Blocking Wind on a Rooftop Garden

Question

I have an apartment with a rooftop patio/garden on a five-story building. It is the tallest building in the area and gets fairly high winds which routinely knock over my patio furniture and damage my plants. I am looking for a solution to block the high winds, be it a plant or some kind of semi-permanent, possibly decorative, structure.

The side of the patio (in the picture below) where the wind comes in is about 15' (4.57m) wide by 7' (2.13m) high with the wall itself about 3'6" (1.06m). For a plant-based solution, it would either need to be able to cope with about 6" (0.15m) of soil or be placed in a planter. I can do a raised bed to give more soil depth, but that I would rather not if I possible. Alternatively, some form of semi-permanent barrier could be attached to the wall so long as it can be removed and won't do any real damage to the wall, as I am renting and there are some HOA restrictions.

Answer 1

You might consider bamboo in planters. You can get evergreen varieties, and types that are not just plain green (variegated, golden, black, etc). It will still let some sunlight in, and will do fine in a container. The "trunks" and leaves will provide some gentle wind control. If you are concerned that they may blow over, you can anchor them by stacking bricks around the base of the planters to create a sort of "dry wall" to prevent them from being tipped over.

You may also consider putting up a freestanding or easily removed lathe or lattice screen.