I just bought this farm last week. I have about 12 acres of field and the house is smack in the middle. So not only do I need some good wind cover so my house heating is more efficient, but also my open garden field gets it pretty good from the East and West. I wanted to plant some
trees to create some good wind barriers. From a rough estimate I would need near a 1000 feet of wind barrier in total. Now this is not just one strait line, but a few in the right places. I'm looking for not only fast growing varieties, but they need to handle the zone 4 temperatures and an average of almost 300 inches of snow in a year. I live in the upper peninsula of Michigan where we have a good amount of precipitation, but we have 30-50 degree temperature fluctuations frequently(a bit harsh), but mostly near the seasonal changes. Firstly I read a lot of living wind break methods using 3 rows of trees, and likely 3 varieties so that one guards the next and the next guards the next again.... So they fill in thick
enough and have enough protection to still thrive. I was wondering if anyone had some good insight into how to go about this. I could use planting tips(like when, how, why), varieties(tall, fat, fast, have fruit on them, nitrogen fixers, etc), concepts in general(I'm a noob), how much it would cost, and cost to value
experience in the long term(Information is best from the experienced). My soil goes from fairly fertile sandy loam(my garden field) to even more of a sandy loam that is not as fertile and a bit alkaline(great for berries!). Thanks ahead of time for any responses.
-Matt
