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TextThe Benefits of Planting Trees
How Do Trees Benefit You and Your Property?
Investing in planting trees around homes or buildings can have great returns. For every $1 spent on planting trees $3.74 is returned by:
- Energy conservation: Homes with shade often have energy costs that are 20-25 percent lower than those without.
- Increased property values: Healthy, mature trees add an average of 10 percent to a property's value and landscaping with trees can increase property values as much as 20 percent.
- Trees increase your property's aesthetic value.
- Increased salability of homes: The majority of realtors surveyed believe that mature trees have a "strong or moderate impact" on the salability of homes.
- Stress reduction: It has been shown that exposure to trees can decrease blood pressure and reduce muscle tension.
- Trees can provide screening; increasing privacy and reducing the impacts of lights, wind and noise on your property.
- Enhanced quality of life.
How Do Trees Benefit Your Community?
- Improved air quality: Once mature, the additional canopy will provide 5.3 million dollars of air pollution removal annually.
- Increased carbon dioxide absorption and storage: The additional canopy will absorb over 10 million pounds of carbon dioxide annually and eliminate the need for spending over one million dollars in greenhouse gas reduction services each year.
- Energy conservation: 4.7 million dollars of energy conservation services will be provided by the additional canopy annually.
- Improved water quality.
- Improved wildlife habitat.
- Decreased stormwater runoff: The stormwater management capacity associated with the additional mature tree canopy is estimated to cost $510,632,400 to construct.
- Cooled ambient air temperature.
What Can You Do?
- Plant trees on your property. Plant about 20 feet away from your home on the western exposures for optimum energy conservation.
- Plant at least one tree per car in your household to reduce your carbon footprint.
- Get involved with community tree planting groups such as Fairfax ReLeaf and Earth Sangha. For more information, visit www.fairfaxreleaf.org or www.earthsangha.org.
- Advocate for tree planting on commonly-owned open spaces in your community.
- Remember that all trees need to be maintained after they are planted. Visit the Virginia Department of Extension for more information about tree planting and maintenance.
- Be sure to plant the right tree in the right place. Use the Fairfax County Public Facilities Manual as a guide.
- Preserve trees during construction.
For more information about planting trees, contact the Urban Forest Management Division at 703-324-1770, TTY 711, or by e-mail.
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