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Wind breakers....

Tinnie

Tinnie

Our house has always been subject to a lot of wind.... being towards the top of a hill it whips around the house and through the backyard.... in the past year a lot of trees and vegetation has been removed from the properties surrounding ours and the effects are very evident.
 
My plants are somewhat protected atm as ive planted them deep in large pots. does anyone have any tips on reducing wind damage.... im happy to build a physical barrier... if someone has some cost effective tips id be very appreciative... cheers 
 
What about some star pickets and shade cloth? Could fix it to the posts with zip ties or wire.

About the cheapest option I can think of.
 
alot of people in the states plant big tall cypress trees for this very reason. they also plant them for privacy and noise dampening, tho i doubt they do much of the latter.

perhaps something similar, but more suited to your climate would work.

local nurseries sell like 5ft cypress trees for like 30 bucks a wack... supposedly grow like 5 feet a year, but yea, would take some time i imaging before they do anything.
 
to be honest i wasnt sure if shade cloth would offer any substancial resistance...... when the wind picks up it has quite some force behind it.... i was considering two cladded timber frame walls to section off the back corner of our yard (which could taken down at a later date.... but also a little worried about the obtrusive nature of space and sunlight in regards to that option....
 
I would love to have barrier shrubs but our yard is paved.... our neighbour use to have a heavily vegetated garden which helped alot.... its more or less been all removed by the new owners....

We have a raised patio sort of area.... i remember my late great pooch asleep in her kennel as a storm was heading towards us last year.... the wind fair dinkum blew the kennel off the patio with her in it!! poor girl was not impressed LOL
 
Lmao poor doggy.

Shade cloth will stop most of the wind, however being that strong the anchor points would suffer.

Might look like a gins camp too, not that it would worry me. I like gin.:)
 
Last season I put up some pieces of ply to act as a wind break as I am subject to high winds also, just ask my wife. Lol. The ply was quite close to the plants and as well as blocking the wind it also blocked the sun. I noticed that the side of the plant facing the ply had much less growth and leaves.

So bear in mind if you put up anything too close that doesn't let light through it'll also slow the growth on that side of the plant.


Cheers.......
 
Something to keep in mind about physical barriers that totally block the wind is what happens with the wind as it encounters the barrier. It divides - goes around - then effectively recollects on the other side of the barrier. This often makes the effect a tad stronger than if there was no barrier- it effectively collides on itself as it recollects. This is why trees are good barriers - they reduce the wind (other than at the trunk itself) while still letting enough go through that you don't have this collision effect on the other side. If you can't or don't want to grow a similar barrier, you can still make one. Envision two posts with chicken wire or chain link fencing stretched between them, then tie on a lot of "leaves" of some sort all around it (could be ribbons of rip-stop nylon or something sturdy.) The wind should catch in the "leaves" just enough to slow it down a tad.
 
If you gonna use something cheap and easily removable, stakes and shade cloth or even plywood is a good idea but rather than trying to block the wind, you want to deflect or redirect it. Consider leaning the barrier a bit to create a type of ramping effect. You would be deflecting the wind upward and in turn creating an eddy effect right on the other side of the barrier where your plants are. They will still get some wind but only a fraction of the total force. Of course only works if the wind direction is constant. Planting shrubs can be done this way too. One row of short shrubs along the outside perimeter and a second row of taller ones right behind those. 
 
Thank you for all the input guys.... it has been incredibly helpful...
 
yes, except for extreme weather the wind direction is fairly constant.... with odd and ends from the garage and a trip to the hardware store, in the next few weeks i'll build a "ramp" frame (maybe 50-60ish degrees) and maybe clad it with lattice, then shade cloth and anchor it with some sand bags or whatever is laying around, i'll keep it a metre or two away from the pots.
 
You guys are legends.... cheers again
 
Windmills.  Hundreds and hundreds of tiny windmills.  And then buy a donkey named Odie and let him frolic freely among them.
 
Aside from that, trees are going to be your best bet.  Any manmade barrier is going to be 100x the effort for 10% of the result.
 
tumblr_lis4c1lXFS1qg9fyro1_500.jpg


 
 
Hey, a link!
 
queequeg152 said:
cost.

plus they become 50mph flying baby murderers during storms.
Click to expand...
 
I guess its not the cheapest thing you could use but its not that expensive - $28nzd for a 1800 x 660mm sheet at the first place I checked. Bigger bits get cheaper the more you get.
 
Pretty much anything can become a dangerous flying object if its not secure...I think its the best option if you do it properly. It will block the wind and not the light.
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All you would really need is 3 posts in the ground in front of your plants..nail/screw the sheet to the posts. One at both ends of the sheet- and one in the middle for support. Brace it more if needed...pretty damn easy really
 
yea done right corrugated roofing materials are awsome, but so many folks make sheds etc, poorly, and during hurricanes they become airborn.

strippers too are hugely responsible for a big chunk of win driven debris, as stipclub signs, are very prone to peeling away, yielding huge pieces of sheet metal that smash shit up down wind.

they have very strict fastener schedules, at least for galvanized materials. screwed every 6" or so, 24" on centers. despite its transparency. id bet it still blocks alot of light.

i think you would be better off with some sort of shade cloth structure, as far as cost is concerned.
 
Kinda seems like he's not wanting to spend a lot of money and needs to be able to take it down at some time without taking away too much of his time spent in his new beer tent.
Gotta keep priorities straight :party:
 
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