3 Reasons You Should Have an Urban Forest in a Residential Area
Posted on: 31 May 2016
Urban forests are a good example of man-made forests. Urban forests require careful planning and even controlled tree growth to ensure maximum benefits for the people and the forest vegetation itself. Residential areas can be ideal for growing urban forests to help maximise the economic and social benefits that people enjoy from trees. If you are a homeowner in an urban area, you can improve the overall ecosystem and tree population in the urban area by having trees in your garden, along the driveway and larger streets in gated communities. Here are some of the reasons you should have urban forests in your residential area:
Managing Surface Runoff from Rain
The paving in most urban residences can decrease the permeability of the ground. Instead of being absorbed into the ground, the water floods and creates puddles in the case of a rainstorm. As runoff water flows over the paving in your residence, it picks up contaminants and washes them into the town's waterways, polluting the water. With urban forests in your residence, you can reduce the negative effects of runoff water. The trees intercept the rainfall and the natural ground around them allows the runoff water to drain slowly into the soil. Therefore, urban forests in your residence will help reduce the need for constructing many artificial runoff management mechanisms such as storm water pits.
Promoting Energy Efficiency
Urban forests have a cooling effect on the surrounding areas. The foliage provides shade and helps you achieve a natural cooling effect in your house instead of depending on artificial air conditioning mechanisms throughout the day. This will help you save a lot of energy required by artificial air conditioning. You can plant trees strategically to provide shade over roofs and windows to maximise their cooling effect in the house. On the same note, trees act as windbreaks reducing the speed and impact of wind. By reducing exposure to wind, urban forests in your residence come in handy when you need to cut down your heating bills during the cold season.
Reducing Sound Pollution
Noise causes discomfort in urban residential areas. Dealing with this noise is challenging considering that engineering methods can be quite costly. Thankfully, urban forests provide a cheaper and natural option for dealing with noise in your residence. A few trees in on your garden, streets and driveways can go a long way in buffering loud sound from traffic and factories.
Residential areas provide the opportunity to increase the population of trees in town. Where possible, plant them maximally in your residence because there may be little or no space in the town's central business district for them. For more information, contact a tree service that can conduct vegetation surveys.
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