Solar Friendly Trees

Solar-friendly trees can be very beneficial to a landscape because they provide shade in the warmer months and allow the sunlight to shine through during the cooler months. This is due to solar-friendly trees being deciduous which means that they loose their leaves each fall of the year. Yes, this does mean that there will be falling leaves to clean up but that is a small price to pay for a solar-friendly yard.

All deciduous trees are not solar-friendly. There are many species of deciduous trees but the ones that are solar-friendly have characteristics that allow more sunlight through them than the other deciduous trees. These characteristics include the amount of time they are bare, the density of the branches and twigs on the tree and the length of time that the tree's seed pod and catkins remain on the tree.

The leaves of a solar-friendly tree do not remain green and pretty for as long as other species of trees, even other species of deciduous trees. Solar-friendly trees will loose their leaves early in the fall season of the year and are generally some of the first deciduous trees in the area to loose their leaves. They are also among the group of trees that will stay bare for the longest time, meaning the new leaves do not grow until late in the spring season of the year. This allows for lots of time for the sunlight to shine through the bare trees.

The solar-friendly tree will also look different than other deciduous trees when it is bare or has no leaves on it. The solar-friendly tree has branches and twigs that are less dense than some other deciduous trees making the canopy that they form less dense and allowing the sunlight to shine through easier. The density of the canopy of a deciduous tree is one of the characteristics that can be changed by the homeowner. All they have to do is strategically remove certain branches and twigs to achieve the less dense canopy. An average canopy is about 40% dense while a solar-friendly canopy is only 25 to 30 % dense.

The last characteristic of a solar-friendly tree is the seed-pod and catkin that the tree produces. These parts of the deciduous tree may remain on the tree aiding with the density of the canopy of the tree. In a solar-friendly tree, these parts of the tree will not remain on the tree for very long, leaving the tree to be less dense and making it easier for the sunlight to shine through the tree.