Windbreaks
I've heard stories of the early pioneer women who moved to this treeless country and sat in their dugout crying all day because the wind would not stop blowing! We live in a moderately strong wind zone and the plains don't naturally provide any protection. It's no wonder that most of the farms around here are surrounded by windbreaks.
But more important than protecting our sanity from the almost incessant wind is the need to protect valuable farm ground from blowing away. I hope everyone has heard of the Dust Bowl, a time in the 1930s when drought, conventional farming techniques, and strong winds combined to create monstrous dust storms and stripped valuable topsoil from much of the farm land in the central plains part of our country. The Soil Conservation Service, later named the Natural Resources Conservation Service, was born because of the Dust Bowl. The SCS helped farmers find ways to protect their land and grow crops despite the dry conditions.
Windbreaks are one of many methods used to protect land from wind. The windbreak pictured above is a triple row of junipers. They are somewhere between 15 and 20 years old and about 15 feet tall, which is not fully mature. They should get double that height and the branches may overlap some when they are fully grown. It's not hard to imagine that if you stand behind a wall of dense junipers they can protect you from some pretty strong winds.
Roy and I began adding windbreaks around our place. Above is what a new row of junipers looks like. They are about 9-12 inches tall. These trees come from a nursery and are probably several years old. They are planted 10 feet apart. Each tree is a dollar or two, which doesn't sound like much, but when you need to plant a few hundred it adds up! If you're planting the windbreak for a farmstead or next to cropland then the NRCS may be able to do costshare on it.
Windbreaks do more than just protect homes and farmland from wind. They can also protect livestock -some people even plant "living barns" with four walls of trees to protect their cattle. They can be used to encourage wild animals to move into an area, too, by providing a habitat for them to live and forage in. Windbreaks for wildlife usually include a more diverse set of trees and shrubs.
Here's Scooter running along our new row of pine trees. Pines grow slower than junipers, but they get taller and thus cut down on more wind that carries above the junipers.
You can do the planting yourself, but its well worth it to hire a professional tree planter. They have machinery that drives the new tree-line, cuts a path in the soil to plant the trees and lays the fabric that you see. The fabric is breathable, so air and rain pass through, but it cuts out the sunlight to deter weeds from growing and competing with the young trees.
If you're looking to plant a windbreak, now is the time to order your trees and hire a tree planter! This is our favorite tree planter. He's not afraid of planting in our rocky hills (it broke part of his equipment - yikes!) and we just plain like him!
Windbreaks Diversified
Jerry Miller - Forester
Planting conservation trees since 1987 in Eastern Colorado. Site preparation, planting, and weed barrier installation services.
970-520-5028
jerrymiller_@hotmail.com
By the way, it makes it much easier to cope with the nonstop wind when you know it's saving you electricity by turning your very own wind turbine! This is my cheap plug for my husband's business - check it out here, see pictures of turbines he's installed here, or see what one of his turbines is doing right now!
Posted by Susan at February 15, 2010 
Categories: Businesses, Farming, Rural Living
Tags: dust bowl dustbowl wildlife plant shrub protect wind planter erosion pine tree phillips county juniper land windbreaks
Categories: Businesses, Farming, Rural Living
Tags: dust bowl dustbowl wildlife plant shrub protect wind planter erosion pine tree phillips county juniper land windbreaks
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