Windy, exposed garden - ideas please

[jemberelli]

The house that we have moved to is quite exposed and consequently hit by awful winds. I would like to put some pots along the path in front of the house but am not sure what would stand up to the winds. Would I be better off going for shrubs rather than flowers, not as pretty/colourful but perhaps more hardy?

Thanks in advance for any ideas.

[Maggie1]

I am very exposed. I have tubs rather than pots as they wouldn't last 5 mins. At the moment they are full of flowering spring bulbs. I have also got roses in them. Others have got cyclamen, heather, pinks and hardy fuschias

[jemberelli]

Thanks Maggie, food for thought there!

[Aspasia]

Ours is very windy, too: we have gales on a regular basis. Wind breaks help a lot. With a good windbreak, plants will grow better and things in your garden (tubs, structures) will get less punishment.

If you get lots of gales and storm-force winds, slatted fences (not solid panels) are better than brick walls, because the wind will just blow the wall down eventually. Best of all, if you have space for them, are drystone walls, because they protect the area from wind and are very stable because they don't present a solid obstacle to the wind, but filter it. Trees make good windbreaks, but will take time to grow and may take much of the nutrients from the soil of a small garden, making it more difficult for other things to grow. Tall trees can be hazardous in gales.

You can make slatted fences into better windbreaks by stapling a fine mesh net all along them, as that helps to further break the wind. Nets with a large mesh are not worth the bother, though.

Large tubs full of soil or compost will probably be fine.

If you live in an area that is prone to gales, you'll need to take extra precautions and keep an eye on weather reports. When windspeed is forecast to exceed about 75mph, it's worth getting any lightweight things out of the garden and into a garage or shed. If you have tubs or composters that are empty or only part-full, you can weight them down with large, heavy bricks or stones at the bottom (inside) and tie them to a fence. Sheds or other structures (including hen houses) can be netted down with old commercial fishing nets or some other equivalent heavy net, and pegged into the ground with heavy-duty pegs. This will save the roof flying off, or the whole thing taking flight. Nets are better than rope because they help break the wind a bit, don't catch the wind as a solid material will, and also spread the pressure across the whole area they cover, rather than all the pressure being on the roped sections.

We tend to grow veg rather than ornamentals, but we have found that what works best is fairly low-growing things, so cabbages and kale, but not brussels sprouts. Rosemary Arp has proved to be very hardy, though slow-growing. It might grow faster further south, where there is good daylight length for longer. Thymes do well here, and rhubarb.

You can find out online or from local gardeners which direction the prevailing wind is from, then plan to put your more tender plants (or structures) in spots which are sheltered from that direction.

The best thing of all is probably to chat to other gardeners in your area about what grows well there, or even just look at what they have in their gardens on your way past. If a lot of people have healthy rose bushes, for example, you can be reasonably sure that they will do well in your garden too.

[jemberelli]

Thank you so much for that in-depth reply - plenty for me to consider

[Aspasia]

You're welcome, Jemberelli!

Just thought - some hen houses will need to be netted down even in lighter winds. The first one we bought - a wooden flatpack one - had its roof ripped off in just 38mph winds. The roof covers both the house and run and is on hinges, with one side open, so what probably happened is that the wind flipped it open then ripped it off its hinges with the help of gravity. We bought a more robust house, because that one clearly was not going to do the job for much of the year here, but have kept the wooden one for quarantine quarters in good weather. To make it reasonably functional, we've replaced the old hinges with stronger ones, and put a series of hasps on the open sides, which can be secured with U-shaped wire, sticks, or a rod pushed through all of them at once. (Padlocks would be fine, too, but there's no need for them.) This should (hopefully) mean that it will be OK in winds up to about 50mph. Beyond that, it is pretty lightweight and the wind could get up under the roof and coop floor and lift the whole thing up or rattle it to bits, so we would net it down.

If you hang your laundry out in the garden, hurricane pegs are cheap and a good investment. They come in various brands, so quality may vary, but the sort we have will happily keep washing on the line on quite windy days. Anything much above 45mph and it's not worth hanging the laundry out, though, because the pegs will hold but the fabric will rip at the peg.

[jemberelli]

Ooh, interesting - didn't know about hurricane pegs! We're only in Shropshire, not somewhere wild and windy like you up in The Shetlands, it's just the positioning of the house amidst open fields that leaves it very exposed and windy - not trying to exaggerate and make it seem like something it's not but these hints and ideas will be extremely useful!

[Aspasia]

The odd thing is I worry much more about people living further south when you have gales and hurricanes than I do about myself and my family here, even when the wind is so strong that the roof is creaking. Because I know that things here are over-engineered to withstand the wind, and people know how to stay safe in it (excluding tourists, but it is usually not tourist season during the worst gales). That isn't the case further south, so that wind there seems to cause much more damage and injury than it does here. Plus, you have a lot more trees, and many of them are large and old. I love trees, but I wouldn't want a big one near my house!

Anyway, I'm glad you found my fussing interesting.

[bmpsands]

When we moved into our house 18 months ago we realised that it was quite an exposed position. That turned out to be a understatement as out 20x10ft chicken run was inverted and slammed into a nearby laburnum. The coop went, too, as did the scaffolding planks that were supposed to be helpig to hold the roof on.

In spite of that, with a little protection we've kept geraniums, hydrangeas and begonias quite successfully. There's also a rhodededron, but it's in an enormous pot. So big that it's actually not in the best position but I can't move it even with a sack barrow.

I cofirm that netting is helpful. Our new run is very solidly built and we've already changed where the beans and brussel sprouts will be grown because of the degree of shelter provided just by the bigger timbers and stronger mesh.

[jemberelli]

Thanks for that Bea

[Freeranger]

We've lived with our quite hostile situation for a little while to get the measure of it, and to take advice from more experienced gardeners. The key seems to be to micro-manage your site to create the conditions you want - offset hedges set across the wind, blocks of trees (supported) or shrubs, trellises and the like will all break up the wind before it gets to your planting area. You can use wind-break netting to protect plants until they become established. Walls can work but you also get a turbulence as the wind rolls over the top. Once you've managed the major issues, then you can start to plant what you would like with a little more confidence. If you want your pots on the pathway, maybe you could plant a hedge or trellis behind, or get really advanturous and have a fedge or woven willow. I can't remember the word for a sort of walkway or tunnel framework for plants to grow up, which would mean they have some support and create a feature. Lots you could do.

[jemberelli]

Thank you We're effectively working with a field and as we rent we are limited in how much we can do structurally (walls/hedges) but there are loads of ideas there for me to work with! Like you, this year is pretty much a live with the situation to see what pops up at different times, then go from there.

Thank you all again for your help.