windbreak plants - Ask Extension
My husband and I recently bought a house surrounded by farms. We would like to plant a windbreak - something that will help keep pesticides, weedkill...
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windbreak plants #247288
Asked May 26, 2015, 1:00 PM EDT
My husband and I recently bought a house surrounded by farms. We would like to plant a windbreak - something that will help keep pesticides, weedkiller, etc. from blowing in to our yard and garden. We're looking for something native to Maryland that will grow relatively quickly and provide good coverage for most of the year, but won't get out of control or grow extremely tall. A relative recommended lilacs, but I'm not sure if that would fit the bill or not. Could you suggest some trees or shrubs we should look into?
Carroll County Maryland
Expert Response
Applied correctly and lawfully, pesticides and weedkillers should not be blowing into your yard. There aren't any trees/shrubs that are not susceptible to damage from weedkillers, but hopefully you will not have that problem.
We would ask you to consider planting multiple varieties of plants as your windbreak, so that should a pest or disease problem crop up in the future, you would not lose all of them at once.
Here are some ideas, some native, some not.
How tall are you thinking?
You might consider evergreens like arborvitae (many sizes available) for your windy/northern side. American hollies and winterberry (deciduous) hollies are both native as well. Fosters holly, Nellie Stevens holly and native Eastern red cedars could work.
Lilacs are not native, but are an option, as are the native clethra, American beautyberry, silky dogwood, itea (Virginia sweetspire), nineberry, native viburnums (dentatum, nudum, black haw). If your lot is large, hedges of forsythia are fairly economical.
You might like to take a look at the publication called Native Plants for Wildlife Habitat and Conservation Landscaping for the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. It is put out by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and lists photos, cultural needs and wildlife value of our common native plants. It can now be accessed on-line.
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We would ask you to consider planting multiple varieties of plants as your windbreak, so that should a pest or disease problem crop up in the future, you would not lose all of them at once.
Here are some ideas, some native, some not.
How tall are you thinking?
You might consider evergreens like arborvitae (many sizes available) for your windy/northern side. American hollies and winterberry (deciduous) hollies are both native as well. Fosters holly, Nellie Stevens holly and native Eastern red cedars could work.
Lilacs are not native, but are an option, as are the native clethra, American beautyberry, silky dogwood, itea (Virginia sweetspire), nineberry, native viburnums (dentatum, nudum, black haw). If your lot is large, hedges of forsythia are fairly economical.
You might like to take a look at the publication called Native Plants for Wildlife Habitat and Conservation Landscaping for the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. It is put out by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and lists photos, cultural needs and wildlife value of our common native plants. It can now be accessed on-line.
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