evergreen trees, which are the closest to the house or garden. When strong winds encounter such a shelter belt, they are lifted up and over the windbreak, so that the house and landscape rest in a protected pocket. And, although shelter belts were designed to deflect freezing winter wind, they can also be sited where they will deflect salty ocean breezes or blasts from seasonal windstorms.

A proper shelterbelt requires a substantial amount of ground space. But even a scaled-down version that allows some wind to filter through can improve growing conditions in a windswept yard, and it will benefit the house as well. For example, a row of ornamental grasses planted in front of a row of mixed shrubs, backed by an intermittent planting of tall evergreen and deciduous trees is diverse and natural looking, and it can reduce the force of wind by more than half. Windbreaks that include dense evergreens will also become secure shelters for birds in cold weather.

Cool Windbreaks for Hot Places

Hot summer winds leave gardens parched, and they can toast plant leaves to a crisp, but planting a dense windbreak that stops wind altogether can trap heat and turn the landscape into an oven. In warm climates, design a windbreak that includes deciduous trees or shrubs to provide summer shade and to break the force of the wind as it passes through their limbs. Leaving gaps between the shrubs will allow wind to pass through the branches at a reasonable speed, which will deter fungal diseases that thrive on stagnant air. And, the dappled shade cast by the shrubbery can protect nearby garden plants that need shelter from the summer sun.

Go Anywhere Grasses

Ornamental grasses can help turn any windblown site into a handsome care-free garden.These hardy, drought-tolerant, and adaptable plants form tight clumps that not only resist wind but also actually transform it into a visual delight as the wind coaxes from them graceful motion and whispering sound. Popular species of ornamental grass, such as maiden grasses and fountain grasses, are easy to grow, and happily, spring-flowering bulbs and wind-resistant annuals and perennials like begonias, sedums, and hens and chicks will thrive at their feet.

Lessons of the Wind

Become attuned to the rhythms of the wind. Wind is often much quieter during the night than it is during the daylight hours, which has important implications for you and for your plants. It's usually more comfortable to work in your garden in the still hours of the early morning or evening. And, if you like to cut flowers for indoor arrangements, the freshest blossoms are available first thing in the morning, after they have had a full night of recovery from the previous day's drying effects.

Take a cue from the flexible stems and thin-bladed leaves of grasses when judging which types of plants will be less than care-free in windy sites, namely those with stiff stems and broad, flat leaves such as tithonia and carina. Plants with large leaves should also be avoided in a windy garden, because they work like wind-catching sails, often pulling at the plants until they end up tattered and prostrate on the ground. If you really want to grow them, plant these vulnerable plants in a protected place next to a wall, fence, or other windbreak.

You may also find that staking tall plants is more trouble than it is worth. Instead of bracing stiff-stemmed spire plants, such as gladiolus and hollyhocks, choose plants with a low, spreading growth habit, for example, creeping veronicas often work better than upright forms. Also look for flexible plants with small leaves like ground-hugging portulaca, which maintains its handsome good looks even when hot winds blow.