TREES AND ENERGY SAVINGS
Planting the right trees in the right place can affect the temperature inside your home. They help keep your home cool in the hot months by both providing shade and by cooling the air around them.
Your priority on where to plant shade trees should be at east and west facing areas. Plant them as close to your home as you can while still providing room for them to grow to their full height and for air circulation. A tree planted 10 feet from a wall will shade that area of your home 4 times longer than one 20 feet away. Trees with a mature size of up to 30 feet are ideal. Those that get more than 30 feet should be planted further away. Note: Do not be concerned about the roots and your foundation. When a root gets to a wall it is stopped by the concrete footer under the perimeter of the house.
It is not just walls and windows that benefit from shade. Your yard will be more comfortable and shading your AC unit will help it run more efficiently (allow for sufficient air flow).
A few popular shade trees for south Florida are:
Live Oak
Mahogany
Redbud
Gumbo Limbo
Crepe Myrtle