There’s Money In Those Trees

For some reason, landscaping is one of the last things people think about when they pursue a new home. Perhaps because people view it as a kind of beautification project for the property, landscaping is often pushed to the back burner and placed in more as an afterthought to fit in with the new home, rather than becoming a part of the design process. There are a number of ways moving the landscaping discussion up to the beginning of the design phase can benefit new homes both in fitting in perfectly with the property and offering savings along the way.

The relationship between new homes and landscaping is one that is increasingly paid attention to as consumers begin to understand the effect trees can have on things like the heating and cooling bill each month. However, when facing something as daunting as picking out a lot and design for a new home, many potential homeowners are simply too overloaded to delve into landscaping fully. With that time crunch in mind, here are some key areas you should look at when evaluating new homes and potential landscaping.

Your Tree Heat Regulators
The potential for trees to help regulate the heating and cooling expenses of a home have long been known, but recently as energy prices have risen, the importance of these types of measures have received extra attention. New homes are increasingly incorporating energy-saving deciduous trees into their design as they serve as wonderful sunlight regulators. In the winter, when sun is needed to help heat your new home, the leaves fall off of the tree and let sunshine pass completely into the home.

However, in summer when your new home is feeling the relentless heat of the sun, these same trees take on leaves and help provide shade to take some stress off of your air conditioner. New homes are increasingly energy efficient and capping off those structural, roofing, and material improvements with landscaping that makes an intelligent use of the trees and shrubs involved can help your new home cost less to run year round, a big advantage as energy prices continue to rise.

Tailoring Your Trees
To get a full perspective on the way your home will look, landscaping is necessary to give the home a complete look instead of envisioning your new home on a pile of mud. In that regard, planning out your landscaping early on the new home process can help you choose trees and other plants that will thrive in the localized conditions of your lot and your general area. Doing so helps you get a better feel for the way your new home will incorporate landscaping into the overall design and could suggest changes to be made as a result.

That’s not to say that you should feel compelled to design your home around the trees native to your area, but new homes are often large undertakings that people want input on to the very last brick. In that vein, having input into the landscaping and understanding the options is just another way to make sure that the new home you are investing time and money into lives up to the vision you have in your mind for its construction.

Landscaping is certainly not the most important aspect of new homes, but it is unfairly seen by some potential homeowners as the last step of the process, a tacked on item to the home’s building plan. Because landscaping can play a critical role not only in how your new home is seen but how much you spend on heating each month as one example, it should be given more energy. Using these tips as guides, you can have a hand in the landscaping for your property without losing sight of the other complex steps building a new home entails.

Resources Related to a Home's Energy Efficiency:

Buyenergyeffeciency.org's energy resources page. || U.S. Department of Energy's Renewable Energy Efficiency page. || Things to consider when  hiring a contractor to do your energy projects. || Other home repair projects. || When things sour with your energy project, tips on terminating your tradesman.

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