With the state of the environment, and “going green” in the news almost daily lately, there has been a renewed interest in how to use your garden to insulate your home. When done properly, creating insulating gardens can help reduce your heating and cooling bills drastically. This not only helps you save money, but it helps you do your part for the environment and the Earth’s natural resources too.

So let’s look at several ways you can create insulating gardens, or just make some simple changes to your existing gardening efforts to help.

1. Leave the South facing side of your home open. You can of course plant gardens on the south side of your home, but try to avoid putting evergreen trees and bushes on this side. If you live in the United States, the sun is weaker on this side of your home in the summer and this helps to prevent additional heat from coming in and overtaxing your cooling system. In the winter time, the strongest sunlight comes in from the south side, and this in turn will help warm your home more naturally.

If you plant trees which shed their leaves in the winter of course, then this is the ideal solution because the leaves will help provide additional shade and coolness in summer, yet will not block the needed sunlight and warmth in winter.

2. Use plants for insulation on your home. Some homes are purposely built into the side of a hill because the Earth naturally stays at a more even temperature all year round. Not everyone likes the idea of living partially underground though, so an alternative solution is to plant flowers, vines, bushes, and other natural materials right next to or against the outer walls of your home. You can also create a rooftop garden which will provide additional insulation and protection from severe weather.

Planting a garden which is designed to insulate your home will take some planning. It might also take a bit of trial and error as well, depending upon where you live and what your garden skill levels are.

One of the easiest ways to get started is to simply attach a trellis to one wall of your home, and plant quick growing vines that will grow up that trellis. You’ll need to be careful about what you choose to plant though, because some vines are quite aggressive and they could find their way inside your home very easily. This is not just an annoyance either… it can actually cause structural damage to your home.

You can also plant bushes next to your home instead of vines. Choose evergreen bushes which grow thick and full, so they’ll create a solid insulation barrier all year round. Be aware of how large these will grow however, and where you will place them. If you have a large bay window on the East side of your home to catch the morning sun, you probably won’t want to plant a boxwood in front of it which will grow ten feet tall and six feet wide because that will eventually block the window completely.

3. Create a roof garden. This can be a bit complicated because the soil, plants, and water which will be on top of your home year round can be quite heavy. And this is dangerous if not done properly from the start.

Having a roof garden is one of the absolute best ways to insulate your home, but you’ll want to consult a contractor or home inspector first, and determine how much weight your roof can bear. Once you have that information, be very careful with your planting and maintenace, to be sure you are not exceeding safe weight amounts.

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