blocking the wind and weed seeds

Hi everybody, I don't know where to post this question, so if anybody knows, please point me in the right direction. We live on the flat plains of Texas where the wind blows a lot of the time. I have a vegetable garden that is out in the open area of our yard (no trees or structures nearby). I am wondering if anyone has found an economical way to block the wind and thereby keep a lot of the weed and grass seed out of the garden? It seems I waste too much time in the spring fighting weeds. I use old carpet strips in the pathways, and have used layers of newspaper with bark chips over them. But I am still fighting the weeds and grass. BTW, I planted a row of arbor vitae on the north side of the garden to block the cold north wind. Any ideas are appreciated. Thanks

Do you want to block the wind for other reasons, or are you just hoping to block it to prevent weeds? I think the weed seeds are going to find their way into your yard no matter what, so I'd probably try pre-emergent herbicides instead of trying to put in a windbreak (or if you want the windbreak for other reasons, I'd still try the pre-emergent anyway to help with the weeds). The only trouble with pre-emergent is it'll stop your seeds from coming up as well as weed seeds, so if you're starting your veggies from seed in that bed then you'll have to make sure and time things so you're not starting your veggies at the same time the weeds would have been coming up (or start the veggies in flats and then transplant them to the garden...pre-emergent herbicide won't have any effect on plants that have already sprouted.)

Thank you for those ideas, ecrane3.. I do grow my plants from seed because when we lived in Alabama some tomato plants we bought at the biggest "Mart" store had root knot nematodes (unbeknownst to us.) We never did get rid of the nematodes from that garden no matter what we tried and they severely limited what we could grow there. If I use a pre-emergent I will be sure to start my plants in flats.
The wind here is so strong sometimes that it will blow my pepper plants over and break the branches on tomatoes plants. Another problem is that the wind drys out the soil pretty fast. I have thought about putting up a privacy fence on the north and south sides since that is where the most damaging winds come from. Does anyone else have problems with the wind?

I have tons of wind too, and I used to have a solid privacy fence across the back of my yard (on the other side of the fence is a giant weed field) and it did not appear to do anything towards keeping the weeds down, the wind could come over it and dump seeds no problem. Now I have an open more lattice-type fence because I wanted to grow vines on it, and I have the same amount of weed seeds coming in that I did when the fence was solid. That's why I wasn't sure a windbreak would really help you with the weeds. Sounds like you could probably use one anyway to help your plants be happier though. I've never really looked into building a windbreak--my house is situated halfway up a hill, and to block the wind I'd have to plant a row of really tall something at the bottom of the hill, but if I planted something that was tall enough to block the wind it would also block my view so I decided I'd just live with the wind.

Here's a nice document that talks about how a windbreak works and can help you plant height, distance from your garden you're trying to protect, etc to make sure you actually get the benefit you're going for. http://www.extension.iastate.edu/Publications/PM1716.pdf I still don't think it'll completely solve your weed problem, but if you set it up right it should help keep the wind off your veggie bed. They talk mostly about building the windbreak with trees, but the same principles would apply with a fence. The trouble with fences is they're not as tall as trees would be, so the area you're able to protect with them is much smaller.

The fast growing tree of choice here to break the wind so to speak lol is Leland Cypress. It is evergreen, grows I 'm guessing 60 ft tall and has a pear type shape that spreads up to 3 ft wide. Google it and see if it is ok for your region, I think you will like. Mine is in direct sun all day and are doing great. Welcome ladypearl!

I have been out of pocket for a while, so I want to say thank you for the information now that I'm back. We are considering planting a row of Leland Cypress on the perimeter of our yard but I need to do more research and see if they can survive the hot, dry weather we have here in the summers. I"ll check out the site about windbreaks and see what they have to say. Thanks again for the help!

Ladypearl, here are a couple links dealing specifically with windbreaks for Texas gardeners/farmers. I hope they are of use to you.
http://www.plant-materials.nrcs.usda.gov/pubs/txpmcnp6325.pdf

http://plant-materials.nrcs.usda.gov/pubs/txpmcot5584.pdf

http://agnews.tamu.edu/showstory.php?id=291

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T3Y-4914V98-59&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=1005950837&_rerunOrigin=google&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=b8c74906a8974988c39f9a21dda9d48c

The links were very helpful. Thank you. Somebody mentioned to me today that Arbor Day (arborday.org) sells the varieties of trees that make good windbreaks.

You are very welcome. Good luck with your plantings.