Blowing Hot and Cold: Wind Gardening

Can you believe the wind lately? A friend with an incredible garden in Albuquerque called the other day...

  • Topic: Garden Design
  • Author: Cindy Bellinger
  • Keywords: wind, design, sun, shade
  • Date: May 2006

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Can you believe the wind lately? A friend with an incredible garden in Albuquerque called the other day. “I walked outside and every leaf, every stem was covered with brown dust,” he said. “There wasn’t any green at all.”

That same day in Santa Fe one particularly high gust of wind and dust completely blotted out an entire subdivision south of town. Immediately I wondered what it was doing to gardens.

You can’t stop wind but it’s possible to redirect or slow it down. Trees, hedges and screens come to mind first. Any kind of barrier will work. One time after planting some young plants, I set up a large paving stone to block the wind. It seemed to work. After the roots took hold, they were ready to withstand the gusts.

But more permanent barriers can be planned into gardens once you determine how wind works in your yard. It loves whipping around corners so try slowing it down. If you want instant results (which means not wanting to wait for a hedge to grow), a screen of open lattice will work. Another friend wove a wicker fence of saplings. “I got the idea from some lovely gardens in England,” she told me.

Other tricks that work—

  • Trellises help divert the wind. A gust comes through and it’ll have to break up when it meets a trellis full of vines.
  • An artist friend rigged up some wind sails that worked. He took three colorful sheets of thick plastic and tied them first to an overhanging branch then secured them to stakes in the ground. They billow in the wind and create a rather calm place behind them.
  • Shade cloth makes a good wind protector. Again, the wind has to filter through the tiny holes.
  • Stone walls and raised planting beds placed strategically will block wind.
  • Sunken gardens, as in sunken patios, are also a wind deterrent.

Still, nothing that will stop wind that’s strong enough to take off roofs. A huge branch came off a ponderosa in my backyard awhile back. I didn’t understand how it blocked the wind. Now it seems there’s a funnel straight through my place.

If you have more wind barrier ideas, do let me know.