“Your goal is to protect and maintain the individual trees while at the same time maintaining the structure of the windbreak as a whole,” said Steve Lyda.
To get to that goal, landowners and operators need to practice weed control, protection from large animals and rodents, corrective pruning, insect and disease control and proper chemical use in neighboring fields, Lyda said.
“In my opinion, weed control is the most important part of caring for a new windbreak,” he said.
It’s best to control the weeds both in the rows and between them for the first three to five years, he said. Landowners can choose mechanical, chemical, mulch and fabric weed control. Two or three mechanical weed removal passes per season will eradicate most annual and biannual weeds and suppress most perennials. Cultivation should stop in late summer to allow the plants to harden for the winter.
Avoid clean cultivation, Lyda said. Clearing all weed residue would allow wind erosion. Windbreaks also provide a lot of wildlife habitat between the rows if not cleaned up too thoroughly.
Lyda advised caution in using chemicals. He said that extension educators can recommend chemicals that will remove weeds without harming trees.
Mulches can keep weeds from getting out of control, particularly the black plastic fabric used in West Central Nebraska where rainfall is reduced. Hay or fine sawdust can smother the roots.
After ten years, weed control again becomes necessary. Noxious weeds and sod-forming grasses can choke the trees to death. Tillage should stop, though, as trees mature and shade out the weeds. Control should become a manual operation.
A windbreak is made in such a way that all the leaves and branches contribute to its effectiveness. There may be times when the structure is too dense or the trees are too tightly packed into a restricted area. That can be remedied by some careful tree removal.
If the windbreak is not dense enough, adding a few trees might solve the problem.
“Judicial pruning can also help a windbreak become more dense by improving individual tree structure. But resist any urge to prune a windbreak tree like you would a residential tree,” Lyda said.
For more information, EC97-1768, “Windbreak Management,” provides good guidance. It’s available online at: http://www.ianrpubs.unl.edu/epublic/pages/index.jsp by clicking on “By Number” under the “Publication Indexes” heading in the left navigation bar. EC97-1768 is near the bottom of the numbered list of publications that appears.
You can also speak with your local extension educator or district forester.
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