Plants that thrive in wind are usually lower-growing, have leathery or hairy leaves, and flex rather than snap.
But the best planting scheme for a windy garden does more than endure the exposure. It works to break up the wind and create sheltered areas where a wider range of garden plants can grow successfully.
Windy Areas and Understanding Your Exposure – Guidance from Glasgow Landscapers
Before choosing wind tolerant plants, it helps to understand the specific exposure you’re dealing with.
The prevailing wind in most of the UK runs south-west to west, but local topography shapes what arrives at ground level.
A garden on the windward side of a hill gets the full force. One sheltered behind a stone wall or a row of houses gets something considerably gentler.
Coastal areas get salt-laden air alongside strong winds, and that changes the plant list considerably.
Plants that cope well with wind speed alone sometimes can’t handle salt spray, so coastal garden planting requires its own shortlist.
In cities, wind speed can increase through wind tunnels formed by buildings, and a balcony three floors up often experiences more exposure than the street below.
Identifying your specific exposure tells you whether you need windbreaks before any ornamental planting will succeed, or whether strategic plant choices on their own are enough to create a successful garden.
Windbreaks and Hedges
A solid wall or fence is not always your best windbreak. Wind hits a solid barrier and rises, then drops harder on the other side.
A permeable barrier (a hedge, a shelterbelt of trees and shrubs, or a slatted fence) filters and slows the wind rather than deflecting it, which creates sheltered conditions for considerably more distance on the leeward side.
The practical rule is that a windbreak provides wind protection for roughly five to ten times its height behind it.
A two-metre hawthorn hedge can shelter a substantial stretch of garden from the dominant wind direction.
For larger plots, shelterbelts of mixed trees and shrubs along the windward boundary are the professional approach. They help make exposed estate grounds protected against weather.
Shrubs for Windy Gardens and Exposed Borders
Evergreen shrubs form the backbone of any planting scheme in exposed locations. They provide year-round structure, reduce wind speed through the planting, and tend to cope well with the moisture loss that open, blustery conditions cause.
The best evergreen shrubs for exposed gardens in the UK, they are the ones that look like they belong there.
Hawthorn
Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna) is the hardiest hedging plant available for exposed gardens.
Spiny and wildlife-friendly, it produces white blossom in spring and berries in autumn, and establishes well in exposed windy sites that would defeat most ornamental shrubs.
Grown in windy conditions, hawthorn won’t grow as tall as in a sheltered position. But it forms a dense, effective barrier that improves the garden to break wind year by year.
Escallonia
Escallonia is one of the best evergreen shrubs for coastal and exposed gardens on the west coast.
It produces dense, glossy foliage and fragrant white flowers (or pink, depending on variety) in summer, tolerates salt-laden coastal air, and clips well into formal hedging.
Among wind tolerant plants, escallonia is particularly easy to grow and ideal for coastal gardens where salt spray rules out many alternatives.
Griselinia
Griselinia littoralis has pale grey-green foliage with ovate, leathery leaves that withstand coastal exposure particularly well.
Originally from New Zealand, it has become a standard choice for plants for coastal gardens and exposed borders on the west coast.
It grows steadily, provides dense evergreen cover, and reduces wind speed through the planting in a way that benefits the more ornamental garden plants growing behind it.
Pittosporum
Pittosporum tenuifolium carries small, wavy-edged leaves and tolerates windy locations and coastal conditions.
Once established and growing well, pittosporum adds structure and year-round interest to garden borders that would defeat less tolerant shrubs.
Ornamental Grasses for Windy Sites
Ornamental grasses are among the best garden plants for exposed locations. They sway gently in the breeze rather than snapping or losing leaves.
Their structure comes from flexibility.
Where a border of tall herbaceous perennials would look battered, a planting of ornamental grasses looks deliberate and moves with the wind rather than fighting it.
Species to Consider
Miscanthus sinensis, Stipa gigantea, and Deschampsia cespitosa are all wind-tolerant and perform well in exposed Scottish conditions.
Stipa gigantea produces tall golden oat plumes that catch light and move in even a light gust without damage.
Molinia caerulea is native to Scottish moorland and among the hardiest ornamental grasses for blustery, wet upland conditions.
For ground cover at the base of exposed borders, Festuca glauca and low-growing Carex species suppress weeds and cope well with dry conditions that follow windy weather.
Hardy Perennials for Windswept Borders
Herbaceous perennials for windswept exposed borders need either low, spreading habits or sturdy flexible stems.
Tall perennials designed for sheltered cottage gardens often need staking in exposed windy conditions. This creates maintenance and still looks dishevelled after a strong gust.
Wind tolerant plants that perform well in exposed herbaceous borders include:
Sedum (Hylotelephium)
The plants stay low with fleshy, drought-tolerant foliage and flat flower heads that hold their structure; wind tolerant plants are ideal for sunny front borders.
Crocosmia
For arching stems with bright orange and red blooms from July onward; it moves in a gust without damage and naturalises in many exposed gardens.
Eryngium (Sea Holly)
Spiny and architectural, it has tough stems that handle exposed borders and coastal windswept conditions, and cope well with dry conditions between rain.
Achillea (Yarrow)
This produces flat-headed flowers on strong upright stems, tolerates dry conditions, and attracts pollinators reliably through summer without needing support.
Hardy Geranium
This plant forms spreading mounds that hug the ground, tolerates partial shade and exposed borders, and produces flowers for months without staking or deadheading.
Plants for Coastal Gardens
Coastal gardens face a specific combination of strong winds, salt-laden air, and relatively mild winters.
The salt strips moisture from leaf surfaces and damages tender tissue.
Plants for coastal gardens need thick, waxy, or hairy leaves that resist this kind of desiccation rather than relying solely on general wind tolerance.
Tamarix (Tamarisk)
Feathery and salt-tolerant, tamarix produces beautiful pink blossom in spring. It is among the best plants for windy coastal areas and establishes quickly in sandy, exposed soils.
Phormium (New Zealand Flax)
With tough, architectural leaves that handle exposed windy sites and salt-laden coastal air without wind protection.
Senecio (Brachyglottis)
It has grey-green foliage with hairy leaves that reflect light and shed wind, ideal for sunny coastal borders and exposed south-facing sites.
Lyme Grass (Leymus arenarius)
This gorgeous blue-grey grass that grows naturally on coastal dunes and provides reliable ground cover plants for salt-laden exposed garden sites.
Hebe
For low and evergreen shrubs, hebes tolerate salt spray well. They produce summer flowers across a wide range of varieties for coastal and exposed garden borders.
Plants for a Windy Balcony or Front Garden
A balcony or exposed front garden often gets more wind than the main garden below.
Plants for Balconies
Containers dry out faster in windy conditions, and pot-grown plants on a balcony need to be in heavy containers that won’t topple in a gust.
Plant choices for exposed balconies and blustery front gardens need to account for wind resistance, drainage, and root stability together.
For a windy balcony, low-growing plants in heavy containers outperform tall specimens in lightweight pots.
Heuchera, low-growing Carex, and dwarf varieties of the coastal evergreen shrubs above all perform well in containers on exposed balconies.
Plants for Front Gardens
Exposed front gardens on corner plots or facing prevailing winds benefit from the same logic as a windswept border.
They need structural planting on the windward side, evergreen shrubs to filter and reduce wind speed, and perennials sheltered behind them.
A hedge of hawthorn or griselinia along the boundary gives a windy spot more wind protection than any amount of annual planting.
Exposed Garden Design from GGM Landscaping
Facing a garden in an exposed location means carefully planned planting schemes.
At GGM Landscaping, our garden design service has helped gardens in the most exposed locations throughout Scotland achieve the space they always wanted.
Where the garden needs landscaping to help protect from the wind, we handle that alongside the planting design. Including pathways, garden steps, and any structural groundwork that makes an exposed site safer and more usable.
Simply reach out to our friendly team of garden design experts and landscapers to learn more about our services, including finding the right paving and driveway material for your space.
Call us today on 07946 322717 for a free garden consultation, or request a free quote through our website.