Tips to Landscape With Energy Efficiency in Mind

Proper landscaping can actually reduce the money you spend on your home energy bills. It’s eco-friendly, but it can also help you reduce your monthly costs by a significant amount. Careful planning can help harness the power of shrubbery shading to make your home naturally cooler during the summer. Well-placed landscaping elements can reduce air conditioning costs by 15 to 50 percent, and if you’re worried about the initial cost, good landscaping can pay for itself in less than eight years. But how do you landscape with energy efficiency in mind?

Considering Climates

If you live somewhere that’s hot year-round, you can place trees wherever you’d like to make the shade cool your home down. But if you live somewhere with a wider range of weather, you might have to be more careful with your landscaping efforts. For landscaping that truly emphasizes energy efficiency, plant deciduous trees on the south and west facing sides of your home. During the summer the trees will protect you from the sun, but during the winter the bare branches will let sunlight through to help warm your house.

Natural Air Conditioning

Both deciduous and evergreen trees can cool the air directly through a process called evapotranspiration. If you’re spending far too much money on air conditioning every year, invest in these kinds of trees to do the heavy lifting for you. Making sure your air conditioning units are shaded is also a great way to reduce your bills.

Shrubbery Options

Bushes and vines are a fantastic option for cooling down walkways or specific rooms of your home. Planting a series of bushes along a driveway or walkway may offer some valuable protection from the elements during the summer months. Alternatively, planting those bushes around your home could stop hot air from getting into your home.

Professional Landscape Design for Your Home

Rhine Landscaping has the tools to make your yard beautiful throughout the year, so trust us with all of your landscaping and poolscaping needs. We have the expertise and knowledge to complete any and all of the landscaping projects on your list. For more information about our services, visit us online or give us a call at (410) 442-2445. For more tips on how to keep your yard and pool looking great year round, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Houzz.