Planting Small Trees In Your Garden

Maybe you are looking to incorporate trees to your backyard however don’t know what to pick. Perhaps you are frightened of starting a forest as trees tend to grow, and grow, and grow. Maybe you simply want some little accent to a deck area or around a pool”

http://fotsos.com/
Whenever you think of trees maybe you think about large soaring ones that are great for shade and tire swings, or of the evergreen Christmas tree variety. Trees can be found in different size and shapes and with all sorts of leaf shapes, colours and varieties. Some flower, some provide us with fruit, but they all serve a purpose. If you like trees however have a lot on your property already, perhaps you want a smaller one (or three) to incorporate texture and colour. Here are just a few of the great little trees out there.

Maples are members of the Acer (Aceraceae) family, a Latin word that means sharp, in reference to the tree’s leaves. Maples include both trees and shrubs which can grow up to 150 feet tall. The Paperbark Maple could grow up to 30 feet tall with a spread of up to 15 feet. The name “paperbark” refers to the trees paper-like bark. It’s a cinnamon brown with a peeling look. The tree’s leaves are three to five inches wide. The leaves are green in the summer and are a mix of reds, yellow and orange in the fall. The Paperback Maple grows best in full sun or partial shade.

The Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum) can also be known as the Japanese Mountain Maple. These grow a lot more like bushes rather than trees. The Japanese maple has a diverse number of hybrids, by some counts more than three hundred. The leaves of Japanese maples range from light green to deep burgundy. Like the trident maple, Japanese maples are usually durable trees. They are amazing addition to the garden as they are not just small but also v ery colorful sight to see.

Two other trees that happen to be popular are the snow gum and the Tibetan cherry. The snow gum tree is a year-round tree that’s got grey, cream, and green bark. The evergreen leaves are a grey-green color and it has small white flowers in the summer. It matures to 8 meters and prefers full-sun. The Tibetan cherry is also a great year-round tree. It has a red bark and flowers white in the spring and has red-yellow leaves in the fall. This tree grows ten meters high so both of these are on the larger side.

The Fringe tree gets its name from the numerous white fleecy looking flowers which it produces each spring. It appears like a fringe with its dangling offering and definitely, like with numerous species, there are various varieties available. The fringe tree could tolerate a great deal of soils and is great for yards in zones 4-9 based on the variety you select.