Even if you don't have a green thumb, you can appreciate the fact that you'll save significant money on your summer cooling bills by planting shade trees along the western side ... read full tip

Even if you don't have a green thumb, you can appreciate the fact that you'll save significant money on your summer cooling bills by planting shade trees along the western side of your house.

And there's no time like the present: Autumn is the best season for planting shade trees. If you plant your trees this fall, they should be shading your windows by next summer.

Daytime air temperatures can be up to 6 degrees cooler in shaded neighborhoods. According to the Department of Energy, it only takes three broad-crown trees placed along the west-facing walls of a house to save more than $100 on annual AC bills.

If 10 percent of all air-conditioned households strategically planted three shade trees around their homes, the collective energy savings would be $600 million annually-enough to adopt and preserve an area of tropical rainforest three times the size of New Jersey every year.