How it works
A windbreak does not stop wind; it lifts and slows it. A dense wall gives a short zone of calm and a swirl behind it, while a medium-density windbreak slows the wind over a longer distance. How tall the trees are and how solid the rows are decide the effect.
Rows of conifers such as spruce, pine and juniper are common because they keep their needles in winter, with deciduous trees added in some plantings.
Why it matters in Northern Nevada
Wind is a fact of life here, from the Washoe Zephyr in the afternoons of the Truckee Meadows to downslope winds in Carson Valley, and windbreaks cut blowing dust on ranches and homesites. Rows of Siberian elms, poplars and old spruces on valley properties are often windbreaks planted long ago. As they age, they lose limbs, die back and sometimes fall. See Washoe Zephyr and downslope winds.
What an arborist does about it
We look over aging windbreaks for dead trees, leaning trees, crowded crowns and branches over fences, roads and buildings, then plan removals and pruning that keep the row working as long as it can. Battle Born does not plant, so replacement planting is for a nursery or landscaper. For long rows, lot clearing and mastication equipment fits the work. See tree removal and lot clearing.
If a gap opens when a tree dies, the wind funnels through it, so the neighbors on either side take more of it. That is a reason to plan removals one at a time and not take out a whole row at once.
The row also changes how snow drifts across a drive or field, which is useful to know before removing a section.
Sources
- University of Nevada Cooperative Extension: Gardening Guide for High-Desert Urban Landscapes (read October 17, 2026)
- International Society of Arboriculture, Trees Are Good: Pruning Young Trees (brochure) (read October 17, 2026)