Building an outdoor garden to protect from wind

mick5500 · May 8, 2014

I have high winds out here in Victorville ,Ca. I have plenty of open land. I have a spot next to my shed that I could build a outdoor garden using the 15 foot back of the shed as the back wall. This area gets full sun for most of the day. So I have dug down about 3 feet and will put up a 24 inch wood barrier around it at ground level .
The winds are 25 miles an hour off and on so the question is if I have about 4 feet of wood above ground level ,will that work to protect them?
I can plant the corn, carrots, eggplant about a foot under ground level. giving me a bout 5 feet of barrier.
The sun will still hit this spot for a good 6 hours at least all summer.
I have used preen and will also put weed blocker sheets and gravel on the bottom,bringing in soil from nursery area around 15 feet by 15 feet.
I have 200 hundred square feet of dirt field at a lower level but this seems like the best spot.
Any advice on this I would appreciate

KarenO · May 9, 2014

Dug down 3' and circled it with two feet of wooden boards. You must be in a desert area? With sandy base and very fast drainage? Up here with a clay base that would be a pond/ swimming pool in a good rain.
I will defer to those folks here who are most familiar with your area and conditions. A thick hedge would make a good windbreak but also would shade parts of the garden which can be a good thing depending. You have a great property, hope your new garden is fantastic
Karen

zeuspaul · May 9, 2014

That chain link fence would make a good windbreak if you put some lath in it. A wind break doesn't have to be solid.

You are going to lose some early and late sun if you plant in a hole. Six hours is already a bit short.

I built a wind break with 1/2 inch hardware cloth on a wood frame in one of my garden locations. It lets light through and cuts back the wind a little. Two layers, one on each side of the frame would be more effective.

In another location I mounted 4 x 8 redwood lath units on t-posts. I added a few container pepper trees to the mix.

Zeuspaul

May 9, 2014	#2
KarenO Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Vancouver Island Posts: 5,931	Dug down 3' and circled it with two feet of wooden boards. You must be in a desert area? With sandy base and very fast drainage? Up here with a clay base that would be a pond/ swimming pool in a good rain. I will defer to those folks here who are most familiar with your area and conditions. A thick hedge would make a good windbreak but also would shade parts of the garden which can be a good thing depending. You have a great property, hope your new garden is fantastic Karen

May 9, 2014	#3
zeuspaul Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2007 Location: North County, San Diego Posts: 419	That chain link fence would make a good windbreak if you put some lath in it. A wind break doesn't have to be solid. You are going to lose some early and late sun if you plant in a hole. Six hours is already a bit short. I built a wind break with 1/2 inch hardware cloth on a wood frame in one of my garden locations. It lets light through and cuts back the wind a little. Two layers, one on each side of the frame would be more effective. In another location I mounted 4 x 8 redwood lath units on t-posts. I added a few container pepper trees to the mix. Zeuspaul