Allotment windbreak ideas?

[Kristen]

I wonder if a damson or some tough crab apple variety would work. They might suffer a bit with the exposure but save you a bit of a battle. Or chaenomeles (ornamental quince), which give colour and sometimes nice fruit.

The "problem" for me, with any tree, would be the lead-time. A tree is going to take 10 years until it is doing a good job. It might be doing some good after 5 years, but before that next to nothing, so I would still use Debris netting or some other wind-obstruction (i.e. not a solid barrier) in the meantime.

Some plants, like Raspberries, will make a barrier in a couple of years - but they have no leaves in winter and get pruned down (in total, if they are Autumn fruiting) so not really an effective wind barrier on their own. Ditto Jerusalem artichokes and a variety of similar things.