Residents of Metro DC and surrounding areas may not be thinking very kind thoughts about trees right now. When Mother Nature blew through town a few weeks ago, she huffed and puffed and blew down many of the areas trees, leaving millions of people without electricity and facing weeks worth of cleanup and landscape maintenance.
Many people will soon face the decision of whether they want to replant trees in their yards at all. Personally, I love my trees. I mourn the big ones when they fall and I celebrate the new ones that sprout up in their place. I spend as much time as I can surrounded by trees.
I’ve done many posts about the benefits of trees. Some of those benefits are:
- Trees decrease heating bills up to 15 percent and cooling bills up to 50 percent. (DDOE)
- Trees Reduce Noise Pollution - Trees act as buffers against roadways and other noise producing sources by absorbing unpleasant sounds from the urban environment. PT
- Tree roots protect groundwater - Tree roots help stabilize soil which, if loose and prone to erosion, might be carried away by stormwater runoff. MC
- Trees provide Healthy Air - The trees of Washington filter 540 tons of harmful, health-threatening pollutants from the air each year. CT One acre of trees absorbs enough carbon dioxide every year to offset 26,000 miles of automobile exhaust! dc.gov
- Trees provide habitat for wildlife
You can read some of my previous blog posts to see some of my favorite reasons to plant trees. But what are yours? This month’s poll asks the question “What would be your favorite motivator to plant a tree in your yard?” You can answer it here or on our facebook page.
Previous posts about trees:
Luckily we didn't lose any trees, but in the past year I've planted 4 new trees in our yard anyway!... Mainly for their wildlife benefit, but also because I personally just like them lots and lots. I planted a Sweet Bay and 2 Pawpaws. And a Loquat tree, but that probably doesn't have much wildlife benefit this far north :)
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