Trees provide us with shade, fruit and flowers, but they enrich our lives in more ways than we might think. Research shows that trees do everything from increase property values ​​to improve our well-being. And as the climate warms, trees can also help slow human-caused changes to our planet. Here are six surprising benefits of tree planting.

Benefits of tree planting

Trees help remove carbon from the air and create a cooler, safer community. “By planting trees, you are also creating a natural retreat for yourself and your neighbors who are walking their dog or looking for a place to go for a walk,” says Dan Lambe, CEO of the Arbor Day Foundation. Trees provide many other benefits, including the following:

1. Trees increase the value of your home.

A large, shade tree can increase the value of your property by $1,000 to $10,000, depending on the type of tree, according to the Council of Tree and Landscape Appraisers. A yard full of shade trees can increase the value of your home by 10 to 20 percent and help it sell faster if that’s your goal. So even though money doesn’t grow on trees, trees can put money in your pocket.

2. Trees absorb greenhouse gases.

When trees produce food for themselves through photosynthesis, they absorb carbon dioxide from the air and store it in their wood. Carbon dioxide is one of the gases that causes climate change, so planting a few trees in your garden is a small way to combat climate change at home. According to Lambe, a single mature tree can absorb 22 kilograms of carbon dioxide in a year.

“In times of climate anxiety, people are wondering what they can do,” says Lambe. “There is one thing that almost everyone can get involved in, and that is planting trees.”

While one tree won’t save the planet, it can offset the carbon dioxide emissions produced by a 64-mile car journey. Every tree helps, and the benefits add up. One hectare of trees absorbs 6 tons of carbon dioxide, enough to offset the greenhouse gas emissions produced by a 25,000-mile car journey.

3. Trees can lower your electricity bill.

Planting trees near your home can reduce the need for air conditioning by 30% and cut your heating bills by 20 to 50%, says the U.S. Forest Service. Shade from trees keeps your home cooler, so you don’t have to run your air conditioner as often on hot summer days. Trees can also block winter winds from entering your home through windows and doors.

4. Trees can boost your mental health.

A study by the Nature Conservancy found that spending time in nature around trees correlated with a reduction in anxiety and depression. Studies City dwellers have higher levels of stress and depression than people who live in rural areas. The solution to the city blues? Nature, especially trees. According to a study by Texas A&M University, just looking at trees lowers blood pressure and muscle tension within five minutes.

Further studies show that spending time in a natural environment correlates with a reduction in stress and depression. An amazing study found that every additional 10 trees on a city block corresponded to a 1% increase in residents’ perceived health. Simply put, trees make us feel better.

5. Trees promote health.

In neighborhoods with high tree density, asthma rates among children are 25% lowersays Lambe. “Trees filter air pollution particles from the air we breathe, making the air cleaner.” One study found that trees prevented 850 deaths suffering from asthma.

6. Trees make urban areas cooler and safer.

“Trees provide shade and cool cities by up to -12 °C,” says Lambe. “This can prevent heat-related deaths.” And now comes a study from Baltimore: found that crime decreased in neighborhoods with more trees. One might conclude that there was less crime because wealthier neighborhoods tend to have more trees. The study took this consideration into account and adjusted its models for a number of socioeconomic factors. Trees still proved to be crime fighter.

How do trees do it? It was long believed that heat increases aggression. According to decades of research by the US Department of Justice, violent crimes are more common in the summer. So trees could calm people’s tempers by lowering temperatures.