Hey r/landcaping— I’m about to build a permanent BBQ/grill station in my backyard and I want to get the placement right before I pour anything.
Big issue: I get strong winds mostly from the North, including NE and NW, and I don’t want smoke blowing:
- into the house (doors/windows),
- into the cook’s face,
- across the seating area
I attached a satellite view with notes:
- Red outline = my property
- Blue arrows = typical wind direction
- N/E markers on the image
- Pool + house are visible for reference
What I’m building
- Fixed station (counter + grill/BBQ, maybe sink later)
Questions
- Based on the wind, where would you place the grill so smoke gets pushed away from cook + guests most of the time?
- Is it smarter to put the grill against a wall for wind protection, or keep it more open so smoke doesn’t swirl back?
- Any practical rules on how to avoid turning the cook area into a wind tunnel?
by Chris_G9
1 Comment
That render shows a textbook turbulence trap. When strong wind hits the back of a solid perimeter wall, it vaults over and crashes down into the low-pressure pocket on the other side, right where your grill is. Instead of blocking the wind, you are creating a “rotor” effect that will spin smoke directly into the cook’s eyes and trap it under the pergola.
To fix the physics, you need to either vent above the turbulence or change the angle. A tall masonry chimney works because it pushes smoke into the slipstream above the wall, but it’s expensive. A smarter layout is to rotate the grill station 90 degrees (perpendicular to the back wall) or build an L-shape return. This allows the wind to blow across the cooking surface, carrying smoke away sideways, rather than fighting the downdraft.
Before you commit to a layout, snap a photo of the dirt and run it through GardenDream. It’s a solid blueprint tool for DIYers to visualize how an L-shaped counter or a tall chimney structure actually fits the scale of the yard. Better to catch a clunky layout digitally than after the concrete sets.