Evergreen Trees - Oregon - Be Thoughtful

Evergreen trees give us Oregonians a sense of pride, they can be enormous, majestic, older than our great-great-grandparents, and they clean the air we breathe. But where are they most appropriate? I often notice sapling fir/ cedar trees planted in people's yards. 

These trees will grow to be very tall and most people don't fully understand the potential consequences of this. In this climate, we spend more energy heating our homes than cooling them.  Evergreen's are called that because they do not lose their leaves, (AKA needles). 

For this reason, planting evergreens to the south of our homes will cut-off the ability to absorb thermal gain from the sun during the winter's low sun angles.  Planting these trees to the North will certainly impact your neighbor's solar access.

Many of these trees grow to be so tall that they will inevitably cut-off much of you and your neighbor's solar access no matter where you plant them on your property. If you absolutely must plant and evergreen near your house, a location west of the home will provide the greatest cooling effect with the least negative impact on the thermal gain in the winter. 

Be careful not to plant too close to the house, as the root structure can actually lift a home's foundation as it grows, creating a myriad of structural problems.

Conclusion:

For optimal passive Heating/ Cooling of our homes here in the Great Northwest, steer away from designing with large evergreens trees while within city limits.  If you choose to plant a large evergreen, Keep it on the West side of the home but please be mindful of the species you are planting, it's size, life-span, and its effect on you and your neighbors. 

Think about the shading effect on the ground, do you think you may like to plant a garden someday?  And please be courteous, how will this impact your neighbor? Will their view, garden, or solar access be impacted by your tree?