Why desert-friendly trees are a game-changer for your yard and our environment

There are many ways to enhance any landscape, but one of the simplest is with trees. Planting a tree creates an immediate visual impact through beauty, color, and texture. Desert-friendly, low-water trees also provide long-term social, community, environmental, and economic benefits for residents and the region as a whole. Even during droughts, trees remain a vital part of healthy desert communities when the right trees are chosen and properly maintained.

Here’s why planting desert-adapted trees is a smart choice.

Natural Air Conditioning

Trees do more than provide shade. They also cool the air by releasing moisture through a process called transpiration, which helps lower the temperature around them.

• One mature tree can cool the air as much as ten regular room air conditioners.
• This means trees are a key way to fight 'urban heat islands,' which are hot spots in cities where pavement and buildings retain heat.

Savings on Energy Bills

Trees provide shade for your home, helping keep it naturally cooler.

• If you plant trees in the right spots, you could cut your heating and cooling energy use by as much as 25%.

Water-Wise Longevity

Once they mature, desert-adapted trees require minimal supplemental water and are more efficient than water-thirsty trees or grass.

Better Health and Cleaner Air

Trees help clean the air and give us the oxygen we need.

• A single large tree can provide enough oxygen for up to four people for an entire day.
• Planting trees is still one of the most affordable ways to take extra carbon dioxide out of the air.

A Commitment to Our Urban Forest

Cities recognize trees as an important part of their infrastructure and support community tree-planting efforts.

When you plant a low-water-use tree in your yard, you help make our desert communities more livable, healthy, and vibrant.

Plant a desert-friendly tree and make a lasting difference

Begin by carefully planning your new tree; your yard and community will appreciate it.

• Choose the Right Species: Pick desert-adapted trees that will do well in our local climate.
• Location Matters: Plant trees where they will give your home the most shade, but make sure they won’t get in the way of power lines or pipes.
• Water efficiently: Find out how to water young trees the right way so they can grow deep, healthy roots.

As you can see, trees provide many benefits. They also add value to your home and community, which is why cities recognize the importance of planting and caring for trees as part of their urban landscapes. AMWUA members have long been committed to community forestry and have earned the title of Tree City USA community by the Arbor Day Foundation to honor their dedication. 

Reach out to your municipal water provider’s conservation office for expert advice and resources. You can also sign up for the SRP Shade Tree Program to get up to two free desert-adapted trees after a short energy-saving workshop.

For 57 years, the Arizona Municipal Water Users Association has worked to protect our member cities’ ability to provide assured, safe, and sustainable water supplies to their communities. For more information on water, visit www.amwua.org .