Living Snow Fence (Monument, Alma, Franktown: rent, house, landscaping)

[Charles]

I am considering planting a living snow fence. I live on the Palmer Divide near Monument and the snow seems to blow primarily from the North, maybe from 340-360 degrees true, but it is sort of hard to really tell, it could be from the northwest. I am considering flowering currant ($10 each or so) or flowering lilacs ($29 each). Probably will rent an auger, hire a helper and plant them ourselves. I estimate I will need a fence approximately 180 feet long. Anyone have any comments on recommended orientations, preferred shrubs, shrub spacing, recommended shrubs for growth rates, height, assumptions on wind direction, and distance from my house? Positive or negative experiences? Lessons Learned? Other options?
Thank You in advance.

[winglady]

I don't know a lot about snow fences, but do have one suggestion. When our friends moved to a cabin near Alma, their driveway was continuously being filled up with drifting snow. They put in a snow fence, and it actually got worse!

Then they experimented with different placements, and found one that did the trick. It was further away from their driveway than they assumed would work when they first started out.

My suggestion, if you haven't done this already, is to be sure to experiment first with a moveable snow fence (perhaps trying different distances from your house, and different orientations with portions of the fence). Find out what works before going to the expense of planting the trees in a way that won't actually do what you want done!

[sunsprit]

Try calling your county extension agent office for their expertise on this.

They'll know the best planting schedule and orientation.

They may even have access to trees/plants at substantially lower cost for you to do this. There's a bit of state and federal grant money around for improving and conserving water use in the area; a living snow fence may qualify in your county for a water conservation grant.

[Mike from back east]

Charles, good morning. Here are lessons learned from the storms of this past winter.

We're about 10 miles south of you, roughly halfway between exits 153 and 151 of I-25, about where FALCON stadium sits and two miles east of the interstate. I can walk to Pine Creek HS....

For us, the wind and snow seemed to come straight down from the north, blew a gale too. Huge drifts. I've posted the pix and links before. So, IMO, if you plant along the north face of your property, i.e., in a line running east-west (much like the Palmer Divide itself) you will catch most of the snow and it will drift over your snow fence, and not over the rest of your property. We saw that happen here. We have a concrete fence about 8 feet high running parallel to the divide and it drifted to the very top of that, couldn't drift any higher as that's as high as the fence went.

Funny, on the front of the house we have an ornamental evergreen of some sort right by the sidewalk. Tree is about 7 feet high. You guessed, the snow piled up chest deep on the south (leeward) side of the tree...right on our sidewalk. Yep, shoveled that out too....But the drift was ONLY in the spot where the tree was, rest of the sidewalk had very little snow, and the lawn was actually scoured bare of snow by the wind....

s/Mike from back east

[COflower]

Mike is correct. Most of the blowing snow in our county comes from the north so an east-west line is perhaps the best way to configure a living snow fence.

Also, if you drive north on I-25, you will the same configuration on the west side (mostly) just north of Monument Hill through Greenland and up to the rest area. They've planted a lot of trees in that area but have had to use snow fencing while the trees grow to be big enough to minimize drifts.

With that said, you will notice that they are mostly pine trees. A living snow fence will require trees that do not drop their leaves and thus pines are going to be the best. What particular pines are good, I don't know. They would need to be a pretty dense pine and I think blue spruce could be a good candidate for that but I highly don't think that you will have much luck with flowering trees as most flowering trees drop their leaves.

Do hit up the El Paso County extension office (as noted above) of Colorado State University. http://www.coopext.colostate.edu/elpaso/ I am sure that they can get you in the right direction. Also, we have some very good nursery/landscaping companies that have been around Colorado for a long time in C Springs.

Good luck!

[Charles]

Think I'll take winglady's (and others') advice and erect an ugly plastic snow fence (the neighbors will have a cow) for next season just to verify the correct offset and orientation. Of course next year we'll have two standard deviations less snow, maybe three inches all year.

[jazzlover]

The Extension Service is an excellent source of information. At your elevation and location, I would recommend staying with native trees and bushes. A few suggestions: Chokecherries, mountain mahogany, gambel oak for bushes; ponderosa pines, aspen (if there is sufficience ground moisture where you will build the fence), and Rocky Mountain juniper (for drier locations).

[FeelGood]

In Franktown, on the north side of Russellville Road, (off Hwy 83). There is a living snow fence. 'They' may be able to help too.

[froggin4colorado]

My brother does construction and I will ask him. If I don't reply in the next couple of weeks, it's because he doesn't know. Good luck though! I know what a pain in the butt it is to dig yourself out!

[BillRadio]

I'd like to comment about the living snow fences the state planted along I-25. They were planted 20 years ago and have only grown inches. I'm suprised they have survived, but the other snow fences have trapped enough snow to melt and help. The secret is that any stand of wind break trees need lots of water to establish. I too have benefitted from the Extension service. CSU's web site also has some good ideas.

More likely, in your 'standard deviation' there will be a heavy snow, but it will come for the southeast.