Many of us have trees around our home but have never thought about the endless benefits they provide. Along with curb appeal, trees can also help lower your heating and cooling costs. Trees add so much value to your home and your community. If your yard doesn’t have enough trees, it may be time to plant some!

Curb Appeal

Believe it or not, landscaping can greatly increase your home’s value. Curb appeal makes a house more attractive and it also requires less work for the buyer when they move in. Landscaping doesn’t just include flowers and shrubs. Trees, especially mature trees, can increase a home’s value by 20 percent, according to this article by the Arbor Day Foundation.

Lower Energy Bills

Another one of the many benefits of trees is their ability to save you money! Trees, when placed in the right place, can shade your home from the sun in the summer and protect your home from cold winds in the winter. Shading and protecting your house from the cold weather can help save you hundreds of dollars a year. Be sure to research what types of trees are hardiest and best for your area. Even newly planted trees, when put in the correct spot, will have an effect on your energy costs in as little as five years.

Cools Home and Neighborhood

Not only do trees benefit your home, but they also benefit your neighborhood. Trees have a unique cooling effect known as transpiration. Transpiration cooling is what happens when the water is transpired from the tree’s leaves and into the air around them. This water vapor cools the surrounding air and causes a cooling effect. When there are trees along the streets in a neighborhood, the neighborhood becomes cooler as a whole.

Increases Community Value

As we mentioned above, trees provide many advantages for our homes and our neighborhoods. When trees are planted in yards and along neighborhood streets, property values increase by as much as 15 percent. There are many other ways trees increase community value such as:

• Lowering energy costs
• Help purify the air
• Reduce noise
• Prevent erosion
• Attract animals

Provides Nutrients and Shelter for Animals

Last but not least, trees are used for shelter and food for wildlife. Birds can perch there to sing and nest, squirrels can use trees to find food, and many other organisms thrive off the nutrients and shelter the trees provide.

Are you thinking about planting trees in your yard?

Please contact us if you have any questions when it comes to planting trees and improving your home’s curb appeal. Call us at 574-527-1700 or send an email to Kim@homeswarsaw.com so we can help meet your needs.