Home Tree and Shrub Windbreaks: Wind and Snow Protection to your House

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Windbreaks & Wind and Snow Protection

In cold and temperate climates, rows of trees and shrubs may shield our homes and help reduce heating costs. Trees and bushes should be planted and located to provide a conduit for breezes and winds. Correctly designed, they will direct the winds to the side of the house or over it, lowering the wind chill driven to your home.

Evergreens

To obtain a good windbreak, use evergreen trees – and eventually walls, fences or raised areas of soil. Evergreen trees, bushes, and shrubs with low crowns are good means to block the wind close to the ground.

Windbreaks Location

To provide a windbreak, you should use evergreen trees – and eventually walls, fences or raised areas of soil.

Most windbreaks – formed by dense evergreen shrubs and trees – are placed at the north and northwest of the home (in northern hemisphere; in the southern hemesphire they should be located in the opposite sides of the house). They include evergreen trees, bushes, and shrubs with low crowns, capable of blocking the wind close to the ground.

For maximum efficiency the windbreak should be located at a distance from your home of two to five times the height of the adult trees. Naturally you shouldn’t plant evergreens too close to your home's sunny side if you are counting with the winter sun (the south side, in North America or Europe; the North side in the Southern hemisphere).

Snow and windbreaks

If snow is a problem in your regional climate, you may plan low shrubs on the windward side. They will block snow before it gets next to the house.

Principles involving windbreaks

- One or two rows of trees or shrubs are usually enough as windbreaks (though the effectiveness of the windbreak increases with each added row).

- Don't prune the lower branches of windbreak trees or shrubs; that pruning will actually increase wind speed near the ground, instead of reducing it.

- Even the healthiest windbreak will not last forever. So, take care of it, and make in advance plans to replace it, or parts of it. Gaps left by dead trees should be fixed as soon as possible.

- To ensure that the trees and shrubs develop and remain healthy, allow them to grow with little competition from their companions in the row. To achieve this goal, when dealing with trees, plant them close together, but remove some of them as they mature: thinning is an essential part of the maintenance of the windbreak (an example: begin by planting trees one metre apart, but remove every second tree when crowns begin to intersect).

Barriers, Fences

Fences, walls and raised soils can also be used as windbreaks, and can be planned and built in many different ways, using many different types of materials.

The location of fences and walls and their characteristics depend upon what you intend, the involving space, the aesthetical implications, etc, and shouldn’t be considered only as potential windbreaks.

Also consider the following:

- The height of the fences and walls: do not exaggerate that height.
- Combine fences and walls with your garden landscape.
- Do not forget or minimize the aesthetical impact.
- Pay attention to the several possible negative side effects: the blocking of views, less light, potential moisture, legal restrictions...