One way to minimize your cooling costs is to plant shrubs and bushes around the foundation of your house. If the foundation is exposed, it will capture heat all day long as the sun is beating down on it. Foundations can store a lot of heat. So once they get hot they radiate that heat into the house throughout the evening. This can really add to the heat in your house in the summer. By planting shrubs and bushes around the foundation you can keep the foundation in the shade and this will reduce the amount of heating that the foundation adds to your interior.