Shelterbelt

Shelterbelts have been used for hundreds of years to protect livestock and crops from the wind and rain, but this isn't their only benefit.

Depending on the size, location, species choice and orientation of a shelterbelt, this traditional form of agroforestry planting can be tailored to each individual landholding.

What is a shelterbelt?

A shelterbelt is made of trees and shrubs designed to protect livestock and crops from harsh weather. These living barriers are carefully planted in staggered rows, combining different species and heights of trees to create a layered buffer against the elements.

Benefits of shelterbelts

Extreme weather such as heatwaves and droughts can hit livestock hard. Heat stress can lower milk production and even affect fertility. This is where shelterbelts come in – providing much needed shade to keep livestock cool.

At the other end of the scale, cold wind and driving rain can force animals to burn extra energy to stay warm, which means more feed, higher costs and lower animal welfare. Shelterbelts break the wind and offer shelter from the rain, helping livestock stay healthy all year round.

Shelterbelts don’t just offer protection where they stand. They create a microclimate that can stretch up to 20 times the height of the tallest trees in the row. So, a 10m-tall shelterbelt could offer good shelter across 200m of land on either side. And this is just the beginning – strategically-placed shelterbelts can also:

• capture ammonia emissions
• provide wood products such as wood chip or fuel
• offer browse for livestock
• support wildlife that helps with pest control and pollination.

How to plant a shelterbelt

Optimised shelterbelts are one example of how to approach shelterbelt planting. Start by planting the outer rows (one and two) facing the prevailing wind and with a mix of shrub and intermediate-height species. These should be spaced one metre apart within each row, and 1.5 metres between the two rows, forming a dense, protective buffer. Between them, plant rows three and four with taller tree species, giving them a bit more room – two metres apart within each row, with 1.5-metre spacing between rows.

The best tree species for shelterbelts

• Shrubs (rows one and two) – hawthorn, buckthorn, alder buckthorn, hazel, spindle and guelder rose.
• Intermediate trees (row three) – field maple, silver birch, bird cherry, goat willow, rowan and crab apple.
• Large trees (row four) – Scots pine, grey alder, common alder, aspen, black poplar and hornbeam.

Planting larger trees like silver birch and hornbeam in the centre of a shelterbelt creates space around the edges. This lets bushy shrubs such as hawthorn and the surrounding grasses fill out, increasing wind protection as well as biodiversity. Placing these large trees close to the eastern and southern edges, too, will in turn create more shade.

This method of planting can also be used to bolster existing hedges, which would take the place of rows one and two.

For more information about the appropriate species for your site location and growing conditions, please see our tree species handbook.

Thanks to Dr Lindsay Whistance for her input into this work.

This work has also been supported by players of People's Postcode Lottery.