Why establish windbreaks?
Because they:
– allow gardens to grow without being beaten to death,
– slow erosion,
– increase pasture and production,
– reduce stock losses,
– protect plants,
– habitat for wildlife and insects,
– manage snow,
– can provide fodder, food crops, timber or fuel,
– improve work conditions.
Windbreak components
Height, Density, Orientation, Continuity, Length
Height: Determines protected distance downwind. Wind reduction area will equal ten times the height of the tallest trees used.
Density: Use as many species as possible in your windbreak. Plant them fairly close together, in multiple rows, to form 60-80% of a solid block.
Orientation: Make it perpendicular to the direction of the wind. L U E shapes work well.
Continuity: No large gaps. If you need to put a driveway through, make sure it crosses the wind direction.
Length: Should exceed the height by 10:1.
Good plants for NZ shelterbelts (especially in coastal conditions).
Feijoa, taupata, nz flax, tarata or other pittosporums, karaka, karo, cabbage tree, pohutukawa, ngaio, toetoe.
As always, choose plants that grow well locally.
Some taller native trees that can withstand strong winds
Totara, kahikatea, pukatea, toatoa, tanekaha, tawa
Theme song for this post: Gimme Shelter – Rolling Stones. Kept playing in my head the whole time I was writing this. Think of it as a mantra for windbreaking.
“Plants are amazing: they provide food, air, medicine, and material with which we can create buildings, furniture, and art. But through an ancient yet obscure craft, still-living plants can themselves be turned into bridges, tables, ladders, chairs, works of art, and even buildings. Known variously as botanical architecture, tree sculpture, tree-shaping, tree-grafting, pooktre, arborsculpture, and arbortecture, the craft is, at its essence, construction with living plants.”
I’m quite the fan of bamboo. It’s incredible stuff. Bamboos are the fastest growing woody plants in the world. One of the more common bamboos (Gigantea) has a tensile strength twice that of steel. Different species are used in construction, ornamental, for medicine, for food, for torture – unbelievably useful. I also love how the wind sounds blowing through it.
