Benefits of Planting Trees This Fall

Why Plant Trees This Fall?

 

There is a Chinese proverb concerning trees attributed to Confucius. “If your plan is for one year, plant rice. If your plan is for ten years, plant trees. If your plan is for one hundred years educate children.”

 

Trees offer numerous benefits to your property and your surrounding environment. Trees can enhance curb appeal while increasing property value, trees improve air quality by absorbing pollutants and releasing oxygen, and trees provide shade, which can lower your overall home energy costs.

Trees help regulate water flow, reduce soil erosion, and create a habitat for wildlife. We discuss some of the benefits of planting trees below. Another Chinese proverb says this about planting trees: “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second-best time is now.”

 

What Are the Environmental Benefits of Planting Trees?

 

Planting trees on your property can provide environmental benefits listed below:

• Improve Air Quality: Trees absorb carbon dioxide and other pollutants and release oxygen back into the atmosphere.
• Helps Water Management: Trees slow down water runoff, which can prevent erosion and flooding on your property.
• Trees Increase Rainfall: Because trees, through transpiration, release water vapor into the atmosphere, which can then condense and form clouds, leading to increased precipitation. This is why you see more moisture under trees when it’s only been a light rain or heavy fog. Reforestation work can help increase rainfall.
• Trees Enhance Habitat: Trees provide shelter and food for a wide range of wildlife species. Flowering trees bring butterflies and bees to your property and help pollinate plants.

Planting Trees Enhances Property Values

 

Planting trees as landscaping for your home and backyard can increase your property value and add curb appeal:

• Trees Can Increase Property Value: Trees can significantly increase the property value of your home for many reasons.
• Trees Are an Easy Way to Increase Curb Appeal: A well-maintained and landscaped yard can enhance the overall look and feel of your property and add curb appeal.
• Trees Can Decrease Utility Bills: Trees can lower your utility bill by providing shade for your home.

 

Trees Can Increase Health & Well-Being

 

Trees can add to the beauty of your home and can help enhance health and well-being. Trees are a natural way to add to the relaxation, recharge, and renewal factor for your body and spirit:

• Trees Provide Stress Reduction: Studies have shown that being around trees can help reduce stress and improve your mental outlook.
• Think Trees & Swings: Trees offer a perfect place to hang a swing or put a bench to relax or meditate. Swings are known to increase endorphins and allow stress to melt away.
• Trees Can Improve Air Quality: Trees provide filtering and cleaner air, so trees can enhance respiratory health.
• Trees Provide Grounding: Humans these days spend less time outdoors than our ancestors. Trees and the ground beneath them give us a great place to ground and go barefoot. Grounding can help calm our nervous system, take us out of fight or flight, and lower stress.

 

Choosing Trees that Work for Your Yard

 

A little planning can help you choose trees that fit your property and give the most benefits. It’s important to choose trees that are low-maintenance if you don’t want a lot of extra yard work. We have also taken into account trees that won’t damage foundations or driveways. We listed fruit-bearing trees, which add beauty and also decrease your food costs.

 

Choosing Low-Maintenance Trees

 

If you don’t want to create ongoing yard work, planting low-maintenance trees is a good choice. These trees are known for their beauty, adaptability, and minimal care needs. They also offer year-round interest with varying foliage, blooms, and bark colors.

• Japanese Maple: These trees are popular because of their beautiful foliage and adaptability, thriving in various soil types and light conditions. They offer a full range of colors, from reds and oranges to greens, providing year-round beauty.
• Western Redbud: Western Redbuds are well known for their amazing early spring flowers, beautiful foliage, and hardiness. They are a smaller tree, making them good for smaller yards and less prone to requiring frequent pruning.
• Crepe Myrtle: Crape myrtles offer a long blooming period with gorgeous flower clusters in various colors, plus attractive foliage and bark. They are also drought-tolerant and thrive in heat and humidity. Crape myrtles come in white, pink, red, and purple varieties.
• Fruitless Olive: If you like the look of olive trees but you don’t want to deal with picking the fruit, a fruitless olive tree is a great choice for your yard.

 

Driveway & Foundation-Friendly Trees

 

Many people have had a bad experience with trees ruining foundations or driveways, or worse yet, a tree that seeks out water and damages your septic or sewer system. Trees to avoid include: oaks, poplars, willows, silver maples, and elms. Below, we offer some suggestions on trees that are driveway and foundation-friendly:

• Flowering Dogwood: These trees have beautiful spring blooms and can be maintained as smaller trees or shrubs, making them suitable planing close to your home’s foundation.
• Japanese Maple: Known for their beautiful and colorful foliage and relatively non-invasive root systems, they are a popular choice for planting near your house.
• Crabapples: Crabapples can be kept smaller and are excellent for smaller yards.
• Crepe Myrtle: If you want blooms that are long-lasting, choose this tree. Popular for their long-lasting blooms, flexible roots, and ability to tolerate poor soil, they are well-suited for being planted near your home. You’ll notice many of these trees in our area as sidewalk trees or in shopping centers. They have low water needs and flourish in Sonoma County.
• Western Redbud; The beauty of the Western redbud is that it can thrive in partial shade, and it can be trimmed to be a good understory tree.
• Serviceberry: This tree makes a wonderful border tree and does well near foundations.
• Arborvitae or Thuga: This tree is a classic evergreen that grows quickly with year-round color and structure that lends itself well to be planted near foundations.

 

Easy-to-Grow Fruit Trees

All fruit trees require some maintenance due to pruning needs. You don’t need a large orchard or lots of gardening experience to grow many fruit trees. Many of the fruits your family like are pretty easy to grow. We discuss some of the easiest to grow below. It’s always good to check your growing zone to make sure which fruit tree varieties grow best in your area. Sonoma County’s climate allows for a wide range of fruit trees to thrive; from apples to grapefruit, lemons to oranges, cherry trees to kiwi, so many more. Realize that many of these fruit trees are available in dwarf size so they can work for even small yards.

 

 

 

• Apple: If you have a small yard, there are many varieties of dwarf apple trees that will be a good choice. There are more than 7,000 varieties of apple trees available all over the world. Apples need full sun and a well-drained soil. They grow from 8-40 feet tall. Dwarf varieties allow for maintenance with a 6-foot ladder.
• Pear: Pear trees are some of the easiest fruit trees to grow, and Asian Pears are the easiest. Most pear trees don’t self-pollinate. Therefore, they need to be planted in groups. Make sure to pick a pear variety that works for the chill factor in your area. Pears need full sun and rich, well-drained soil. They grow to be 8-20 feet tall and come in dwarf varieties, too.
• Plum: Plums are adaptable and easy to grow. They need full sun and rich, well-drained soil. They grow 10-20 feet tall.
• Cherry: There are two varieties of cherry trees, sweet and tart cherries. Both types of cherries are easy to grow. The more trees you have, the more fruit they produce because they are self-fertile. They need full sun and rich, well-drained soil, and grow to 8-30 feet.
• Fig: Fig trees are pretty adaptable, and there are even cold-tolerant varieties. They can be potted and brought indoors in the winter. Figs like full sun and well-drained, rich soil. They grow to 10-30 feet.
• Citrus: Many citrus trees can be grown in pots till they start getting root bound. We get occasional snow where I live, and lemon and orange trees still thrive. Citrus trees like full sun and well-draining, rich soil. They grow to 5-10 feet tall.
• Peach: Peach trees are easy to grow and are self-pollinating, so you only need one. They like full sun and rich, well-draining soil and grow to 5-25 feet tall.

We wish you a glorious last days of summer. Fall and winter are the best times to plant trees. We have so many great nurseries in Sonoma County that have an abundance of trees to choose from. If you want to free up more of your time to enjoy our beautiful Sonoma County weather delegate your house cleaning to Crystal Clear Home. Just give us a call at 707-827-3316 or fill our our handy Free Estimate form and one of our cleaning professionals will be in touch promptly to answer your questions.