COLUMBUS, OH -- A comprehensive guide to planting and maintaining forest windbreaks is now available through the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR).
The "Ohio Windbreak Guide" is a 46-page, full-color manual that describes the benefits of windbreaks and provides information on how to design and plant them. Graphs and charts give the reader quick reference to 16 common tree and shrub species used in windbreaks. The guide provides information on how to select the proper species for area, soil type and desired growth rate.
Windbreaks, or rows of trees and shrubs planted to protect open farmland or structures, play a conserving role in Ohio agriculture, especially in northwest Ohio where soils are highly susceptible to wind erosion. Hundreds of miles of windbreaks have been planted in northwest Ohio - including the Lake Erie watershed - to prevent soil erosion and protect wildlife, while reducing the effects of gusts on man-made structures.
Copies of the new guide are available from the ODNR Division of Forestry at 1855 Fountain Square Court, H-1, Columbus, Ohio 43224-1383; or by calling 614-265-6694. Landowners in northwest Ohio can obtain copies from their local soil and water conservation district offices.
The Ohio Lake Erie Commission funded production of the guide to provide useful information for northwest Ohio property owners and conservation agencies on the benefits of windbreak buffers. The commission seeks to meet the goals of the Lake Erie Protection and Restoration Plan, one of which is to establish buffers and windbreaks on 80 percent of Lake Erie watershed ditches, streams and tributaries.