Transforming your home into a "green" home is easier than you might imagine. It starts outdoors with trees. Trees can block cold winds hitting the house in winter and create a canopy of cooling shade in summer.
The savings in home heating and cooling costs from just a few well-placed trees are more than 10 percent and can be as high as 50 percent, according to the Missouri Department of Conservation.
Consider these tips for making your own green home:
• A row of evergreen trees will help block cold wind. A few to consider include cherry laurel, eastern red cedar, hemlock, Japanese black pine, Leyland or Monterey cypress, Monterey spruce, Norway spruce, southern magnolia and white or spruce pines.
• Place trees strategically in the yard, such as on the east- and west-facing sides of the home. Shading windows is also important.
• Give yourself plenty of growth space between tree and house (10 feet or more).
Because trees reduce energy costs, protecting them is vital, says Bayer Advanced™ Garden Expert Lance Walheim, the author of more than 30 gardening books. Trees and shrubs have many threats. Beetles, borers (including the emerald ash borer), leaf miners and adelgids can be seriously destructive pests of both shrubs and trees.
"Insect damage destroys more trees each year than wildfires," Walheim says. "But proper care can help these valuable shrubs and trees handle other stresses, such as drought and excessive rain."
Protect your trees and shrubs with Bayer Advanced™ 12 Month Tree & Shrub Protect & Feed granules with Merit®. There's no spraying. Just sprinkle the granules at the base of the tree and water it in. It's absorbed through the roots and systemically moves through the tree, killing Japanese beetles, aphids, emerald ash borers, hemlock woolly adelgids and other listed pests. One application protects against insects for up to 12 months and also feeds the tree for up to three months.
For every bottle of Bayer Advanced™ 12 Month Tree & Shrub Protect & Feed granules purchased in spring of 2007, Bayer Advanced, in partnership with the National Arbor Day Foundation, will donate one tree to restore U.S. national forests.
By: Stacey Moore