More Creative Landscaping With Microclimates
Sunday, February 28th, 2010Regardless of where you live, and regardless of the weather patterns in your area, different areas of your property will have different special climates – microclimates – brought about by several different factors working together. The factors include the orientation of your site, its protection from wind, whether it slopes or not, and the amount of sun and shade it receives each day. Considering microclimates into your landscape design could prove to be one of the most important elements to how successful your landscape or garden is.
Any structures that you place on your property could have an immediate effect on its microclimate. All your landscaping ideas could easily be effected by just one placement. Houses can create windbreaks that alter the flow of air above and around them. There will be a warm area and a colder one created on either side of the building; and shade at certain times of the day. A fence or wall can have an effect on a garden or landscape just the same as natural features like trees and bushes.
Locally, the temperature changes depending on what the ground surface consists of. Some surface elements like bitumen get so hot in the hot summer months that you simply can’t walk on them. The heat that comes off of them is also felt in the surrounding air above. In comparison, a concrete surface keeps cooler. All landscaping designs will be effected differently by different elements. Grass is always cool with the length of the grass having an influence on the temperature of the soil under it. Temperature changes like this can help you grow warmth loving plants like semi tropical and some tropical varieties. Surfaces that heat up during the day will release the heat slowly throughout the night. This effect can help protect some susceptible areas from frost damage.
In gardens and landscapes that are exposed to strong winds, a barrier of some sort is usually needed. It’s been shown that solid wind blocks like wood fences make areas of turbulence on each side. This is common knowledge to most landscaping contractors. The best type of barriers are those that are semi-permeable and allow some air flow. Barriers like that will work like a filter rather than a solid block. You can use trees or shrubs with sparce foliage, open board fencing or even brick fencing with spaces between the bricks to make a good barrier.
Water has varying effects on microclimate. Depending on the size of the pond, it more or less keeps the air temperature stable. Since ponds reflect light, it generally means that any plants that are directly around a pond get more light as well as water than those planted in other areas of the landscaping. However, while a pond has a cooling effect on a hot summer’s day, it can have a positively chilling effect in winter, so you have to remember this when deciding where to place a pond in your garden.
People and plantings will both benefit when you give your microclimates some careful thought and planning.

