# Creating a Windbreak



## Vol

From AgDay....

Regards, Mike

http://www.agweb.com/article/creating-a-windbreak-for-your-farm-betsy-jibben/


----------



## slowzuki

I imagine with all the fence rows coming out windbreaks will be getting popular. I spent a day on a farm without one where the renter and neighbours had removed fence rows and it about drove me crazy. The wind just didn't stop all day. Stepladder blew over the instant you let go of it etc. Building steel shaking and banging.

Owner told me it wasn't like that 20 years ago.


----------



## swmnhay

Nothing better then a good windbreak here.There is a reason the windmills were built here.A good pine tree is the best but very slow to establish.It takes 30 yrs to get a nice windbreak.Austrian willows are a fast growing tree that gets tall faster that's been pretty popular here,but is not as a long lasting tree,and a lot messier tree with branches.COmbo of the 2 is pretty common on a new grove..

A lot of ash trees here in groves and sounds like the ash bore is going to take care of them.My grove is ash trees with a row of bushes on outside of it.I planted a row of evergreens on north side a couple yrs ago but will prly have to take out the ash and replace with the Austrian willows.I prly won't live long enough to get any good out of pine trees.


----------



## Vol

swmnhay said:


> I prly won't live long enough to get any good out of pine trees.


Maybe...maybe not...but you are paying it forward by being a good land steward and just maybe the next steward will someday remark about the nice shelter belt that the previous "fella" planted.

Regards, Mike


----------



## mlappin

Like arborvitaes here, not the fastest growing thing around but very hardy and self shaping at that.


----------



## mlappin

slowzuki said:


> I imagine with all the fence rows coming out windbreaks will be getting popular. I spent a day on a farm without one where the renter and neighbours had removed fence rows and it about drove me crazy. The wind just didn't stop all day. Stepladder blew over the instant you let go of it etc. Building steel shaking and banging.
> 
> Owner told me it wasn't like that 20 years ago.


You just described my cousins place, closest woods is a mile away and very few trees other than that, it doesn't matter what direction the wind comes from when you're there in the winter, it's like being in a deep freeze.

We keep our fencerows trimmed back tight and might take enough off each end so you can got from one field to the other while planting endrows. It might slow down now, but when we had $6 plus corn people were yanking any kind of snag out or even an entire woods out so they could get a longer pivot in or not have to go around it anymore.


----------



## IHCman

Here in North Dakota the wind blowing is about a better chance than the sun coming up in the morning. So shelter belts for windbreaks are very important. Wind has been gusting up to 45 mph today. I did some in an equip program on my own land that are 6 rows wide. Better point ranking for equip that way and should be good for the deer too. Planted about a mile of 3 row wide stuff a number of years ago where the cows spend most of the winter and have plans for more shelterbelts to be able to feed cows in the winter in different areas. Establishing trees here can be a very labor intensive and time consuming thing. I've spent countless hours weeding trees and have probably handplanted a few thousand trees over the years. My tree plantings through equip all got fabric applied at planting that really helped with not much weeding and helped my survival rate tremendously.

Dad replaced most of the trees on the west side of his farm 14 years ago. Its amazing how tall they are now and how much wind they block. 7 rows from Shubert cherry, plum, boxelder, green ash, pondersa pine, and cottonwood. Then 3 years ago I had the trees on the north side of his yard pulled out and replanted. Needless to say his yard has been pretty darn cold in the winter without those trees there, but it'll be nice in about 10 years or so once the new ones are tall enough to block the wind. I've stacked some bales "toad stool style" along the edge of the new trees this fall but nothing stops the wind as well as trees.


----------



## IHCman

I share your pain on the emerald ash borer Cy. Hasn't been found in ND yet but I figure its only a matter of time. Green ash has been at least one row of any shelter belt we've planted. The last few I've had planted, I had green ash that are supposed to be emerald ash borer resistant planted. We'll see if that works or not. Any future plantings I do I might leave the green ash out and go with something different.


----------



## Vol

Cottonwoods and Ponderosa Pine are two of my favorite trees....but I love all trees.

The E ash borer hit here in E TN a couple a years ago and killed a few ash, but either they have slowed way down or moved on (hoping) or died out(hoping) as not nearly as many trees seemed affected now. They started on one large section of a ash behind my house and it lost all its leaves in that section and appeared to be on death row but it partially recovered last year....started regrowing leaves....and this year it had the full canopy back.

A old 3 point tobacco plant setter with someone riding and feeding it seedling trees is a great way to plant a heck of alot of trees in a short time. They can be bought now for nearly nothing ($200 will buy a fine one) and will save a fella a tremendous amount of work and backache.

A man who will plant trees is a man who will find mercy from the Lord. Trees are mentioned many many times in the Word of The Lord.

Regards, MIke


----------



## swmnhay

I have 3 of the seedless cottonwoods.They grow extremely fast but are a very messy tree.Every one has broke over from ice and wind.I trimmed them back to 10' and they regrow 5-6' per yr.Previous owner planted them to close to buildings so I'm worried about them falling on a building so I either need to keep them trimmed down to under 25' or take them out.The one was 50' when the wind took it over.Lucked out that it missed the barn.


----------



## NDVA HAYMAN

Over the last 20 years, I have planted over 22 acres of trees. It has been an extremely challenging but very rewarding project. It use to upset me when I would see deer just tearing up my trees. After being frustrated for several years, I came to realize that it was ok and that's what it was all about, Habitat! It was really cool riding down the rows of trees, clipping weeds, and looking into the branches of trees counting dove nest with their eggs and chicks. Ever since we had $8 corn, trees have been disappearing at an astounding rate. I hate to see them go cause they make a huge difference .


----------



## ontario hay man

We have a line of spruce trees to the west of the house. They fool you every time. It doesnt seem so back until you go past them.


----------



## Hugh

A very fast growing, tall and narrow windbreak is Lombardy Poplar. Under ideal conditions, they can grow 6-10 feet per year. I planted some on our property back in May of 2012, they were bare root trees about 30 inches tall and the trunks the size of pencils. Now, after 3 growing seasons, they are about 20-25 feet tall, with the diameter of the trunks about 6-8 inches at soil level. Once they are established, they are very drought tolerant. They are also cold tolerant.


----------



## mlappin

How well do the poplars hold up Hugh? Been my experience at least around here anything that is very fast growing doesn't hold up to high winds or heavy snow very well.


----------



## deadmoose

HERE they hold up fine. Until they get fully mature then they deteriorate from the inside out.

Hugh- are those the kind that when you cut down you have to trim the shoots so you d9nt have 15.trews trying to grow in same spot?


----------



## mlappin

deadmoose said:


> HERE they hold up fine. Until they get fully mature then they deteriorate from the inside out.


Sounds like tulip poplar here, get so big then the center starts to rot out of em.

I planted a row of river birch along our drive more for aesthetics than a wind break, went with the river birch as I needed something opposite of drought tolerant.


----------



## Hugh

mlappin said:


> How well do the poplars hold up Hugh? Been my experience at least around here anything that is very fast growing doesn't hold up to high winds or heavy snow very well.


In cold and dry climates, they hold up very well. They are at their best in the Intermountain West. I have seen them in S. California, where they live 10 or 15 years and then crap-out. They will take high winds and just bend. They need good drainage (not heavy clay soil). I was a Ornamental Horticulturalist for 30 years, and I can tell you for a FACT that all trees have drawbacks. If you want a tree that will live a very long time and take high winds etc, plant Live Oaks and they will grow 5 feet before your grand kids die. Lombardy Popular is used by the thousands for wind breaks all over the west and all over the world, in fact. Here is a good source for the trees, and they are about $1 to $2 each, a very good deal: http://www.lawyernursery.com/productinfo.aspx?productSpecies=Populus%20nigra%20%27Thevestina%27&categoryid=4 If any of you decide to plant some, let me know and I will walk you through how to do it with 100% survivability.


----------



## Hugh

P.S. the link I sent is for "Theves Popular" which is a sport of Lombardy. Looks almost identical but has white bark and is more disease resistant. In Indiana, these things ought to be 30-40 feet in 4-5 years. Plant 6-8 feet apart, Ph around 7, fertilize spring and summer. Water and care for the trees the first year, after that, they make it on their own.


----------



## Hugh

Vol said:


> Cottonwoods and Ponderosa Pine are two of my favorite trees....but I love all trees.
> 
> The E ash borer hit here in E TN a couple a years ago and killed a few ash, but either they have slowed way down or moved on (hoping) or died out(hoping) as not nearly as many trees seemed affected now. They started on one large section of a ash behind my house and it lost all its leaves in that section and appeared to be on death row but it partially recovered last year....started regrowing leaves....and this year it had the full canopy back.
> 
> A old 3 point tobacco plant setter with someone riding and feeding it seedling trees is a great way to plant a heck of alot of trees in a short time. They can be bought now for nearly nothing ($200 will buy a fine one) and will save a fella a tremendous amount of work and backache.
> 
> A man who will plant trees is a man who will find mercy from the Lord. Trees are mentioned many many times in the Word of The Lord.
> 
> Regards, MIke


"The best time to plant a tree is 25 years ago, the second best time is today." A Chinese Proverb.

An older couple who live down the road from us bought a new house about 3 years ago. I keep after them to plant trees but they want to plant roses, etc. I have offered to auger the holes for them, even do the planting but they can't see "mowing around trees." Trees are everything to me. Makes going outside worth it. I'm outside 16 hours per day all spring, summer and fall. I eat outside, cook outside and read outside - always under our trees.


----------



## mlappin

Hugh sounds like your poplar there is our arborvitae here, I don't think I've ever seen a dead one. Take several years to get used to the clay here, then they take off.


----------



## deadmoose

Hugh said:


> In cold and dry climates, they hold up very well. They are at their best in the Intermountain West. I have seen them in S. California, where they live 10 or 15 years and then crap-out. They will take high winds and just bend. They need good drainage (not heavy clay soil). I was a Ornamental Horticulturalist for 30 years, and I can tell you for a FACT that all trees have drawbacks. If you want a tree that will live a very long time and take high winds etc, plant Live Oaks and they will grow 5 feet before your grand kids die. Lombardy Popular is used by the thousands for wind breaks all over the west and all over the world, in fact. Here is a good source for the trees, and they are about $1 to $2 each, a very good deal: http://www.lawyernursery.com/productinfo.aspx?productSpecies=Populus%20nigra%20'Thevestina'&categoryid=4 If any of you decide to plant some, let me know and I will walk you through how to do it with 100% survivability.


They sound a bit different than poplar I grew up with. They grow like weeds. Clay, gravel, it doesn't seem to matter. Never heard anyone fertilize a poplar. The paper mills love em. Cut one down and 10 take its place. Here.


----------



## Bgriffin856

Our farm is on the west and north facing side of a hill. Its a rare day when the wind isnt blowing. Go down to in elevation such as a valley its 10 degrees or more warmer.

Blue spruce is a popular windbreak here


----------

