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wind break trees suggestions please

Heather204Heather204 Posts: 5
in Problem solving
I live next to farmland in the Fens so very flat and windy.  I want to protect my vegetable patch a little from the strong winds that come across the fields, but I don't want to spoil the view.  I'm thinking maybe a row of crab apple trees as they are quite open and provide fruit for the birds.  The area is about 30m by 5 m.  Grateful for any thoughts.
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  • raisingirlraisingirl Posts: 7,093
    Hawthorn is tougher and the birds love it - better than crab apples for them. The nicest thing to have is a mixed hedge - hawthorn about 50% and a mix of things like holly, 'bird cherry', elder, briar rose, lilac, rugosa rose and crab apple in amongst. Ivy is a much underrated wildlife plant and isn't afraid of the weather. Be aware that all of these are tough, strong growing plants so need to be regularly maintained to keep them where you want them - cutting back in winter is best. Any of them except crab apple will tolerate being kept quite short if you want to maintain a view. Bear in mind that the windbreak effect is related to the height of the wind break though, so you may want to let it grow a little taller near the veg patch, say, or closer to anywhere you might sit outside - maybe have a couple of crab apples there and let them grow rather than pruning back. And then have a hedge along the rest of the boundary which you can either keep low or have 'window' breaks to give you glimpses of the view.
    Unfortunately shelter effect and view are mutually exclusive. In my very windy garden I have areas that are becoming enclosed by fairly tall hedges and places that I can walk to to see the view but you can't see it from everywhere. Including the veg patch which is almost completely enclosed.

    The best time to do this by the way is in winter, when you can buy 'bare root' hedging plants for a fraction of the cost of buying pot grown plants now.
    Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon

    “It's still magic even if you know how it's done.” 
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    edited May 2018
    CRab apple will be of a height that does spoil your view as they don't, as far as I know, respond to being clipped to hedge height.   I suggest you go for beech or hawthorn which are cheap as chips to buy as maiden whips in autumn.   You then plant one every 9"/23cms in a well prepared trench and prune back to 9" high.  Water well and by spring they'll have made loads of roots and will grow good shoots.   Clip back to 3'/90cms the following autumn to encourage them to thicken a little then keep to a height that suits you in future years.

    The short term solution is some windbreak fabric which will both protect your veg plot and a growing hedge until it gets established.   60 to 90cms high will be enough and a few posts to support it.

    Hawthorn is very tough and doesn't need a windbreak judging by the one I planted some years ago in a similarly exposed site in my old garden after a rosa rugosa hedge struggled with the winds, looked awful most of the year and suckered like mad too.   You could still have a couple of crab apples to break up the height and maybe an evergreen or two like holly or pyracantha.   Great for wildlife too.

    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    edited May 2018
    I put in a native crab apple hedge last autumn. I'm planning to keep it to about 1.8m. You can buying hedging-specific whips. I agree that hawthorn would be better as a wind break and for wildlife.
  • DampGardenManDampGardenMan Posts: 1,054
    If you want a good thick hedge then plant a double staggered row of whatever you choose.
  • Heather204Heather204 Posts: 5
    Thank you all for your thoughts.  Actually I don't think I was clear enough about my question.  I want an open wind break (I know that's a bit of a contradiction but I think it can be done!).  I don't want a hedge as I already have a thick hawthorn hedge on 2 sides of this garden, the third side is the entrance from the yard and the fourth is just an open bit of planting that I will be able to see through.  Just been sitting out there and I think I'm more looking for an orchard - maybe 2 staggered rows that will be horizontal to the garden with small trees (not tiny little ones but about 2 metres) that have an open habit - hence the thought about crab apples.  Any ideas?
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    You either want a windbreak or an orchard.   There will be such big gaps between orchard tree trunks that they will break the view but not slow down the wind.  Your choice - or you could do both.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • BijdezeeBijdezee Posts: 1,484
    That's my problem too. I live bordering farmland near the coast and the garden gets battered by westerly and northern winds. The view is lovely and the sunsets but the wind needs filtering. How to do that without losing the view totally? 

    What I decided to do was place a fence to about 4ft with a low trellis on the top. At the sides ive grown a honeysuckle and a montana clematis. In between i have put a hawthorn, escallonia, berberis, viburnam and dogwood. I plan to keep the hawthorn, escallonia and berberis clipped lower in the middle for the view. 
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  • raisingirlraisingirl Posts: 7,093
    Veg are better raised in modules in cold frames if the site is very windy and only planted out when they are tough enough. The problem (well the problem I have, anyway) is with the big brassicas like brussels sprouts and purple sprouting broccoli - they just get lifted straight out of the ground and blown down the road. And you want to see my runner bean frame - designed and built by a structural engineer. It's the tall stuff not the small stuff that's difficult to protect.
    Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon

    “It's still magic even if you know how it's done.” 
  • aureliecelerieraureliecelerier Posts: 157
    Why don't you plant a hedge but leave an opening in the middle so it creates a focal point and you can still enjoy the view (a bit like in some formal gardens) Sorry I cannot upload any pictures at the moment but hopefully it makes sense :). 
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