What evergreen(s) for shelterbelt?

40701085

Looking to shelter the house a bit on the south & southwest side with some evergreens to shield from the worst of the wind but not too high for them to block loads of sunlight. I will hopefully have enough room (depending on their height) to keep them back from the house a bit.
Don't fancy the look of Leylandi - would be glad to have people's recommendations on an attractive alternative...

Site is moderately exposed - not coastal but high enough.

Cheers folks

wildlandscape

The best kind of wind break is usually deciduous and porous rather than an evergreen barrier. By allowing the wind to pass through a hedge made up of hawthorn, elder and ash tree, you reduce the force of the wind more efficiently. The solid coniferous hedges redirect the wind up and over the barrier but do not reduce the force of it.
I really recommend what you see in nature, a mixed hedge with different levels of trees and shrubs. Consider hawthorn, alder, ash, sycamore.
Alder is very quick growing, a terrific wind break and it won't block sunlight, especially in winter.

mountainy man

i live at 290 m up a mountain in sligo and have started my garden from scratch and have been experimenting with various trees and shrubs in a shelter belt. i dont like lleylandii either is too much like a green wall it has been called green concrete ! its much better to try to allow the wind to filter through than block it altogether.
i can recomend pinus mugo the mountain pine is a bushy version of scots pine grows to about two metres and is very hardy it has a variant called "winter gold" which turns golden in cold weather, this would make an exelent hedge. Berberis darwinii evergreen shrub or hedge with small holly like leaves has clusters of orange flowers in mid spring and blue black berries in autumn.
also olearia macrodonta is evergreen with sage green not sharp holly like leaves and is covered with daisy like flowers in summer it is quite vigorus and will need tameing from time to time very hardy (to-16 as i had in january !) could be grown as a large shrub also.
yew makes a good hedge too although is poisonous not good if you have small children. beech is good too when clipped as a hedge will keep its leaves all winter before dropping them in spring as the new ones emerge.
holly would be good as well , a mixture of green and variagated ones are nice but fairly slow growing or could grow a mixture of all the above , any way all of the above grow well with me am very exposed and cold in winter , have fun.:D

40701085

That's interesting I didn't know about filtering the wind rather than blocking it.
Grand so, I will go with the native hedgerow look & see how it turns out,

Thanks so much for the replies

bbam

40701085 wrote: »

That's interesting I didn't know about filtering the wind rather than blocking it.
Grand so, I will go with the native hedgerow look & see how it turns out,

Thanks so much for the replies

That's a top decision..
Native planting is always best in the long run, best for your garden and best for the wildlife it is sure to support...