To many gardeners, the word “spring” conjures up images of daffodils and tulips, robins, lilacs, and the first roses. Here in New Mexico, wind is the uninvited guest at every garden party. Wind shreds those tulips, spreads dunes across driveways, tortures contact lens wearers, and renders all but dedicated indoorsmen cranky and at loose ends. Wind, like drought, is a fact of life in arid climates, one of the realities that shape our landscape.

Personal style, on the other hand, is a whirlwind of all the influences a gardener has weathered since birth. One person has an affinity for the soft edges of adobe; another is a passionate urbanista expressing in steel and concrete. Murphy’s Law makes them neighbors, adding another wrinkle to the landscape design canvas. Every garden also has its own elements we might prefer to conceal from view: storage sheds, a less than perfectly tended vegetable garden, a place to stow the canoe or RV.

A combination of plants and walls or fences can go a long way toward buffering springtime bluster, bridging the chasm between differing tastes, and concealing utility space. Walls and fences can provide immediate screening solutions but can also be costly. Plants take a few years to start filling their roles as screen and buffer, but can ultimately temper microclimates that are by season a bit too hot, too cold, or too windy. The same garden features can screen offending views and make spaces more physically comfortable. Such design economy is even more appropriate in places where water is precious.

 

While the placement and proportions of screens are often obvious, keep in mind a few basic laws of nature when planning for wind protection. A windbreak will shelter an area up to five times its height on the lee side, so, for example, a wall 6 feet high may protect a space up to 25 feet inside it. Plants that grow 10 feet high may buffer an area at least 40 feet away. Any large gaps in cover will increase the velocity of the wind passing through them, and wind will focus inward at the edges of a windbreak, so plants, walls, or fences should be continuous and extend beyond the area being sheltered.

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