There are many ways to design a container garden to withstand wind. A few examples are to build wind slowing or blocking structures, to grow wind-tolerant trees, vines or shrubs to slow the wind, to grow wind tolerant plants, or to utilize any combination of these.
Wind Slowing and Blocking Structures
Building a wall or fine lattice structure to block or filter the wind may be the solution you need for your garden. If you don't want to block a beautiful view, tempered glass panels are an excellent choice.
Whatever you build, be sure it is well anchored and braced, and will withstand the strongest winds your garden may experience. This is especially important if your garden is on a balcony – you wouldn't want your windbreak to become a kite, potentially injuring those below.
If your winds are not too severe, a lattice structure may be all you need to slow and filter the wind for your garden. These can be built as stand-alone decorative structures, or as a framework for a climbing vine or espalier. Make sure to anchor the lattice to a wall and floor, or to a heavy planter which is securely attached to the ground or a wall. Remember that your structure will take the brunt force of the wind, and you wouldn't want it to be pushed across your deck or patio, destroying your garden along the way.
Trees, Shrubs, or Vines as a Windbreak
An alternative to building a wind-break structure is to grow wind-tolerant plants to slow the wind. Several trees and shrubs ideally suited for container growing also serve as excellent wind-breaks, tolerating and slowing the wind for more delicate plants down-wind. Vines can also be trained up a sturdy, well-anchored trellis structure to break the wind.
Suggested trees (depending on your climate): Acacia (shorter varieties), Arbutus (shorter varieties), Birch, Flowering Crabapple, tree Junipers, Melaleuca, Texas (Honey) Mesquite, Palms, Pittosporum, Tamarisk, Pussy Willow (can be shrub or small tree)
Suggested Shrubs (depending on your climate): Bamboo, Barberry, Bayberry, Boxwood, Bottlebrush, Ceanothus, Cinquefoil, Cotoneaster, False Cyprus, Euryops, Shrub Junipers, Bush Lupine (Lupinus arboreaus), Tree Mallow, Manzanita, Pacific Wax Myrtle, Rockrose (Cystus), Rosemary, Russian Olive, Common Privet, Tea Tree (leptospermum), Pussy Willow (can be shrub or small tree), Yew (these will grow to tree height, but over many years)
Suggested Vines (depending on your climate): Bougainvilla, Mattress Vine (Muehlenbeckia complexa), Cape Honeysuckle
Note: when planting your tree, shrub, or vine, anchor it well in its container. Wooden containers are ideally suited for this, where you can tie-off strong cords or cables to three or more strong branches on your plant, and anchor them with eye bolts to the inside of the container.
Wind Tolerant Plants
Most of the plants of the succulent or cactus type are well-suited to a windy garden. Low-lying woody plants will also hold up well to regular winds.
Suggested plants for a windy garden (depending on your climate): Agapanthus, Agave, Aloe, Beach Aster, Wild Buckwheat, Daylily, Flax, California Fuchsia, Geranium, Jade Plant, Jerusalem Sage (Phlomis), Lantana, Marguerite Daisy, Red-Hot Poker, Sage (Salvia), Sedge (Carex), Yucca
