The placement of trees around your home can help passively cool your home in the hotter seasons. Planting shade trees on the east and west side of your home will provide shade from the intense summer heat. This is an easier and cheaper way to keep your house cool. Planting deciduous plants on the south side of your home will provide shade during the summer, but in the winter the leaves will fall off and the sun’s warmth can help heat your home.

The amount of watering depends on the size and age of the tree but each water application should be enough to saturate an area as wide as the drip line of the tree to a soil depth of 2-3 feet minimum. As the tree matures, it needs a wider water area. Loose sandy soil will dry out faster and require more frequent watering than a tight soil. New trees that haven’t established a root system will require more frequent watering. You should add an extra day of watering time during the extreme heat where it is consistently above 110 degrees.

Some shade trees that are native to the Sonoran Desert are Palo Verde, Mesquite, Ironwood, Palo Brea, Sweet Acacia, Desert Willow, Texas Ebony and Texas Mesquite.