Planting - Ameren.com

Tree Planting

Maximize energy reliability and efficiency by managing plantings on your property. We can help you make informed decisions about where to plant, and best practices for pruning trees around power lines.

Why Plant Trees?

Trees absorb pollution created by industrial emissions and automotive exhaust. They help prevent soil from washing and blowing away, suppress noise, and serve as vital animal habitats. Even more important to your budget, properly placed trees can substantially reduce home energy consumption by providing shade for roofs and walls. Three well-placed trees around a house can cut energy needs for home air conditioning by 10 to 15 percent.

Tree Planting Tips

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Avoid planting trees directly beneath power lines or too close to electrical equipment. This will help guarantee healthy growth in a safe area.

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When planting in close proximity to power lines, consider planting trees or shrubs of a slower growth or limited height variety, such as crab apples, hawthorns, ornamental pears or cherries.

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Don’t plant a large tree too close to a house. It may loosen roofing, damage paint, and clog gutters with leaves. A shallow-rooted and weak tree could fall onto the house, causing major damage.

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Always check the location of underground services before starting any digging project, including tree planting. Besides electric lines, there is also danger in damaging phone, water, natural gas, or sewage lines.

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Keep trees and shrubs from blocking access to poles and electrical equipment.

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Download our Planting Large Trees (PDF) brochure for more information about safe planting.

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Avoid planting large trees in the area between the curb and the sidewalk. These areas are typically not large enough to support the growth habits for trees with a mature height over 25 feet.

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Remove limbs of large shade trees that can obscure street signs and traffic lights, creating a hazard for motorists and pedestrians. Screening your own driveway so that you cannot see approaching traffic is also dangerous.

Cut Down on Costs

Trees add value to your home, business and community by cooling your property in the summer, breaking the cold winds to lower your heating costs in the winter, and providing food for wildlife.

Shade from two large trees on the west side and one on the east side can save up to 30 percent of a typical residence's annual air conditioning costs.
Neighborhoods with well-shaded streets can be up to 10 degrees cooler than neighborhoods without street trees.
Trees properly placed around buildings as windbreaks can save up to 25 percent on winter heating costs.
The presence of street trees in a neighborhood has the potential to increase the sale prices of houses by an average of $8,870.

More Opportunities to Save

Municipal Partnerships

At Ameren, we recognize the value of urban forests and believe in the importance of planting the right tree in the right place. Working together with our local municipal partners, we have removed and replaced thousands of problem trees with utility friendly species, which benefits the safety and reliability of electrical service and improve the aesthetics of the landscape.

We’re dedicated to making our role in the community bigger than just power. We also create community impact through other philanthropic contributions, volunteerism and providing in-kind donations.

More Community Impacts