Beginner Gardening: How to plant a windbreak?, 1 by bettabug

bettabug wrote:
Would someone with a windbreak please give me some advice?

I need to build a windbreak (or shelterbelt - not sure of the difference). I have 30 years of gardening experience, but all of it was on urban/suburban lots. My biggest problem has always been getting plants that would stay small enough to not overwhelm the lot/yard. Now I have the opposite problem. We now have 4 acres (290' wide x 600' deep - and wouldn't you know it, the windbreaks are needed most on the 600' sides!). It is bare prairie and there is almost always a wind of 10 -15 mph, and when fronts blow through, gusts of 30 - 40 are very common.

I've read that the best windbreak is about 30' wide - a row of shrubs (sp 4-5'), then a row of trees 10' (sp 10' apart) from that, and then another row of shrubs 10' from the trees. This may be a good "rule of thumb" but I don't trust it (things seem to grow bigger here in Texas?!?! - I usually have to plant further apart than "recommended"). I also like a more natural look so I don't want it to look contrived (soldiers in a row). Also, if it is too dense, I know that it can actually make the wind on the leeward side more turbulent. But, if it's not dense enough, it won't be effective. I've looked locally, but can't find any good examples to work from. The pictures I've managed to find in books or on the net really don't fit what I'm wanting to do (soldiers in a row) and they don't give enough perspective for judging planting distance.

I do/will have a mixed bag of shrubs, and I have already bought 50 slash pine, 10 Eastern Red Cedar, and 5 Bald Cypress (all 18" - 36") to get me started (not much of a budget, so I'm starting a bunch from seeds). I would also like to mix in a few loblolly pine, deodar cedar, sweet bay magnolia, red maple, sweetgum, vitex, and a few mexican plum, native azaleas, and redbuds for understory (remember, I've got almost 1500 linear feet to eventually fill). Since spacing/density seems to be so important, I find that I'm really anxious about it. Also, because most of it is pasture, I'd like to narrow it down in the areas that are just pasture.

So, my biggest questions are: How do I determine spacing (a % of recommended?), and how many deciduous trees can I mix in without reducing effectiveness (3:1?, 5:1?, or should I put all evergreens in the most crucial areas and only use the deciduous trees in the pasture areas?).

Can anyone help...please? JoanJ, any advice? Do you have pictures of your windbreak?

Thanks in advance,
Martha