How to Protect Your Plants From Wind Damage in Winter

Winter weather can be brutal on plants, reducing their growth rate and making them brittle and fragile. Thankfully, with landscape design and preparation, you can protect your plants from the worst of it.

Winter wind can be the enemy of garden plants. The combination of strong winds and cold temperatures can leave your plants brittle and fragile, as well as slow down their growth. Even low levels of wind can cause long-lasting damage to your plants during wintertime.

Thankfully, there are steps you can take today to help protect your plants from chilling winter winds. With some proper landscape design and preparation, you can keep your plants safe and ensure they don’t suffer extreme wind damage this winter.

How Wind Affects Plants

Wind happens all year long, so why is it especially concerning in the winter? The combination of strong wind and cold temperatures is hard on plants and makes them more brittle. This makes them more likely to snap and experience other significant damage.

Top-heavy winter vegetables like Brussels sprouts are especially at risk, as strong winds will rock them back and forth, damage their feeding roots, or even topple them out of the ground.

Even lower wind speeds are dangerous for plants when paired with wind chill. Blowing wind removes heat from around plants faster than still air, leading to frost damage for sensitive varieties. Without proper protection, you’ll deal with blown-off leaves, broken stems and branches, and soil erosion.

How To Design Your Landscape for Wind

The best way to prevent winter wind damage is to prepare for it while designing your landscape. By utilizing stronger plants and other elements of your landscape, you can protect your garden plants from harsh winter winds and prevent them from becoming damaged.

Add Some Windbreaks

Many gardeners establish windbreaks such as hedgerows, trees, and fencing to slow down gusts of wind entering their yard. Some even plant around buildings and other structures to provide their plants with year-round protection.

Keep in mind that these physical barriers can also increase the risk of wind damage. Think of walking past a tall building on a windy day. Depending on the wind direction, it channels and concentrates the wind within it so you feel it more intensely.

Plants will feel the same effect when planted near walls or fences. Pay attention to the typical wind direction in your area so you can position plants where they will be most sheltered.

Allow Plants to Support Each Other

One of the most natural ways to protect plants from winter wind damage is to allow them to support each other. One summer example is the “three sisters” Native American planting method, where squash and bean vines are supported and protected by corn plants that grow nearby.

You can follow a similar strategy by planting perennials or placing potted plants near tall shrubs and trees to protect them from the wind.

If soil erosion is a concern, consider laying mulch or planting in containers of raised beds that aren’t filled to the brim. This protects the topsoil from direct wind exposure.

Three Steps to Prepare for Wind Damage

No matter your garden setup, there are steps you can take to protect your plants from wind damage.

1. Secure Anything Loose

When the forecast shows a winter storm is coming to your region, it’s smart to prep your outdoor space by clearing up anything that could go airborne. This means moving potted plants, putting garden tools away, and securing any outdoor furniture that could get blown away by strong winds.

Be especially careful to remove overhanging branches from places where they could cause damage when they fall. The combination of cold weather with wind makes branches brittle and far more likely to fall than during pleasant conditions.

2. Stake and Trellis Tall and Fragile Plants

The taller the plant, the more likely it is to suffer damage from winter winds. Fragile bushes and newly planted perennials that don’t yet have deep roots are also at risk.

Your best option is to stake them in place with posts or secure them to sturdy objects so that they will have some support against the wind. Ideally, you want them to be able to sway slightly with the strongest gusts without facing the full brunt of it. This lowers the chance they will break off at the base.

Climbing vines should be securely tied to their trellising at regular intervals so the wind can’t cause them to break off. In cases of extreme weather, consider pulling the vine off the trellis entirely and laying it on the ground where the wind won’t affect it.

If you want to avoid these problems altogether, consider pruning susceptible plants in late fall. By keeping plants small, you can ensure they are less likely to catch the wind and get damaged in the process.

3. Provide Wind Protection with Cloches

One of the best ways to protect small plants from winter wind is with cloches. These small, translucent covers go directly overtop plants to protect them from cold temperatures. They act as miniature greenhouses to retain heat and keep out the worst of the elements.

It’s wise to keep cloches on hand to use when the forecast looks bad. Any glass or transparent plastic container can work, so consider keeping mason jars and old food containers to use. Don’t leave the cloches on plants too long once the weather improves, as they can quickly overheat.

Looking to cover more plants at once? You can set up net cloches over entire garden beds. These are made from wire or polytunnel frames that are covered with greenhouse plastic outdoor netting. They let some wind through but keep out the worst of it to keep plants protected. Again, remove plastic once the weather warms to prevent overheating.

Set Up Wind Protection for Vulnerable Plants this Winter

Keeping plants safe through the changing seasons can be a challenge. You can remove the risk of wind damage this winter through innovative planting strategies and added protection when the forecast calls for it.

Taking the time to think through your wind protection plan will save you time and heartbreak by guaranteeing more plants make it to spring unscathed.