Strong winds damaging your garden? Plant a living windbreak
If strong winds are damaging your garden — for example, breaking branches, pulling moisture from foliage and drying out the soil — consider planting a living windbreak.
A living windbreak is a group of plants positioned to filter the wind. The group can be as small as a few shrubs or as large as a group of trees, shrubs and small plants. Benefits can include improving soil quality, conserving water and creating a sheltered microclimate beneficial to wildlife.
If you want to plant a living windbreak, here are some important things to keep in mind.
Positioning your plants
A windbreak is best positioned at right angles to the prevailing wind direction — in our area, this is usually north to northwest. Since it gets coolest in winter on the north and northwest side of your home, planting in this area could even save you some money on heating.
The goal of a windbreak is not to block out all the wind by planting in a dense, linear way. This, in fact, may lead to a fire hazard when the plants are fully grown. Instead, stagger the plants. And, if possible, plant several rows. This will temper the wind by allowing some air to pass through, thus reducing the intensity of the wind along the sides of the grouping.
Spacing plants
It’s recommended that windbreaks be planted 30 feet or more from your house or any structure. Calculate the size — how tall and how wide — that plants will be at maturity and give them plenty of growing space. Be aware of other safety rules, such as not planting a small bush directly under a tree, which might lead to a fire ladder.
Choose wind-resistant plants
Plants that are multi-stemmed with small leaves that can bend in the wind offer the most wind resistance. Many of our native plants are in this category and many are also drought-tolerant.
There are several native evergreen shrubs, for example, that make excellent windbreaks. The Pacific wax myrtle (Myrica californica) is one of my favorites. I have found the bush extremely easy to grow, although I did lose a couple to gophers. Now, I plant them inside gopher baskets. This native may need more water to get established. It grows to 5 to 30-plus feet tall and is deer-tolerant.
Another native shrub is coffeeberry (Frangula californica). It grows to 5 to 15 feet tall with a 10-foot spread, or you can buy a dwarf size. It attracts a variety of birds with its dark red berries in the winter and is deer-tolerant.
If you have room for taller tree-like shrubs, toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia) is a beautiful evergreen with red berries in winter. The western redbud (Cercis occidentalis) is another with vivid pink blooms and memorable heart-shaped leaves that are deciduous in winter. Both are deer-resistant once established.
Try to include a variety of plants in your windbreak. Many beneficial insects need nectar year-round, and you can help them with plants that bloom at various times of the year: California lilac (Ceanothus) flowers in spring, sage (Salvia) in summer, California fuchsia (Epilobium canum) in fall and manzanita (Arctostaphylos) in winter. These plants come in a variety of sizes depending on the cultivar.
Winds can be fierce in winter and spring. A living windbreak can tame the wind while also benefiting the soil and our wildlife. Just remember to choose wind-resistant plants, position them at the right angle to the wind and space them wisely for fire safety.
For more information, go to marinmg.ucanr.edu.
Sponsored by UC Cooperative Extension, the University of California Marin Master Gardeners provides science- and research-based information for Marin home gardeners. Email questions to helpdesk@marinmg.org. Attach photos for inquiries about plant pests or diseases. Please call 415-473-4910 to see when a master gardener will be at the office or drop off samples 24/7 in the sample box outside the office. To attend a gardening workshop or subscribe to Leaflet, a free quarterly e-newsletter, go to marinmg.ucanr.edu.