- BrianSkilton
- Green Thumb
- Posts: 547
- Joined: Sat Feb 14, 2009 10:59 pm
- Location: South Dakota
Garden Fence (that acts like a windbreak)
Hey guys, last year I know I posted something regarding a "wind break". Some of you told me to buy a snow fence, or something similar. It seemed to help, however it doesn't look very nice. I was wondering if anyone here as either built there own wind-break or had one installed that looked like a nice fence but broke up the wind as well. As you know by my past postings...the wind here is unbearable at times. We probably average 20mph some months. Then we get these streaks of having wind hit 40mph and up. Its just enough to cringe.
Where I grew up, hedgerows and Lombardy poplars were commonly used as windbreaks. Lombardies, btw, grow very fast, but like most fast-growing trees they tend to be weak and short-lived.
The last thing I would use for a windbreak would be blackberries, but I don't live in SD. Maybe blackberries don't grow quite so rampantly there as they do in Oregon. I've seen blackberries allowed to grow along a fence, to help confine livestock, but I've also seen blackberry thickets so overgrown that they filled the entire pasture. I think you could find some kind of shrubs and trees that would work well for your purpose. but be much tamer than blackberries. JMO.
And yeah, snow fencing is purely utilitarian and totally ugly!
The last thing I would use for a windbreak would be blackberries, but I don't live in SD. Maybe blackberries don't grow quite so rampantly there as they do in Oregon. I've seen blackberries allowed to grow along a fence, to help confine livestock, but I've also seen blackberry thickets so overgrown that they filled the entire pasture. I think you could find some kind of shrubs and trees that would work well for your purpose. but be much tamer than blackberries. JMO.
And yeah, snow fencing is purely utilitarian and totally ugly!
- Spicy Chicken
- Senior Member
- Posts: 118
- Joined: Mon Apr 11, 2011 4:56 pm
- Location: Wisconsin
I am in zone 4 same as you and found that bamboo works very well.
The key is to try and keep the roots from freezing, mulch works good,
I only purchased only a few and now have thousands, makes a wonderful wind break.
[url]https://www.lewisbamboo.com/cold-hardy-bamboo.html[/url]
here is some good info on planting and care.
[url]https://www.bamboo.org/GeneralInfoPages/SchneiderIntro.html[/url]
The key is to try and keep the roots from freezing, mulch works good,
I only purchased only a few and now have thousands, makes a wonderful wind break.
[url]https://www.lewisbamboo.com/cold-hardy-bamboo.html[/url]
here is some good info on planting and care.
[url]https://www.bamboo.org/GeneralInfoPages/SchneiderIntro.html[/url]
- BrianSkilton
- Green Thumb
- Posts: 547
- Joined: Sat Feb 14, 2009 10:59 pm
- Location: South Dakota
Wow, Bamboo huh. That sounds intriguing, however can Bamboo withstand like -20 or even -30 degrees? We also often get a few feet of snow, well the last 4 years we have. Some years we don't get much.
Some of you have some great ideas. In South Dakota we can grow raspberries, blue-berries etc. Any fruit bush that gets huge? I'll have to check out the bamboo idea also.
Some of you have some great ideas. In South Dakota we can grow raspberries, blue-berries etc. Any fruit bush that gets huge? I'll have to check out the bamboo idea also.
- BrianSkilton
- Green Thumb
- Posts: 547
- Joined: Sat Feb 14, 2009 10:59 pm
- Location: South Dakota
Spicy, do you know how many bamboo shoots you get in the 3 gallon size? It looks like the Nuda can survive our harsh winters.Spicy Chicken wrote:I am in zone 4 same as you and found that bamboo works very well.
The key is to try and keep the roots from freezing, mulch works good,
I only purchased only a few and now have thousands, makes a wonderful wind break.
[url]https://www.lewisbamboo.com/cold-hardy-bamboo.html[/url]
here is some good info on planting and care.
[url]https://www.bamboo.org/GeneralInfoPages/SchneiderIntro.html[/url]
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- Full Member
- Posts: 14
- Joined: Mon Aug 30, 2010 3:17 pm
- Location: southwest WI
- Spicy Chicken
- Senior Member
- Posts: 118
- Joined: Mon Apr 11, 2011 4:56 pm
- Location: Wisconsin
Nick, or Brian is it?BrianSkilton wrote:Spicy, do you know how many bamboo shoots you get in the 3 gallon size? It looks like the Nuda can survive our harsh winters.Spicy Chicken wrote:I am in zone 4 same as you and found that bamboo works very well.
The key is to try and keep the roots from freezing, mulch works good,
I only purchased only a few and now have thousands, makes a wonderful wind break.
[url]https://www.lewisbamboo.com/cold-hardy-bamboo.html[/url]
here is some good info on planting and care.
[url]https://www.bamboo.org/GeneralInfoPages/SchneiderIntro.html[/url]
I picked up the bamboo at a local nursery, kind of a fluke that I ran across it, I bought two clumps about 8 to 12 stalks maybe and that was about 9 years ago, they multiply like rabbits. Mine only get about 10 feet tall and are quite thick. First year I was a little disappointed but the second year they took right off, the third year I dug some up and spread them across the area I wanted to cover, by the fifth year they got thick. Not sure how much time you spent at the links I posted but there is some awful good info there!
Anything that you put up for a windscreen/privacy fence may tend to be a little costly at first and if they are plants, will take a number of years to fill in anyway unless you buy a junk load.
Of course there a lot of options mentioned and not mentioned in the post, I like the thought of natural over a fence or even berry bushes even though they are natural, their picky and ugly in the fall and winter and spring.
If this is something that you will seriously consider, flip through every one of the pages on those sites and any other site you can find, do your home work as I'm sure you will and see if this is the right fit for you.
I will say in conclusion that I am extremely happy with my bamboo and now have sold tenfold what I paid, the more you buy the quicker the wind break will grow but I always like to test the waters before jumping in, so to speak. Well worth it in the long run
I do not know exactly what type of plant that I have anymore, so as far as how long and how much, you will have to decipher from your research.
Good luck on whatever you decide, Cheers. Jeff
If you have the room for them, you can try the - Blue Pfitzer Juniper. Dad had a variety that got to be 12 feet tall and 12 feet diameter.
We were on the crest of a high hilltop and it was very windy at times. West side of the garden tended to get beat up, no snow fence ever really helped. We put up tin sheets, but that was ugly.
He planted the junipers 8 feet apart(they got bigger than he expected).
It was the best wind break ever. It solved the problem. we never pruned them.
Good luck
We were on the crest of a high hilltop and it was very windy at times. West side of the garden tended to get beat up, no snow fence ever really helped. We put up tin sheets, but that was ugly.
He planted the junipers 8 feet apart(they got bigger than he expected).
It was the best wind break ever. It solved the problem. we never pruned them.
Good luck