6 Ways Trees Can Keep Your Home Safe and Protected

At Ben & Annie’s Trees for Tomorrow, we make it our mission to emphasize the crucial importance of trees throughout our environment, and while their benefits are nearly endless—it’s essential to understand the ways in which trees can help keep your home safe and protected. On top of adding value to your home, providing food for wildlife and producing healthy oxygen in our atmosphere, trees can play an extremely significant role in keeping your home safe—so read on to find 6 ways trees can help protect the home of you and your family. 

Protecting your home from soil erosion

If your yard lacks a decent amount of trees, you may find rainwater running across your property after a storm, which can lead to flooding, pest issues and soil erosion. A properly-maintained lawn can provide some protection from erosion, but little when compared to a tree. Depending on size and species, a single tree may store 100 gallons of water until it reaches its saturation point after one to two inches of rainfall. The slowed water then percolates through the soil, finding its way into local aquifers, feeding streams and rivers—rather than directly into the soil of your landscape. Thanks to their deep root systems, large canopies and thick branches—trees are an excellent solution for protecting soil from any weather condition.

Slowing wind speed

Trees, even just one or two, can significantly help break up high winds around your home, further minimizing the potential damage that extreme winds can cause. For the utmost protection, a mix of deciduous trees and evergreens tend to be the best species for windbreaks—and they should be planted on the leeward side of your home, which is most commonly the south or southwest here in Texas, as most of our storms blow in from those directions. Trees also protect your soil from wind erosion, which is the drying of the soil caused by wind.

Improving air quality

Trees are a major absorber of carbon dioxide, which is turned into oxygen during the photosynthesis process. This significantly improves the air quality around your home and in your community—and is especially important in bigger cities with higher pollution. The air in which we breathe is a huge factor in our overall health, and having trees throughout your yard can guarantee high-quality air around your home at all times. It’s estimated that one mature tree, depending on its type, can annually release enough oxygen for a family of four.

Increasing privacy

If you’re looking to add privacy to your property, trees can be a great solution to ensure maximum seclusion and protection. Privacy trees such as evergreens make wonderful additions to your yard and can offer year-round coverage to areas like your bedroom and bathroom windows to guarantee privacy from neighbors and strangers, and even block out noise. Their dark green foliage also makes for a beautiful contrast against brick and warm-toned exteriors. For the most effective protection, it’s best to plant along the sides of your home where you want more privacy, staying at least 10-15 feet away from your exterior. Additionally, you can also plant trees in a line around your property as an alternative to a fence—increasing the scenic value of your home and contributing to the overall health of the environment. 

Producing shade

According to The U.S Department of Agriculture, the net cooling effect of a young, healthy tree is equivalent to ten room-size air conditioners operating 20 hours a day. This helps moderate the temperature within your home without having to use energy from your AC, creating an ideal solution for overworked units attempting to block out the outside heat. The more trees around your property, the more you can save on energy and bills, too. Additionally, in the warmer months, cooling costs tend to be lower in buildings with ample tree shade. Likewise, in colder months, heating costs are reduced, given the protection from the wind that trees provide. It’s a win-win situation all around—with both energy savings and home protection—when you fill your property with gorgeous trees. 

Enhancing the overall quality of living

Above all, it’s important to know that trees are key components of the well-being of your home, community, environment and the entire planet. Trees can add value to your home, help cool your home, break the cold winds to lower your heating costs, decrease soil erosion, provide protection from storms, increase privacy and improve the air in which you breathe. These things are just a small representation of the positive impact that trees have on human life, and the benefits they provide are truly incomparable when it comes to improving our quality of life. The truth is, with weather conditions worsening and climate change risks increasing, the more natural protection you can provide for your home by planting trees—the safer you will be. 

To learn more about the Ben & Annie’s mission and the major importance of trees in our community, don’t hesitate to reach out at (210) 670-5297 or contact us online at any time.