wind and snow protection with windbreaks

Trees and bushes can be planted and located to provide a conduit for breezes and desired winds. That strategy is particularly important in hot arid climates and hot humid climates.

Windbreaks

Other different approach is to block and deflect cold and undesired winds, or to block snow, sheltering our homes. That's the role of windbreaks. With a proper design, rows of shrubs or trees can direct the winds to the side of the house or over it, helping reduce heating costs.

Windbreaks are important in many climate zones. See: Landscaping and Climate

Evergreens

Typically, windbreaks are made from evergreens: evergreen trees and shrubs, often with low crowns.

Windbreak Location

Windbreaks are placed at the windward sides of the home. For maximum efficiency windbreaks are located at a reasonable distance from the home: typically, two to five times the height of the adult trees or shrubs.

Principles involving windbreaks

- Most windbreaks use on or two rows of trees or shrubs, though effectiveness increases with each added row.

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

- Even the healthiest windbreak don't last forever. So, take care of it, and make plans to replace it, or parts of it, in advance. 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 it, plant trees or shrubs 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 meter apart, but remove every second tree when their crowns begin to intersect).

Barriers, Fences, raised soils

Fences, walls and raised soils can also be used as windbreaks, and can be associated with trees and shrubs.