Treehugger.com (now part of Discovery Communications) is a popular green and sustainability blog. This week they released a list of ten tips for new home buyers looking for a “sustainable home.” Along with the usual advice to buy a smaller house, and to live near mass transit, two of the tips speak directly to landscape. From the article:
9. Shade grown?
Trees are good for a lot more than hugging, so take a peek outside your potential new digs to check out the foliage the comes with the place. Big deciduous (leafy) trees are great natural climate controllers; in the summer, their leafy branches block the sun and can help keep your home cooler (reducing cooling costs), and, in the winter, the bare branches let more natural light and heat through to your home (reducing heating costs). Big old trees also offer potential homes for our fine feathered friends, who can be helpful in maintaining your organic garden. Your neighborhood’s biodiversity will benefit, too.
10. More great outdoors
Ask yourself a couple more questions: Is there is big lawn that requires care (and lots of water) to maintain? (Remember, this isn’t always up to you; some neighborhoods have homeowners’ association rules that requires a certain level of lawn manicuring.) Is there a good, sunny place for a garden, to grow your own food, or is there a good space for some good container gardening? Will you have room for a compost pile, or just a small compost bin?
Seems like home buyers, even in this challenging market, will want to buy a home with a intelligently-designed landscape.
