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

bettabug wrote:
Thanks to all for the replies! Had to pot up most of the trees - unusually strong winds (daily with no let up), twice weekly (or more) rains that just kept the ground unworkable, and 4.5" in 3 days showed me that I needed to raise the ground a bit more.
I finally did get over being intimidated by the idea that I had to live with what I planted "forever". All of the trees are good for wood production, so I have decided to plant thickly and then thin out later. If they aren't "lumber size", they'll make good stakes or fence posts or badly needed mulch and compost material. Also, when I finally got over being obsessed with perfection, I sat down with the graph paper and let my intuition suggest a plan. I think it'll work nicely - 3 rows, shrubs - trees -shrubs. Each row 10' wide with 6' between rows (width of my tractor and implements). The plants within each row will be staggered both in distance and width, and planted mostly in groups of 3 to 5. The ratio of evergreen to deciduous will be 5:1 in the middle (where I need the most protection) and 3:1 on the ends. I plan on staggering the decidous plants within the rows so that if row 1 has a deciduous shrub, the tree(s) and leeward shrub row will be evergreen, etc.

Due to lack of money and very unfavorable spring weather, it's impossible to get it all done in one planting. And that may actually be a blessing. I pulled some of my pictures of landscaping I'd done "by the seat of my pants" (no plan, just gardeners intuition and experience) and realized I needed to quit thinking so hard and trust what I know.

Sound familiar to anyone????