Landscape to Save Energy

Are you look­ing for cost-effec­tive yet eye-pleas­ing ways to low­er your ener­gy bills? Look no fur­ther than your back yard.

Plant­i­ng trees, shrubs, vines, grass­es, and hedges may be your best long-term invest­ment for reduc­ing ener­gy costs. That‘s because a well-designed land­scape will cut your heat­ing and cool­ing costs dra­mat­i­cal­ly, pro­tect your home from win­ter wind and sum­mer sun and reduce water con­sump­tion.

Care­ful­ly posi­tioned trees can save up to 25 per­cent of a house­hold’s ener­gy use for heat­ing and cool­ing. This means the aver­age house­hold will save between $100 and $250 each year. An 8‑foot decid­u­ous (leaf-shed­ding) tree can ulti­mate­ly save you hun­dreds of dol­lars in reduced cool­ing costs, yet still admit some win­ter sun­shine to reduce heat­ing and light­ing costs. Trees and fences can also be used as wind­breaks, cut­ting win­ter heat­ing bills by up to one-third in windy areas.

Land­scap­ing can save mon­ey in sum­mer or win­ter. When plan­ning your land­scap­ing, max­i­mize warm­ing effects of the sun in the win­ter and shade dur­ing the sum­mer, deflect win­ter winds and fun­nel sum­mer breezes toward the home.

Solar heat pass­ing through win­dows and being absorbed through the roof is the major rea­son for air con­di­tion­er use. Shad­ing is the most cost-effec­tive way to reduce solar heat gain and cut air con­di­tion­ing costs.

• To pro­vide con­tin­u­ous shade or to block heavy winds, use ever­green trees or shrubs.
• Decid­u­ous trees that shed their leaves in the fall – with high, spread­ing crowns (i.e., leaves and branch­es) – can be plant­ed to the south of your home to pro­vide opti­mal roof shad­ing dur­ing the sum­mer.
• Trees with crowns low­er to the ground are more appro­pri­ate on the west side of the house, where shade is need­ed from low­er after­noon sun. A 6‑foot to 8‑foot decid­u­ous tree plant­ed near your home will begin shad­ing win­dows the first year. Depend­ing on the species and the home, the tree will shade the roof in 5 to 10 years. If you have an air con­di­tion­er, be aware that shad­ing the unit itself can increase its effi­cien­cy by as much as 10 per­cent.
• Trees, shrubs, and ground­cov­er plants can also shade the ground and pave­ment around the home. This reduces heat radi­a­tion and cools the air before it reach­es your home‘s walls and win­dows.
• Use a large bush or row of shrubs to shade a patio or dri­ve­way and plant a hedge to shade a side­walk.
• Build a trel­lis for climb­ing vines to shade a patio area. Vines can shade walls dur­ing their first grow­ing sea­son. A lat­tice or trel­lis with climb­ing vines, or a planter box with trail­ing vines, shades the home‘s perime­ter while admit­ting cool­ing breezes to the shad­ed area.
• Shrubs plant­ed close to the house will fill in rapid­ly and begin shad­ing walls and win­dows with­in a few years. How­ev­er, avoid allow­ing dense foliage to grow imme­di­ate­ly next to a home where wet­ness or con­tin­u­al humid­i­ty are prob­lems.
• Ever­green trees and shrubs plant­ed to the north and north­west of the home are the most com­mon type of wind­break. Trees, bush­es, and shrubs are often plant­ed togeth­er to block wind from ground lev­el to the tree­tops. Or, ever­green trees com­bined with a wall, fence, or earth berm (nat­ur­al or man-made walls or raised areas of soil) can deflect or lift the wind over the home.
• Be care­ful not to plant ever­greens too close to your home­’s south side if you want the warmth from the win­ter sun.
• Plant your wind­break at a dis­tance from your home of two to five times the mature height of the trees.
• If snow tends to drift in your area, plant low shrubs on the wind­ward side of your wind­break. The shrubs will trap snow before it blows next to your home.
• Plant­i­ng shrubs, bush­es, and vines next to your house cre­ates dead air spaces that insu­lates your home in both win­ter and sum­mer. Plant so there will be at least 1 foot of space between full-grown plants and your home­’s wall.