The Many Reasons To Plant A Tree

Trees beautify our surroundings, increase property values, and help save energy. The net cooling effect of a young, healthy tree is equivalent to ten room-size air conditioners operating 20 hours a day. Landscaping can reduce air conditioning costs by up to 50 percent, by shading the windows and walls of a home. If you plant a tree today on the west side of your home, in 5 years your energy bills should be 3% less. In 15 years the savings will be nearly 12%.

A mature tree can often have an appraised value of between $1,000 and $10,000. In one study, 83% of realtors believe that mature trees have a "strong or moderate impact" on the salability of homes listed for under $150,000; on homes over $250,000, this perception increases to 98%. Landscaping, especially with trees, can increase property values as much as 20 percent

One acre of forest absorbs six tons of carbon dioxide and puts out four tons of oxygen. This is enough to meet the annual needs of 18 people. There are about 60-to 200- million spaces along our city streets where trees could be planted. This translates to the potential to absorb 33 million more tons of CO2 every year, and saving $4 billion in energy costs.

The planting of trees means improved water quality, resulting in less runoff and erosion. This allows more recharging of the ground water supply. Wooded areas help prevent the transport of sediment and chemicals into streams.

Trees can be a stimulus to economic development, attracting new business and tourism. Commercial retail areas are more attractive to shoppers, apartments rent more quickly, tenants stay longer, and space in a wooded setting is more valuable to sell or rent. In laboratory research, visual exposure to settings with trees has produced significant recovery from stress within five minutes, as indicated by changes in blood pressure and muscle tension.

If all of this doesn’t convince you to plant a tree, maybe a little bit of information on HOW to plant a tree and WHAT tree to plant would help.

Here is a link to some helpful video’s showing you how to plant a tree properly. http://www.arborday.org/trees/video/howtoplant.cfm

If you have any doubt about which tree’s you should plant, this helpful article will list the Best 10 tree’s.

http://forestry.about.com/od/treeplanting/a/best_yard_tree.htm

http://www.arborday.org/trees/benefitsfullscreen.cfm