Trees, in general, are a great part of the natural landscape of any yard. Trees provide shade, oxygen, and a pleasant aesthetic around the exterior of your property. Trees also provide a lot of leaves and can pose a risk to structures if they are damaged or destroyed during a storm. Overall, the benefits of trees far outweigh the potential disadvantages or risks, but you should always consider the placement of the trees in your yard–especially when planting new trees. The location and type of tree play a critical role in distribution of shade and leaves around your property. When planting trees, thinking about location and variety of tree is an important part of determining how the tree will function in your yard and, in terms of yard and gutter maintenance, how often you will be raking and clearing leaves.
Strategic Planting
Planting trees strategically will improve the aesthetics of your yard, as well as keep trees from growing into and interfering with utility lines, structural foundations, and roofs. Certain varieties of trees are best suited to certain parts of the yard, and certain sizes of yards. Large pine trees or willow trees may not be suitable for smaller yards where the space between the yard and the house is limited. These types of large trees are also not best suited to locations very near the foundation or side of the house. Beyond potential damage to your home from branches or collapse from high winds, large deciduous trees will clog your rain gutters with leaves that can impede water flow, become obstructions and cause ice dams in the winter. These trees near the home require regular leaf removal maintenance and can be problematic during thunderstorms. Often smaller, thinner, or less leafy trees are optimal.
Tree Trimming & Rain Gutter Maintenance
If you have a lot of leafy trees in your yard, keeping them maintained can be an ongoing challenge. You will need to ensure that branches growing near utility lines remained trimmed and that leaves are regularly cleared from rain gutters. Often problematic trees can be pruned by a tree service company or the power company if they are interfering with utility lines. You should still be aware of how and where the trees in your yard are growing and perform regular grooming on them when necessary. Part of this maintenance involves, inevitably, cleaning out your rain gutters. This is usually a fall activity when deciduous trees shed their leaves, but if there are pine trees near your home or your gutters have been neglected for awhile, you may need to do this task more regularly. Even thin pine needles can collect in and clog the gutters. Cleaning the gutters of leaves and other debris will ensure that your rain gutters function as they are meant to and are reliable year round.
