wind break species suggestions please

Discussion in 'Planting, growing, nurturing Plants' started by colours, Jun 15, 2009.

  1. colours

    colours Junior Member

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    Hi,

    I'm after a suggestion for a planting of a narrow but tall-ish (well, at least say, 4 meters) EVERGREEN windbreak that would survive summer temps of 40°C and winter of up to -6°C. Any suggestions? The wind break would be planted relatively close to my citrus, stone fruits, etc so I don't want anything that would inhibit their growth or compete too much for nutrients. I'm thinking a leguminous plant would be good but not sure of any species that would last more than several years, I'd like something fairly permanent. The windbreak would be on the south side, so it would also act as a sun-trap.

    Thanks guys,

    Colours.
     
  2. Ojo

    Ojo Junior Member

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  3. milifestyle

    milifestyle New Member

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    Re: wind break species suggestions please

    pittosporum's a pretty hardy. They like a lot of mulch high in nitrogen, otherwise they grow narrow and twiggy.

    I think some species have edible seeds and also have medicinal uses.
     
  4. j_cornelissen

    j_cornelissen Junior Member

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    Re: wind break species suggestions please

    hop bush at groundlevel combined with lightwood
     
  5. Tulipwood

    Tulipwood Junior Member

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    Re: wind break species suggestions please

    It's just occurred to me that bamboo may form a good windbreak. I want to plant it against my western fence to shelter an orchard I'm planning. Has anyone used bamboo for this purpose? How many rows wide did you plant, or because it's clumping do you just plant one row and it clumps itself wide enough over time. I'm guessing this would be a pretty fast windbreak...? I want to plant the fruit trees this spring, and want protection for them by next winter.
    Is this is my best bet?
     
  6. kimbo.parker

    kimbo.parker Junior Member

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    Re: wind break species suggestions please

    sorry, when i saw the question I just 'leapt at the buzzer',
    I was going to say 'Eggs or Beans'
    but as I said, i misread the question.
    reargards, Kimbo
     
  7. milifestyle

    milifestyle New Member

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    Re: wind break species suggestions please

    Yes kimbo, that was Wind Break... Not Break Wind :lol:
     
  8. sam_ford

    sam_ford Junior Member

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    Re: wind break species suggestions please

    It's hard to go past wattles for getting a wind break started quickly. You could intersperse the plantings with longer lived species that will take over eventually although with the right conditions you could get wattles regenerating as well.
     
  9. kimbo.parker

    kimbo.parker Junior Member

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    Re: wind break species suggestions please

    citrus do have some positive affiliation with poplar spp. (god knows what) they also fit the bill for shape; though many are deciduous.
    I'm with sam_ford on 'wattles',,,Acacia spp.

    Some Acacias are quite long lived and offer other benefits in timber, pollen, seed etc. The nitrogen demands of Citrus suggest that 'unless' you use a legume to provide a long term solution, you'll likely have a long term problem keeping nitrogen up to the trees. If your nitrogen solution incorporates chooks, all the more reason to go with the Acacias as 'chook food' as well.

    The other good pioneer would be your Casuarina or Allocasuarina spp. these can be nitrogen fixers as well but as windbreaks they excell for 'sound effect'.
    Singing casuarinas that fertilise your citrus whilst providing a good wind conditioner, permitting some flow through.
    The microbial activity associated with nitrogen fixing bacteria in the root zone of casuarinas is particularly favourable for citrus health.

    I chose casuarina for the same job on my site. I also used tagasaste for rapid establishment and foliage to ground level. Those citrus hate the cold southerlies and slow down to a crawl if wind chill is spoiling things for them. They need a good vertical continuum that one species may be hard pressed to provide.
    regards, Kimbo
     

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