Denise Skidmore

Anne Miller wrote:Where I live the wind is either from the north, in winter/fall or from the south, spring summer.

Most folks use either arborvitae or Lombardy poplar for windbreaks.

The road is north/south, the prevailing wind comes from the west.  Storm winds come from the north, but not much I can do about those as the road goes.  The house is in the lee of the barn during storms, we get both highs and lows of drifts between them.

Denise Skidmore wrote:We installed a small willow fence this winter.

More branches sprouted as the summer went on, but it never thickened much in the middle, new growth is mostly in pollard shape.  Little effect on drifts.  I may have to clear to the ground and develop it as coppice for a few years to get significant wind dampening.

Borax used for scouring would depend on the hardness of your water, but other water softeners are kinder to wool.

Amy Jurek wrote:Borers always attack our summer squash, but we rarely lose plants to them. Do a cursory inspection of the plants every other day until you see tell tale wilting occur. Then check daily. Follow the stem down until you see the frass, usually near the junction, sometimes on the underside. Once located take a pocket knife and make a small slit through the opening cutting along the length of the stem (not across) and move the tip of the knife until you impale/squish the grub (the plant will heal). Be vigilant after you catch your first borer. For us, there's usually one  outbreak and rarely anything after, the key is to catch them early.

This was my father's method, he grew butternut annually.  In addition he would heap up dirt over the stem above the wound, so the plant would be encouraged to produce more roots above the compromised nutrient route.

We installed a small willow fence this winter. Most of the information about willow fences is from a warmer climate than mine, midwinter seemed a bit early for the work here. We're getting only a few of the rods sprouting this spring.

Not much effect on snow blowing this year, but the sprouting rods will thicken, and we will replace dead rods next year.

Our prevailing wind is from the west/downhill, the storm winds come from the north, the road is to the east.  Snowdrifts during a storm is just part of the climate here, we're looking for things to stay cleared after they're plowed rather than prevent the need for plowing.  Just buying some snow fence and trying a few things makes sense.  I need to get on that before the ground freezes if I'm doing it this year.  (Probably a next year project, we've got a lot of other things going on this winter, and I'm mostly planning for spring projects right now.)

Lanolin is also a partial protection against pests.  Raw wool is much less subject to insect damage than finished wool articles.  (but not immune)  The downside is that the wool is less likely to absorb whatever other insecticide product you put on it if it is not clean first.

I've used the fermentation and the rainwater methods.  Fermentation is faster and easier to keep your wool separate from other contamination.  Rain is very easy, but you may have twigs/grass/dirt in the fleece afterwards depending on where you hung it.  Laying it out on screens or a canvas might be a good option.

Nancy Reading wrote:If you want to control where the snowdrifts end up you might find this link helpful. It gives some rules of thumb for height and positioning of snowfences.

For example, an 8 ft (2.4 m) fence should be placed at least 160 ft (49 m) from the area you want clear. If it is vital to prevent even shallow snowdrifts (on a busy road, for instance), install the fence at least 280 ft (85 m) away.

So, by that math, I'd want my fence way downhill from the house/road.  I am already working on a hedge there, that's where my willow grove is.  But not sure how the elevation change interacts with their height math?  Are we looking at the height of the shrub, or the relative elevation from the top of the shrub to the ground protected?  If the latter, then I'm better off with several rows of effectively short hedges closer to the area protected.

John C Daley wrote:An advantage of rocks may be that fact they dont take 10 years to appear.

Hedge height willows grow pretty fast, a 10-15 foot windbreak wouldn't take very long.  Anything as high as the house roof is a many decades plan.

[quote=John
C Daley]
This may help with a design https://www.agric.wa.gov.au/small-landholders-western-australia/establishing-effective-windbreaks-swan-coastal-plain

Looks like a good resource, although they are not talking about snow drifts when recommending setback distances...  "Windbreaks offer wind protection to a distance of about 10 times their height." is a good rule of thumb I can work with.  That means a 10' hedge at the end of the driveway could be effective for 100', which would get most of it sheltered.  

John C Daley wrote:
Can you use rocks to build deflection walls?

I'm not sure rock would be any easier or more effective than shrubs?  Definitely could use rock to support other earthwork.  As much stone as we have around here, it's mixed with the soil and I might be better off importing stone than trying to sift what we have.  The house is mostly built from stone that just washes up on the beaches a few miles north of here, with some field stone, and some quarry stone.

John C Daley wrote:
Are massive earthworks practical to divert the wind direction?

I'm not sure that they are?  But could integrate terracing for easier property maintenance with windbreaks that also double to hold the soil in the new shape with their roots.