Wind breaker advice needed.

[Darwin.]

I put up a greenhouse just after moving in here a few years back without being too familiar with the area. It turns out the wind almost always blows from the same direction and this is a very windy area (I live outside the highest town in Ireland) and I put up the greenhouse face on to the wind. The last two winters it was hit hard and glass from the back got knocked out and broken, the wind got in the door and had no way of getting out.

I'm thinking of putting raised beds opposite it, 3' or 4' high. Would this work as a wind breaker or am I wasting my time? I can't move the greenhouse, it's bolted to concrete that was put in especially for it.

[LillyRoseGarden]

Do you have space to plant a hedge of trees to break the wind?

[Darwin.]

I have an orchard planted with about 16 trees in it but it'll take years before they're big enough to do any good, they're only 5' or 6' tall at the minute.

[veggiechicken]

Do you mean a barrier in front of the door to stop the wind going through the GH?

[Darwin.]

Well, a raised bed opposite it, about 20' away. I'm hoping it diverts the wind a bit.

[VirginVegGrower]

Is your greenhouse not anchored to concrete?

[Darwin.]

It is but that doesn't stop the wind getting in around the door, (it doesn't close right) and knocking out a few panes of glass at the back.

[veggiechicken]

I'm no expert on wind turbulence Darwin, but you may find that a semi-permeable barrier like a trellis would be better than a 3-4 high raised bed 20' away. The wind will hit a solid object, rise up over it and back down the other side. Distance is also crucial.
Or you could put the door at the other end of the greenhouse

[Darwin.]

I never thought about the wind going back down again to be honest, I had hoped it would keep going up

[chris]

As VC says you don't want to stop or divert the wind, that'll just create turbulence - you need to gradually slow it down. I have debris netting I'm 3 jokes from recent fakes- it's stood up to a couple more, it slows it down enough for the wind to not blow more panes out.

[Darwin.]

I'm glad I found this place, that's another dodgy idea I'll probably abandon so.

[Feral007]

When I was researching wind break structures for a seating area in a very windy area I read that 'not solid' things were best. As they slow the wind down, and are more flexible in themselves because the wind doesn't beat at the structure with such force because some is going thru it. We used metal trellis for that reason.
Thinking of growing things tho - what about bamboo? I've just planted some as a possible wind break here on two sides of a potential seating area. The wind here comes from one side in summer autumn, and equally fiercely from the other side in the other two seasons. My thinking was (and it's probably a flawed view) that bamboo will grow fast. That it is not a solid, rigid break, that it should be flexible, so not break as easily as some trees, and the wind should rustle thru it, making it breezy, but not necessarily allowing the seating to be lifted up and thrown against the side fence. That's my theory anyway.
I like the idea of netting. We have a wire fence around the yard, and we have stapled shed cloth (netting) to it top and bottom, to keep the dogs from barking at everything that moves in the paddocks. The bonus we found was that the plants in the yard have some sun and wind protection.

Some farmers use pallets stood on end next to each other, or at an angle, so the don't join, but still slow down wind, around areas where they want wind protection for animals. You could put up a row of pallets (put some stakes in the ground and drop the pallet over it. And if you wanted it to look awesome either grow a climber over it, or staple shade cloth to the pallets, and grow a climber over it when you have time. It could look lovely and rustic, and be useful as well.

[Darwin.]

I had considered a fence with spaces between the timbers like wood and then plant something on it, possibly flowers to attract bees. I don't grow any flowers really.

[Feral007]

If you can get pallets and fill the spaces with dirt and then plant trailing plants in the top, and maybe something out the side as well it could look really interesting, and be useful.

Pallets have become something everyone wants now around here. But tyres are taking over. A lot of people make retaining walls out of varying heights of tyres, fill with dirt, and then plant trailiing plants.
I made a horse yard out of them, as the yard is not needed so much anymore I'm using them more in the garden. Tyres refitters love us horsey people, instead of them paying to scrap the used tyres, they truck them to our properties, and get a case of beer for delivery. Win/win, altho I don't really want to use them IN the garden, it's possible I'll use them to edge around the food forest to protect the windbreak trees until they are big enough to look after them selves.