WINDY ACRE

Sive · Rowan Tree Joined: 18 Apr 2008 Posts: 111

Could anyone advise me as to what plants/shrubs/trees they have personal experience of withstanding wind ? It seems like a huge question, but I'm beginning to think I've taken on rather a problem here on my beautiful acre. Just when I have mentally sorted where to plant a shelter belt for the south-westerlies, we get days of cold easterlies as we are having now, and I despair!
Incidentally, we do occasionally get salt carried on the wind even though we must be about 4 or 5 miles from the coast, but I don't think that is the main problem I need to tackle. I'd be grateful for any help on this one. Thanks!

GPI · Posted: Fri May 16, 2008 12:34 am Post subject:

Go native.
Loads of our natives will put up with those condition if planted well, kept fed and watered.

Ash (Fraxinus excelsior)

Black Alder (Alnus glutinosa)

The native cherries, Common/Wild Cherry (Prunus avium) and
Bird Cherry (Prunus padus)

Aspen or Trembling poplar (Populus tremula)

The native willows, Goat Willow (Salix caprea), Grey Willow (Salix atrocinerea), Bay Willow (Salix pentandra) and Eared Willow (Salix aurita)

Mountain Ash or Rowan (Sorbus aucuparia)

Whitebeam (Sorbus hibernica)

Juniper (Juniperus communis)

Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris)

Blackthorn/Sloe (Prunus spinosa)

Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna)

Common Privet (Ligustrum vulgare)

European Spindle (Euonymus europaeus),

Dog Rose (Rosa canina),

Holly (Ilex aquifolium).

Links to them all to be found here..... http://www.gardenplansireland.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1031

birdie · Posted: Fri May 16, 2008 9:09 am Post subject:

Phormiums and you can get some ones which grow way bigger than yourself. They bend and sway in the wind and are great by the coast.

Tom · Hazel Tree Joined: 24 Jun 2006 Posts: 42

The bottlebrush plant is tough by the sea as is privet and poplar. For small plants most grasses are ok as well

Sive · Rowan Tree Joined: 18 Apr 2008 Posts: 111

Brilliant, thank you for all these ideas. I'm interested in the inclusion of holly, as I have some young hollies which look a little unhappy.....the leaves are not the sort of deep green I would expect, instead some look a bit "anaemic". So if it's not the wind, what is the problem I wonder?

GPI · Posted: Sat May 17, 2008 12:08 am Post subject:

Fertiliser/iron deficiency I suspect.
A liquid feed watered onto the leaves as well as the roots will perk them up.
Follow with an application of a slow release fertiliser and a light mulch with well rotted compost/farm-yard-manure and thing should be hunky dory.

Sive · Rowan Tree Joined: 18 Apr 2008 Posts: 111

Thank you GPI, I will definitely do that, although I am amazed that those leathery leaves will absorb anything at all. I obviously have a lot to learn! I'm so pleased that it is not the wind that is affecting them.

Michael196 · Hazel Tree Joined: 24 Jul 2008 Posts: 23 Location: WEXFORD

I am in wexford an have a top of a hill exposed site about 4 miles from the sea.

What worked well was rosa ruggosa around the perimeter. Not expensive, rose hips, tall, wind resistant, rose petals produced.

put bech behind that....... and berberis in front

not u have green or purple, with greens and reds ( hips) and purples at a foot height.

mixing in the occasional holy works well.

I think u are in wexford.The soil is poor enough and sand exists down about 1.5 feet on this site. takes a while for tplants to establish, mostly affected by hight draininga rates of the sandy soil. Keep new plants well waters for first few years , when suddenly they will establish.

hollies growing here on this coastal site, but keep them watered about first 3 years, then they wil establsih themselves.

Prudence · Posted: Thu Oct 02, 2008 12:35 pm Post subject:

Sive, do you have an image in your mind of how you want it to look? Are you thinking evergreen? Anything you plant is going to ease the wind a bit but it depends to what degree you are aiming for. Michaels idea of a multi layer windbreak is a good one. Here in the West people planted pine/fir trees with good effect and we have good wind protection here because of that. We also have a lot of Ash trees that were already here. Not my choice as they leaf out quite late and their branches tend to be a little brittle in the wind. They also seed everywhere, which is probably how we came to have so many!!

Another thing you could try, is to buy some windbreak fabric. You could put this up as a temporary measure until the trees you do plant have become established. It will also mean you can get planting on your garden while the trees are growing.

All the best.

Sue

Sive · Rowan Tree Joined: 18 Apr 2008 Posts: 111

Thank you, Michael196 and Sue,
We have planted a hedge on our exposed boundary since my first post.....including a lot of what Michael is suggesting,(the rose hips are stunning, aren't they Michael?) and it is growing strongly thanks to the plentiful rain! I don't want to go totally evergreen, Sue, as I don't want to block out the low winter sunlight, although some of the hedging plants we've put in are evergreen.
Michael we are south of Gorey, and the soil seems OK here, not sandy as far as I know.Are you further south maybe?
I think I just have to be patient and put up with the wind until the garden matures!
Thanks for all the advice.

Michael196 · Hazel Tree Joined: 24 Jul 2008 Posts: 23 Location: WEXFORD

hi Sive, I am in Castelbridge, a townslan called Kilcorral . The rugossa will do very well in coastal areas. I love the color combinatiosn when mixed with green and purple beech, and purple berberis. We alos put berberis wilsonii and the effect work very well also.

Here is your next challange.....collect a hip and get it to grow new rugossa for you !!.

Berberis darwinii is alos good with rugossa as it is evergreen whereas the rugosa will die back in winter.

I hvae about a foot and a hlf o topsoil then it is sand and gravel .so the site tend to be very dry in the summer.

sal · Hazel Tree Joined: 15 Sep 2008 Posts: 29

just to say when i saw the post i thought what a good name for a house.Windy Acre

Sive · Rowan Tree Joined: 18 Apr 2008 Posts: 111

Hi Sal, it would be a perfect name for our house here, except I would then feel it would never be otherwise!
I am hoping extensive planting will shelter our poor plants from the worst excesses.....even though we may not achieve this for a few years!
Michael...Castlebridge is lovely, you have even better light than we do here...and obviously totally different soil too......with very good drainage. Our soil gets very wet here, but it's only 18 months since the builder had machinery on it, so it will take a while (and plenty of compost) before it opens up and the worms do their work!

Prudence · Posted: Mon Oct 06, 2008 11:32 am Post subject:

Sive - you may find it a daunting task but also it is a chance to have the garden just the way you want it.

We have a woodland are on the west and north of the property where, years ago, the people here planted the main boundary and then a second boundary 20ft in from that. This created a woodland area which we love as it creates habitat for the wildlife.

I am going to try and experiment with our clay soil this autumn which may be on interest to you. I am planning to do a another 'new bit' of our field which has also had heavy machinery on it. I'm not big into digging clay so have ordered some Daikon Radish seeds from the US. These radishes can be sown in autumn and they are LARGE! About 1ft plus long and a couple of inches wide. The thing is to sow them over an area you will eventually wish to plant on. Leave them in situ and their roots will break up the clay. Then they will decay in situ, feeding the soil as they do so and thus leaving the soil 'open' Loads of cow poo will be chucked over the top that will work its way down into the 'holes' left by the radish.

Hope that makes sense Smile

Sue