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LWV Los Altos Mountain View
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Los Altos, CA 94024
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Climate Action

Cool Your Home Naturally!
By Donna Davies
Posted: 2023-10-18T19:12:31Z

There is an excellent way to take the summer heat off your house naturally - plant a tree! The best time to do that is during the cooler late Fall months of the year, before any freeze potential is high, and especially when rain is forecast. Not only will you save on the cost of air conditioning when summer arrives, but you will enhance the beauty of your yard.



Coast Live Oak


To celebrate the birth of my second son, I planted a Coast Live Oak in the southeast corner of our yard. This lovely native, drought-tolerant tree grew exceedingly fast so that today, it is the most magnificent specimen on the street, shading our whole driveway and garage. Around the same time, my husband planted a Fuerte avocado tree on the east side of our house which is now impressively tall with a wide canopy. It shades the bedrooms from the heat of the rising sun while the guacamole I make is super delicious. The ever-green avocado and oak trees have dark green leaves that replenish themselves all year.

 

One of the advantages of planting deciduous trees in certain locations in your yard is to assure shade in the hot summer months while allowing sun to warm your home during the leafless cold months. And while raking up fallen leaves can be a chore, dead leaves make great additions to your home compost pile and are welcomed by our waste company to make commercial compost.



Fuerte Avocado




Bountiful Harvest of avocados


Several medium-sized deciduous trees are commonly available, including the Crepe Myrtle, the Chinese Pistache, the native California Buckeye, and the Raywood Ash. On the south side of our home, near our patio, I planted a Crepe Myrtle that blooms with pretty pink flowers in the summer. Soon followed a Chinese Pistache, planted in my front yard. These hardy trees have small leaves that turn a brilliant red in autumn before falling.


Placement of trees is important as you’ll want to plant them away from the house to avoid lifting the foundation when the roots grow and to avoid creating an overhead fire hazard. Keep in mind that most trees require a porous ground surface out to their drip lines because it is at the drip line that most effective water absorption happens. Avoid irrigating a tree at its trunk or atop its largest roots. Your new tree should be in a spot that won’t interfere with overhead lines as they will likely be topped by the utility company, ruining the shape of the tree. Fortunately, both Mountain View/Canopy and Los Altos/GreenTown can advise you on both tree selection and placement in your yard. See the links below.



 

Chinese Pistache


As a Minnesota girl, I grew up in a completely different landscape, one of lush greenery, so it was easy to imagine cooling our home in California by planting lots of trees. This landscape solution sequesters carbon, is aesthetic, playful, and easy to do by yourself or with the help of our friends from GreenTown and Canopy. Certainly, as we enter mid-Fall, the best time to shop for trees and put them in the ground is now!



For more information, see the following:


California Native Trees for the Landscape

Where to Buy trees

Free Tree Sign Up through the City of Mountain View/ Canopy

Los Altos/GreenTown Tree List and Request. Form

 

Tagged as planting trees