Home Landscapes: Are They Really Important?

A garden or landscape costs time and money to install.  They can be a hassle to properly maintain.  Do we really need one? Should we just let the yard go, save the water, and avoid the time and effort required to keep it in shape?

More and more people are asking these questions of themselves as they weigh the costs of installing and maintaining home landscapes.  Water, fertilizers, and other inputs can be quite expensive and the work involved in maintaining an attractive, functional landscape can take up time and energy that could well be spent in leisure or other pursuits.  In times of economic downturn, these challenges can push the desire for a home landscape way down the list of things to do each day.  Unfortunately, in making the decision to ignore or neglect the landscape, they may actually be charging themselves other hidden costs.

Property values are one of these hidden costs.  When a home is sold, not only is the condition of house evaluated, but also the outdoor living spaces associated with the home.  The presence of trees and shrubs, and their overall health, could be key to placing a “sold” sign on the property.  The total value of the property, the amount that the home is sold for, often improves with an attractive landscape.

Another hidden cost can be found in the monthly power bill.  The desert Southwest receives more sunshine than any other part of the United States.  Pinal County receives more than 80 percent of possible sunshine each year.  While the winter sun provides enough warmth to make outdoor activities pleasant and helps heat the interior of buildings, the brilliant summer sunshine quickly brings indoor temperatures to intolerable levels.  When that happens, we turn on the cooler.  Cooling buildings in the desert is always an expensive process.

Interior temperatures result not only from direct solar gain to the building itself, but also from the accumulation of external heat in the surrounding outdoor areas.  The warmer the ambient environment surrounding a building, the warmer will be the interior temperature.  Heat radiated from outdoor hard surfaces, such as concrete, roofing, paved streets, and patio surfaces are part of the problem.  External temperatures are only made worse when unshaded soil is covered with stone mulch or cobblestone.  Even bare soil can present a problem.

Heat gain around our homes can be counteracted by installing and correctly maintaining good outdoor landscapes.  Plants cool by reflecting the sun’s rays away from buildings and shading outdoor living areas.  While unshaded walls absorb heat from the sun’s rays and transmit the heat to the interior of the building, landscape plants can intercept the sunlight and put it to good use.  In this way plants can help keep our homes and outdoor living spaces cool.  Wise placement of shade trees and vines can result in significant reductions in the high cost of cooling homes and commercial buildings. 

Consider these facts.  A dense shade canopy will screen out at least 80 percent of the solar radiation that falls on a human being, outdoor living area, or buildings in our area.  A wall in full sun transmits three times the heat of a shaded wall while an unshaded roof adds twice the heat of a shaded one to the interior of the structure.  Shading can reduce maximum high temperatures inside a typical house by 20 percent.  A quality landscape will be designed and maintained to provide maximum shading.

Another hidden cost is air quality.  As more and more people have found the wonderful qualities associated with living in Pinal County, air quality in many areas has taken a nose dive.  The pending action by the federal Environmental Protection Agency to address air quality problems in western and southern Pinal County is a good example of this problem.  As we evaluate the overall air quality problems, high on the list of particulate matter found in our air are particles of dust blown into the air by our occasionally nasty winds and traffic on bare soil. 

Dust in our air does indeed come from many sources, but homes without landscaping, particularly those with bare exposed soils, can have a staggering effect on air quality, at least in the micro environment.  Bare soils are particularly bad when they carry traffic, such as vehicles driving on bare soil.  Properly designed and maintained landscapes can minimize the loss of loose soil from the surface of the ground and help control dust around our homes.

Finally, homes that are not maintained and/or have landscapes that are either nonexistent or ignored for can indicate a lack of interest in our living environment.  Where lack of interest prevails, crime seems to follow.  So, indirectly, well maintained homes and landscapes can help reduce crime in an area.  This, in part, occurs because a sense of pride and ownership in our homes, even in rentals, tends to make us less tolerant of crime.  The increased neighborhood good will and community pride engendered by nice looking homes indoors and out increases a sense of belonging that often times results in a corresponding drop in crime statistics in an area.

No doubt we will find other “hidden costs” associated with abandoned or non-existent landscaping as we begin to search for them.  The choice is ours, however, whether or not we will allow those costs to accrue against us and our property.  Can’t we take a few minutes and assess the condition of our landscapes?  If there are areas where work is needed, let’s invest some time and money to improve the living conditions for us and our neighbors.

In summary then, we ask ourselves the question: “Is it possible to have a low cost, attractive landscape without taking a lot of time, money, and effort?”  Yes, there indeed there are options.  Dust control and a finished look can be achieved simply by laying down a simple crushed rock mulch on the surface of the soil.  Some people have chosen this route and have found that it suits their needs.  That is option one.

Adding shade and esthetics will require the presence of plants, generally trees, shrubs, and other plants.  Since water is always an issue in desert areas, and especially during drought conditions, we ought to select these plants from desert-adapted low water use plants.  That is option two. 
If you choose this option, please make sure that you give your plants good care and frequent irrigations to keep them healthy and productive.

In today’s environment, and for the good of the community, urban landscapes do matter.  With some input and initial labor, a functional landscape can be created and enjoyed not only by ourselves, but by the community at large.

If you have questions, or need more information, you can reach one of the Master Gardeners at the Cooperative Extension office, 820 E. Cottonwood Lane, Building C, in Casa Grande.  The telephone is (520) 836-5221, extension 204.  The author’s email address is gibsonrd@ag.arizona.edu.

The University of Arizona is an equal opportunity, affirmative action institution.  The University does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or sexual orientation in its programs and activities.

Rick Gibson
Extension Agent, Agriculture, Pinal County
University of Arizona Cooperative Extension
820 E. Cottonwood Lane, Building C
Casa Grande, Arizona 85122
Voice:    (520) 836-5221
Fax:    (520) 836-1750
email:    gibsonrd@ag.arizona.edu