5 Ways Well-Placed Landscaping Can Reduce Electric Bills

Well-Placed Landscaping

5 Ways Well-Placed Landscaping Can Reduce Electric Bills

A well-designed landscape isn’t just about enhancing your home’s curb appeal. While a landscaping upgrade can be a significant financial investment upfront, energy-efficient design choices can help the landscape pay for itself in a matter of years. In fact, a landscape that is both aesthetically appealing and environmentally friendly can cut your cooling bills in half, and your heating bills by up to 30 percent.

Here in Pennsylvania, we get to fully experience all four seasons throughout the year. As a result, the best landscaping decisions for this region are the ones made with both hot and cold weather in mind. Read on for some of our favorite energy-efficient landscaping strategies to reduce electric bills year-round.

Landscaping Tip #1: Block winter winds and drafts with windbreaks.

Plant evergreen trees and shrubs on the north and northwest-facing sides of your home to deflect winter winds. This wind protection, or windbreak, will help to significantly reduce your heating costs during the colder months. Plus, you’ll get some added insulation to reduce home heat loss.

For best results, plant your windbreak at a distance 2-5 times the height of the trees.

Landscaping Tip #2: Maximize the sun’s warming effects with south-facing windows.

As mentioned above, evergreens and shrubs should be planted on the north side of your home to block cold winds. The south and west-facing sides of your home, on the other hand, should be relatively clear in order to take advantage of the warming effects of the sun to reduce winter heating costs.

Landscaping Tip #3: Use strategically placed shade to protect from the summer heat.

While winter is the time for maximizing the sun’s heat, summer is the time to keep things cool. Plant deciduous trees on the south and west sides of your home to reduce cooling costs by shading the hot summer sun.

It’s important that you plant deciduous (leaf-shedding) trees instead of evergreens on the south and west sides of your home. The leafy branches will block the sun in the summer; in the winter, the bare branches will let the sun through.

Landscaping Tip #4: Funnel summer breezes toward your home.

Make the most of air circulation with strategic tree placement. For example, create a wind tunnel by planting a row of trees on one side of the house, with a wall or fence on the other side. You can also use a cluster of trees to distribute cool breezes throughout the property.

Water features can also provide cooling effects. For example, a large upwind pond can have noticeable cooling effects on your entire landscape; a smaller fountain can cool a smaller area.

Landscaping Tip #5: Use your ground as built-in climate control.

By creating open lawn areas on the south side of your home, you can warm your home with a blanket of snow. After the snow accumulates in one area, the light will reflect off of the snow and into your home for added warmth (and beauty!).

In the summer, a stone or concrete surface can absorb from the sun during the day, and reflect it in the evening when the temperatures go down.

Consider your groundcovers, too. Do you want to absorb the heat with dark stone and wood chips, or reflect the heat with light stone or concrete? You may also want to shade the ground and pavement with plants in order to reduce heat and cool the air.

Customize Your Landscape

The best landscapes are tailored to each property’s unique needs and features. With that in mind, you’ll want to consider your home’s microclimate in addition to your regional climate—for example, do you get more shade or sun than the average home? Do you live near a body of water with cooling effects? Are winter winds a problem on the south side of your property, rather than the north?

Our landscaping professionals offer on-site consultations to assess your individual needs. Contact us to learn more about which energy-efficient landscape design options are right for your home.

Professional Landscaping Services in Fort Washington, PA, and Throughout Montgomery County, Philadelphia County, and Bucks County

Bala Cynwyd

Bala Cynwyd

Blue Bell

Blue Bell

Chestnut Hill

Chestnut Hill

Dresher

Dresher

North Wales

North Wales

Spring House

Spring House

Plymouth Meeting

Plymouth Meeting

Wyndmoor

Wyndmoor

Fort Washington

Fort Washington

Jenkintown

Jenkintown

Meadowbrook

Meadowbrook

Rydal

Rydal

Flourtown

Flourtown

Gladwyne

Gladwyne

learn more about the services we offer.

From solving drainage problems to creating elegant outdoor living areas, our experienced team can manage even the most complex outdoor projects. For specialty elements, we bring in our trusted partners and monitor their contribution to ensure they meet our standards, allowing you to continue working with one point of contact. This is what we can do for you:

Landscape Design

We take the time to truly understand your objectives, whether that is to create an outdoor oasis for your family, increase value and curb appeal, save water and energy with low-maintenance solutions, or all of the above. Our designs account for every detail of your space. Visit our Landscape Design page to learn more.

Landscape Installation

Our talented craftspeople and experienced horticulturists specialize in elegant plantings, pergolas, water features, patios, walkways, and so much more. We maintain industry certifications and affiliations, including ICPI, NALP, PLNA, and PCH, among others. Visit our Landscape Installation page to learn more.

Landscape Maintenance

Our full-service maintenance programs are customized to meet your property needs with services like weeding, mulch installation, deadheading, pruning, bed care, seasonal cleanup, seasonal flower installation, and lawn mowing. Visit our Landscape Maintenance page to learn more.

Outdoor Living

By designing an outdoor living space that matches your interests and accommodates your desired lifestyle, you make better use of your property and spend more time outside. Consider what an outdoor kitchen, fire pit, fireplace, or paver patio could mean for your daily life. Visit our Outdoor Living page to learn more.

Landscape Lighting

The right landscape lighting can increase visibility, increase value, deter trespassers, and create a specific ambiance in your backyard or front yard. It is a simple way to upgrade your existing landscape or make it a part of your holistic outdoor transformation. Visit our Landscape Lighting page to learn more.

Drainage

Without proper drainage, your plants, hardscaping, and home's foundation are at risk of water damage. Drainage solutions can be built inconspicuously into the landscape to protect your property. Visit our Drainage page to learn more.

Commercial Services

We offer snow removal, landscape design and installation, drainage solutions, and landscape maintenance for commercial properties of all shapes and sizes. Visit our Commercial Services page to learn more.