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5 Windbreak Trees that will Blow you Away

Discover five rugged evergreen trees — from American arborvitae to Colorado blue spruce — that make ideal windbreaks for protecting your home, garden, and crops year-round.

A row of tall, dense green arborvitae evergreens lining a wooden fence under a bright blue sky.

A windbreak is a practical and inexpensive way to shielding heavy winds from your home, but windbreaks have additional benefits unrelated to wind. 

A windbreak is a practical and inexpensive way to shielding heavy winds from your home, but windbreaks have additional benefits unrelated to wind. Planting trees along the outer edge of your yard or property is smart way to create a privacy barrier, buffer noise, reduce heating and cooling costs, protect livestock and add appeal to your property. Trees are also more likely to outlive any fence you build for the same purposes.

Numerous factors will influence which trees you plant: evergreen, deciduous, same species, variety, longevity, hardiness zone, the options are plentiful. Here are five evergreens that make for great windbreaks and look beautiful.

A neat row of mature green American arborvitae trees forming a tall pyramidal windbreak along the edge of a yard.
Thuja occidentalis

American Arborvitae

Hardiness zones 3-7, slow growing, 40-60 feet high

Macro close-up of a Canadian hemlock branch with short flat green needles, set against a pure-white blurred background.
Tsuga Canadensis

Canadian Hemlock

Hardiness zones 3-8, slow to medium growing, 40-70 feet high

A single small white spruce evergreen partially blanketed in snow, casting long blue-tinted shadows across a sunlit snowfield.
Picea glauca

White Spruce

Hardiness zones 2-6, medium growing, 40-60 feet high

Rows of young Douglas fir trees with branches and ground heavily blanketed in fresh snow on a misty winter day.
Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca

Douglasfir

Hardiness zones 4-6, medium growing, 40-70 feet high

A single snow-dusted blue spruce stands in a snowy field against a gray winter sky, with tan grasses and bare deciduous trees on the horizon.
Picea pungens

Colorado Blue Spruce

Hardiness zones 2-7, slow growing, 50-75 feet high

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