Landscaping for Energy Efficiency

What comes to mind when you think of ways to make your home more energy efficient? Solar panels, maybe? Special lightbulbs, perhaps? What about your landscaping? No, seriously. What you plant in your yard can have a big impact on making your home green – both outside and when the power bill comes. As a matter of fact, energy-efficient landscaping can even put a little extra green in your wallet. Here are three key landscaping tips to make your home more energy efficient!

1. Think Outside the Yard

“Green” landscaping doesn’t only happen immediately around your house. Setting up windbreaks can deflect wind chill (and thus lower energy costs) long before it hits your yard. What’s a windbreak? The name says it all – trees are planted in a formation that breaks up the wind so it doesn’t directly hit your home. Windbreaks are critical in a state like Utah (home sweet home for GCD) because of its cool climate.

But where do you make a windbreak? That depends on what you want to accomplish. Planting trees on either side of your house will direct cooler wind toward your home during the summer, but you mostly want to focus on the windward side of your home. Typically this is the north and northwest sides of your home. To find out how far away to plant the trees, determine the mature height of the species you will plant. The space between home and windbreak should be 2-5 times that measurement. Fences or walls will also help deflect the wind.

When determining what to plant in your windbreak, evergreens are your friend. These include trees like oak, pine, cypress and camphor. Keep in mind they’re typically the really dense, green trees. They keep that wind-blocking green foliage all year (hence the name evergreen). Camphor trees can even grow to be 98 feet tall!

Windbreaks don’t only block the wind, though. Though the name suggests they’re a bit of a one trick pony, they actually block snow, too. On the windward side of the home, plant low shrubs. They’ll catch the snow as it drifts before it ever gets to your house.

2. Tis the Season to be Planting, Falalalala-lala-la-la

You know those cool outdoorsy types who can look up into the sky at the sun and know what time it is? We don’t know any of those people, but it sure looks cool in the movies. It’s a great skill to have for landscaping, too. Knowing the path of the sun depending on the season plays a big part in determining what to plant where.

For summer sun, plant foliage that will shade the south and west sides of your home. It can play a huge role in lowering air conditioning costs by 15-50%. When purchasing your landscaping for these sides of the home, keep in mind a 6-8 foot tree will shade your windows in the first year, and shade the roof in 5-10 years, depending on the species and size of the home. Trees with crowns lower to the ground should be positioned on the west side of the home to shade that lower afternoon sun. Shrubs and groundcover plants will cool air before it ever reaches the house, and patios can benefit from bushes, shrubs, or vines on a trellis.

Winter is a different story. Instead of blocking that southern sun, now it’s critical to let it shine in. This will help warm the home and avoid turning on the furnace. We hear what you’re saying – what tree is going to block the sun when it’s hot and let it in when it’s cool? Not evergreen, as we discussed above. Deciduous is your answer. These types of trees are the perfect solution because they screen 70-90% of the summer sun while letting breezes through their leaves, and when it gets cold, the leaves fall to let all that warm sunshine into your home. That mother nature sure knows what she’s doing.

3. Wave Goodbye to Water Bills

If you’re worried about your new plant buddies saving your AC bill but racking up the big bucks when the water bill comes, have no fear. Designing your landscaping to conserve water is just another step! Group plants with similar water needs together and aerate the soil to improve the water flow to their roots. It’ll also help prevent runoff. Remember to water your plants in the morning when it’s cooler and water is less likely to quickly evaporate. Using mulch will also help minimize evaporation. As a bonus, mulch also reduces weed growth.

Windbreaks and shade trees aren’t the only elements in your yard, though. There are water-saving solutions for turf, too! First, try to plant types of turf grass that require less water, and organize it in continuous patterns to further minimize the water needs. In the summer, raise the cutting height on your lawn mower. Longer blades of grass shade each other and will retain more water. Plus, who doesn’t like cool grass to lay in during those warm summer days by the pool?

Sticking to these green methods when landscaping your yard can truly make a difference not only in your power bill, but in how you experience your home. It protects your home from the elements, lowers noise and air pollution, and generally helps the curb appeal of your home and your neighborhood! Seem like too much to remember? Lucky you – here at GCD, we landscape each and every home, taking all the homework out of the equation. It’s just another way we’re committed to being green.