Energy Efficient Landscaping in Your Backyard

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Energy Efficient Landscaping in Your Backyard

Monday, October 13th, 2008    Subscribe To Our Feed

All of us like to save money.  With easy energy efficient landscaping you can save up to 30% or more on your energy bills.  Just a few simple adjustments to your existing landscape or by careful planning of your new landscape you can create an energy saving home.

So how does one accomplish energy efficient landscaping? There are various things that can be considered in both existing and soon-to-be-developed landscapes.

What About the Sun?

Where and how you can include energy efficient landscaping would greatly depend on the part of the country in which you live.  Your home may be hit on three sides by the sun each day making the cooling system work extra hard during the hotest part of the season.  Others may have a home that is situated on their property so that it faces morth-east with lots of shady trees on the south-west side making it very cold in the cooler months.

You can protect your home from the sun’s hot rays by a shade landscaping design, planting large shade trees on the south and west side of your home.  Of course on the flip side, if you want your home to be warmer in the long winter months you would want to do just the opposite, creating large open areas so that the sun can naturally warm the home.

By planting deciduous trees that will lose their leaves during the fall this will also allow the sun to heat the exterior walls of your home as well as the cement patio, pathways and foundation.

Break the Wind

Wind chill can also cause your home to be cooler.  A cold winter wind blowing through your home can quickly drop the inside temperature by as much as 10%.

Plants that serve as effective windbreaks include evergreens or trees in general. In fact, even fences placed in strategic locations can serve as windbreaks.

Keeping Your Home Cool or Warm

One of the primary culprits in the wasting of energy is the heat or cool that escapes through the home’s roof, windows and doors. It is imperative to find a way to keep heat or cool air inside the home.

Another way is with the energy efficient landscaping that includes thick shrubbery planted close to the home, but leaving a pocket of dead air creating a natural thermal space.  Again, make use of your local nursery expert as to which type of shrubs would be the best and the proper amount of dead air space between the home and shrubs.

The end result of your planning should be not only a beautifully landscaped yard, but one that is also energy efficient.  Energy effiecient landscaping will save you money and one you can enjoy for years to come.

Get more ideas on outdoor landscaping visit Outdoor Landscaping Ideas