Hi

I have a garden which is now one year old, the north side of the rear
garden is bounded by a 6 foot high brick wall shaped like a hockey
stick i.e. with a curve. This and the gap between the house and the
start of the wall creates a wind tunnel effect which channels the
west/north west winds acrosss the top half of the garden.


Silly me planted Chamaecyparis which are all now nicely brown, the
plants at the other end (south) of the garden don't suffer this wind
and are quite happy and growing at a good rate.

Can anyone please suggest any wind tolerant plants for this part of
the garden, it would be nicce to look out of the kitchen window at a
nice shrubbery rather than a bare lawn and brick wall.

TIA

Paul

"Paul" wrote in message
...
Hi

I have a garden which is now one year old, the north side of the rear
garden is bounded by a 6 foot high brick wall shaped like a hockey
stick i.e. with a curve. This and the gap between the house and the
start of the wall creates a wind tunnel effect which channels the
west/north west winds acrosss the top half of the garden.


Silly me planted Chamaecyparis which are all now nicely brown, the
plants at the other end (south) of the garden don't suffer this wind
and are quite happy and growing at a good rate.

Can anyone please suggest any wind tolerant plants for this part of
the garden, it would be nicce to look out of the kitchen window at a
nice shrubbery rather than a bare lawn and brick wall.
TIA
Paul

Plug the gap first maybe ? :~)

The BBC has a list of wind tolerant plants:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/htbg/module1/wind1.shtml

This might be of interest too:
http://www.intersites.co.uk/2808/

Jenny

In article ,
Paul writes:
|
| Can anyone please suggest any wind tolerant plants for this part of
| the garden, it would be nicce to look out of the kitchen window at a
| nice shrubbery rather than a bare lawn and brick wall.

But where are you posting from? It makes a hell of a difference if
the winds are warm, wet and salt-laden or dry and cold. All right,
we don't get really dry or really cold, but the principle applies.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On 16 May 2006 18:54:29 GMT, (Nick Maclaren) wrote:


In article ,
Paul writes:
|
| Can anyone please suggest any wind tolerant plants for this part of
| the garden, it would be nicce to look out of the kitchen window at a
| nice shrubbery rather than a bare lawn and brick wall.

But where are you posting from? It makes a hell of a difference if
the winds are warm, wet and salt-laden or dry and cold. All right,
we don't get really dry or really cold, but the principle applies.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.
South west, warm , wet and salt-laden, VERY WINDY, in the
aforementioned part of the garden that is.

On Tue, 16 May 2006 16:54:47 +0200, "JennyC"
wrote:


"Paul" wrote in message
.. .
Hi

I have a garden which is now one year old, the north side of the rear
garden is bounded by a 6 foot high brick wall shaped like a hockey
stick i.e. with a curve. This and the gap between the house and the
start of the wall creates a wind tunnel effect which channels the
west/north west winds acrosss the top half of the garden.


Silly me planted Chamaecyparis which are all now nicely brown, the
plants at the other end (south) of the garden don't suffer this wind
and are quite happy and growing at a good rate.

Can anyone please suggest any wind tolerant plants for this part of
the garden, it would be nicce to look out of the kitchen window at a
nice shrubbery rather than a bare lawn and brick wall.
TIA
Paul

Plug the gap first maybe ? :~)

The BBC has a list of wind tolerant plants:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/htbg/module1/wind1.shtml

This might be of interest too:
http://www.intersites.co.uk/2808/

Jenny

Thanks for the suggestions, can't really plug the gap though :-(

In article ,
Paul writes:
|
| South west, warm , wet and salt-laden, VERY WINDY, in the
| aforementioned part of the garden that is.

Wind, per se, causes damage only physically, by breaking branches,
shredding leaves and rocking the plant breaking its roots. Dry
winds can kill by desiccation and cold ones by 'wind chill' - both
a minor problem with me, but not you. The salt is likely to be the
problem.

Look for plants that are both salt- and wind-resistant, and look up
what was planted at Inverewe for windbreaks. There are books on
that garden.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On 17 May 2006 07:30:30 GMT, (Nick Maclaren) wrote:


In article ,
Paul writes:
|
| South west, warm , wet and salt-laden, VERY WINDY, in the
| aforementioned part of the garden that is.

Wind, per se, causes damage only physically, by breaking branches,
shredding leaves and rocking the plant breaking its roots. Dry
winds can kill by desiccation and cold ones by 'wind chill' - both
a minor problem with me, but not you. The salt is likely to be the
problem.

Look for plants that are both salt- and wind-resistant, and look up
what was planted at Inverewe for windbreaks. There are books on
that garden.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.
Thanks for the info, my guess from the above is that desiccation and
wind chill are probably the cause as plants in the south of garden and
the front garden are both doing fine. My runner beans are 2ft high :-)

Paul

In article ,
Paul writes:
|
| Thanks for the info, my guess from the above is that desiccation and
| wind chill are probably the cause as plants in the south of garden and
| the front garden are both doing fine. My runner beans are 2ft high :-)

As I told you, no, they aren't. If either of those factors were severe
enough to damage Chamaecyparis badly in a wind tunnel, your runner beans
would be dead, Dead, DEAD even in still air. As I said, neither fact is
a significant issue in the south-west, though both are minor (and ONLY
minor) ones in Cambridge - and here is a LOT colder and drier than it is
with you.

My garden got down to -10 Celcius one night last winter - even with a
howling gale, Chamaecyparis isn't going to be damaged by above-zero
temperatures. Dammit, C. lawsonii grows in Blair Atholl! And it is
even more implausible that it was damaged by a drying wind in the
south-west, unless it was unable to take up water through its roots,
due to deeply frozen soil, a near absence of water in the soil (either
of which is immediately fatal to runners) or severe root damage.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On 17 May 2006 17:32:28 GMT, (Nick Maclaren) wrote:

Quote from Nick Maclaren:

"Dry winds can kill by desiccation and cold ones by 'wind chill' - both a minor problem with me, but not you."

Paul:
| Thanks for the info, my guess from the above is that desiccation and
| wind chill are probably the cause as plants in the south of garden and
| the front garden are both doing fine. My runner beans are 2ft high :-)

Nick:
As I told you, no, they aren't.
Yes you did see above .
If either of those factors were severe
enough to damage Chamaecyparis badly in a wind tunnel, your runner beans
would be dead, Dead, DEAD even in still air. As I said, neither fact is
a significant issue in the south-west, though both are minor (and ONLY
minor) ones in Cambridge - and here is a LOT colder and drier than it is
with you.
Why are all my plants including Chamaecyparis healthy in the less
windy areas of my garden and damaged in the windy areas. If salt is a
problem why are all the other plants not damaged ?.

Have you heard of the Venturi effect, force a volume of air through a
constriction and its velocity will increase and the pressure drop.

Paul