Trees serve many advantageous functions, which we benefit from as individual home-owners and as communities. From an environmental perspective, they have the ability to reduce infiltration of storm-water runoff into our natural waterways and carbon dioxide emissions into our climate. Through the lens of the human dimension, they provide an affordable level of comfort that cannot be achieved in any other way! Trees give us shade for outdoor living, and cool our homes in the summer-time, in turn saving energy and money which would otherwise be spent running our air conditioners harder.
If you're a Phoenix-Tucson resident looking to stick to a water-saving, desert type plant palette, look primarily at Palo Verde and Mesquite varieties, as well as Iron Wood, Desert Willow, Lysiloma, and Texas Ebony. If you like a more "transitional" landscape here's our tree recommendations for you: Evergreen Elm, Live Oak, Red Push Pistache, Vitex (Or Chaste Tree), Texas Mountain Laurel, and Fan-Tex Ash.
For our friends up in the north country, such as Flagstaff, look to following trees to help spruce-up your curb appeal: White Fir, Arizona Ash, Green Ash, Rocky Mountain Juniper, Colorado Blue Spruce, Ponderosa Pine, Austrian Pine, Gambel Oak, Black Locust, Autumn Blaze, and Amur Maples.
Check out the Sonoran Shadows Plant Library for more information on these great selections!