• Maximize warming effects of the sun in the winter.
• Maximize shade during the summer.
• Deflect winter winds away from buildings.
• Funnel summer breezes toward the home.

Hot-Arid

• Provide shade to cool roofs, walls, and windows.
• Allow summer winds to access naturally cooled homes.
• Block or deflect winds away from air-conditioned homes.

Hot-Humid

• Channel summer breezes toward the home.
• Maximize summer shade with trees that still allow penetration of low-angle winter sun.
• Avoid locating planting beds close to the home if they require frequent watering.

Cool

• Use dense windbreaks to protect the home from cold winter winds.
• Allow the winter sun to reach south-facing windows.
• Shade south and west windows and walls from the direct summer sun, if summer overheating is a problem.

Microclimate - The climate immediately surrounding your home is called its microclimate. If your home is located on a sunny southern slope, it may have a warm microclimate, even if you live in a cool region. Or, even though you live in a hot-humid region, your home may be situated in a comfortable microclimate because of abundant shade and dry breezes. Nearby bodies of water may increase your site's humidity or decrease its air temperature.

Your home's microclimate may be more sunny, shady, windy, calm, rainy, snowy, moist, or dry than average local conditions. These factors all help determine what plants may or may not grow in your microclimate.

Siting and Design - A well-oriented and well-designed home admits low-angle winter sun, rejects overhead summer sun, and minimizes the cooling effect of winter winds. If you are building a home, pay attention to its orientation.

In the northern hemisphere, it is usually best to align the home's long axis in an east-west direction. The home's longest wall with the most window area should face south or southeast. The home's north-facing and west-facing walls should have fewer windows because these walls generally face winter's prevailing winds. North-facing windows receive little direct sunlight.

You may be able to design and orient your new house to maximize your homesite's natural advantages and mitigate its disadvantages. Notice your homesite's exposure to sun, wind, and water. Also note the location and proximity of nearby buildings, fences, water bodies, trees, and pavement -- and their possible climatic effects. Buildings provide shade and windbreak. Fences and walls block or channel the wind. Water bodies moderate temperature but increase humidity and produce glare. Trees provide shade, windbreaks, or wind channels. Pavement reflects or absorbs heat, depending on whether its color is light or dark.

If your home is already built, inventory its comfort and energy problems, then use the following landscaping ideas to help minimize these problems.