Did you know trees can add significant value to your home?

On Friday, we celebrated Earth Day. The upcoming Friday is Arbor Day. Both of these days are meant to draw attention to the importance of protecting our environment, with Arbor Day highlighting the importance of trees to the health of our planet.

The theme of Earth Day 2022 is "Invest in our Planet," and there are certainly many ways to do this. In recent times, environmental issues have, unfortunately, become politicized and have created divisiveness, which is something we don't need. I would like to focus on one investment that almost anyone can do to improve the environment, and most of us have already done it more than once in our lives. I am talking about planting trees. In my opinion, this is something in the environmental debate that receives very little attention. There are very few yards that do not have room for at least one more tree, especially since trees come in all shapes and sizes.

Established trees can add significant value to a home

Every year, thousands of trees around Greater Cincinnati are lost. Too often, when a tree is taken down, the homeowner chooses not to replace the tree. These homeowners are making a big mistake. Trees, especially established trees, add significant value to a home. Appraisals of similar homes with established trees have the potential to increase the value by more than 15% compared to a similar home without trees. Trees can simultaneously be an investment in the planet as well as with your property.

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Trees located in the right places on your property can also significantly reduce your utility bills. Having trees to block the sun can reduce your utility bills by naturally cooling your house in the summer. They have the same effect in the winter when they have lost their leaves. This allows the sun in to warm up the house naturally. Lower utility bills mean less carbon is being produced at the power plants.

Reducing carbon is frequently at the center of the political discussion. These discussions focus on using less of the things that emit the carbon. This is certainly worthy of discussion, but it can be complicated. Trees need to enter these conversations more often, too.

A mature tree can capture as much as 50 pounds of carbon dioxide in one year. At the same time the tree is cleaning the air, it is also providing us with oxygen. The exchange of carbon dioxide into oxygen is what keeps us alive. This is why trees are the greatest investment.

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Studies have also shown that trees are capable of reducing the stress in our lives. Trees not only help us breathe, but they also have the ability to make us happier. If you follow the Earth Day theme of "Invest in Our Planet," trees will be money well spent.

As this is the last weekend in April, I also want to raise caution if you are getting anxious to plant annual flowers and vegetables. You may start seeing them being sold in many places, but it is still too early to plant them into the ground. This year especially, the soil is still too cold. Annuals and vegetables struggle for a long time when they are planted in cold soil.

It is, however, okay to go ahead and start planting in containers, because you can move them inside if it gets too cold. The annual plants you are seeing now are just the first of several rounds that will become available in the upcoming weeks. You won’t miss out on anything if you do the right thing and wait a few weeks before planting any annuals and vegetables.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Trees can add significant value to a home, cue Arbor Day 2022