Its a beautiful blustery Autumn day in Hawaii Nei today, the wind is giving my baby mangoes a serious run for their money.

Got me thinking about how to protect my baby/flowering mangoes and other garden crops from strong winds.

My back yard faces North east, my front yard faces SouthWest,  my planting area is particularly windy, which has oftentimes deterred me from planting a variety of more delicate garden crops.  So far I've only ever used the space for a very wind tolerant crop: pineapple, to much success though i still yearn for vegetables.

How do you protect garden crops from wind?
How do you protect tree fruits from wind?
What crop options do I have for windy locations? 

You  could try planting some fast-growing tapioca on the border as a wind block. People also use haole koa as fences, because it happens to be a great nitrogen fixer.

You  could try planting some fast-growing tapioca on the border as a wind block. People also use haole koa as fences, because it happens to be a great nitrogen fixer.

thanks ill look into tapioca
my whole backyard actually is haole koa.  You would think it breaks wind  , but the wind rushes right past their skinny trunks.  I'll post up a pic of my haole koa back yard forest.  Despite being nitro fixers they are highly invasive.  I actually want to clear all the haole koa from my backyard. 

Yeah it's really tough to get rid of once it gets established and you will always be trimming the tops. Another idea might be to put up some lattice and grow beans or direct a lilikoi vine as a wind block.

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Areca palms are common wind breaks; could also try wiliwili if you want to keep it native, and i think this is also one of the best options. The main problem with Wiliwili is that there is a pest that is decimating that species at this time.

Stay away from KOA HAOLE; too much potential to colonize and spread, and is a pain in the ass to get rid of if you allow it to seed or establish its deep root system. Good for renewable source of firewood though, as it is the fastest growing tree on the planet, and can put on 10ft @ 2-4in in diameter in less than a year after harvesting.

Other choices: pine, bamboo and mango

what about the one they use on the north shore to shield the coffee plants?

Other choices: pine, bamboo and mango

If you have room for Bamboo, there are many clumping varieties that make good building material or with excellent edible shoots. They get to be around 40' tall with 2" to 4" diameter culms. There is a guy in Pupukea with many varieties, even a couple that have 8" to 10" diameter culms and 100' tall.

Being oceanfront on the windward side, we too have wind "issues"
Most of our garden area is framed out in 1/2" PVC where we attach screen material, visquene or shade cloth.
For starter/young trees, we drive stakes in the ground around them and attach screen material, visquene or shade cloth

Its a beautiful blustery Autumn day in Hawaii Nei today, the wind is giving my baby mangoes a serious run for their money.

Got me thinking about how to protect my baby/flowering mangoes and other garden crops from strong winds.

My back yard faces North east, my front yard faces SouthWest,  my planting area is particularly windy, which has oftentimes deterred me from planting a variety of more delicate garden crops.  So far I've only ever used the space for a very wind tolerant crop: pineapple, to much success though i still yearn for vegetables.

How do you protect garden crops from wind?
How do you protect tree fruits from wind?
What crop options do I have for windy locations?

When the plants are small I use straw piled on top and around each plant.  This also acts as mulch: reducing watering, attracting worms,  suppresses weeds etc.