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Gardening in Oz

Plants for wind and shade?

8 years ago

I have a tricky spot in the garden that is proving hard to find plants for. It is under shade cloth and near the fence so there is no direct sun, however, it's right at the entrance of the side of the house so there is a wind tunnel effect coming from the rest of the yard, meaning it is the windiest part of the yard and quite dry. What would be a tough plant for this area? Most times I do a search it only comes up with two options, woodland plants that need moisture and no wind, like ferns etc. or seaside plants that need full sun to grow.

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Comments (3)

tropicbreezent
8 years ago
It might be an idea to also mention which climate you're in.
darren_hynes
Original Author
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Warm temperate. 9b.
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I have no idea how much this stuff would cost, so I don't know if it's a possibility or not, but you might want to check out the "wind screen" that's used around tennis courts. Twenty five years ago I had a tennis court in the backyard in the hills down near Parker--barren country, TOTALLY exposed to the wind. We eventually got wind screen put on the fence on the one end which was 10 or 11' high. The wind screen only went partway up, can't remember just how far. It was a black fabric (don't know if it comes in other colors) and there were some vents cut in it here and there, but they were very small--something about the fabric allowed some wind to get thru so there wouldn't be TOO much resistance. And the posts the fence was attached to were BIG, there were a bunch of them, and they were totally concreted in! So I think how well anything is gonna work will depend on how well the posts/fence is put in. If it's just posts "pounded" into the ground, I think you might be tempting fate to attach anything that would build up a substantial amount of resistance, but it might be worth it to find out more about tennis court type wind screen. It seems to me they were able to tell us how much wind per square foot (or something) the stuff could take--don't remember for sure anymore! Just a thought! Skybird
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tropicbreezent
8 years ago
That is a challenge. Usually shaded also means sheltered from the wind and more humid. So not a very common environment but it would exist in rocky country like sandstone areas. I'm not in a temperate area so a bit difficult for me to say what exactly would work. But there should be natives from places like the Grampians or Flinders Ranges that grow on the southern side of slopes. If you can contact native plant societies they should be able to help with suggestions. But that's what I'd be looking at.

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