Summer Temperatures are a Good Reminder to Plant Trees in Urban Areas

During the so-called "Dog Days" of summer, the spaces most often coveted by motorists when cruising a parking lot in search of a space to park are those with trees and shade.

Beautiful Pringle Park in Salem, Oregon Photo courtesy: Oregon Dept. of Forestry

(SALEM) - Yes it's true --- while Oregon's heat wave and the soaring temperatures in many of the nation's cities is uncomfortable for many, the summer months actually provide a good opportunity to remind homeowners and city officials about the importance of trees and tree planting programs in our cities.

Research has shown that trees can help reduce both heating and cooling costs; they save energy through cooling in the hotter months, and provide a windbreak for your home during the winter. This results in burning less fossil fuel for cooling and heating.

Strategically placed trees can be as effective as other energy saving home improvements, such as insulation or the installation of energy-saving windows and doors. In fact, three large trees around your home can reduce air conditioning costs up to 30 percent.

Shade trees offer their best benefts when you:

- Plant deciduous trees, which shed their leaves during winter. These trees provide shade and block heat from the sun during hotter months. By dropping their leaves in the fall they admit sunlight in the colder months.

- Place these trees on the south and west sides of buildings.

- Shade all hard surfaces such as driveways, patios and sidewalks to minimize landscape heat load.

Trees remove CO2, provide shade and cooling The so-called "greenhouse effect" occurs when heat from the sun enters the atmosphere, but is prevented from radiating back into space by air-polluting gases.

The buildup of heat-trapping gases is generated mostly by human activities. Trees act as a carbon sink by removing the carbon from CO2 and storing it as cellulose in the trunk while releasing the oxygen back into the air.

A healthy tree stores about 13 pounds of carbon annually - or 2.6 tons per acre each year. Trees also reduce the greenhouse effect by shading our homes and office buildings.

This reduces air conditioning needs up to 30 percent, thereby reducing the amount of fossil fuels burned to produce electricity. This combination of CO2 removal from the atmosphere, carbon storage in wood, and the cooling effect makes trees a very efficient tool in fighting the greenhouse effect. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency's web site, planting trees and vegetation is a simple and effective way to decrease local surface and air temperatures. Strategic planting around homes and buildings directly cools the interior of homes and buildings, decreasing air conditioning costs and peak energy demand.

In addition to energy savings, trees and vegetation can also improve air quality, reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, decrease storm water runoff, improve community livability, increase property values, and provide other benefits.

"While soaring summer temperatures might make us think we need more shade, summer certainly isn't the time to be planting trees," said ODF urban forester Paul Ries. "It also isn't a good time to prune trees, since sap is flowing through the trees during these warmer months," he adds. Planting and maintaining urban trees and vegetation requires planning and care. Fall is an excellent time for tree planting, and winter is an excellent time to prune trees.

When in doubt about what type of tree to plant or how to pick the most suitable location, contact a certified arborist.

Information is also available at the Oregon Department of Forestry's website, at http://www.oregon.gov/ODF/