Ask a Master Gardener: Trees for the Small Garden

Japanese Maple in Fall Color by Alice Marty

By: Regina Gunn, former Mobile County Master Gardener, www.mobilecountymastergardeners.org

Q We recently down-sized to a smaller home and yard with no existing plantings other than the typical foundational shrubbery. Are there small trees available for smaller spaces such as ours that would provide beauty and/or shade?

A Landscape designers often talk about balance with regard to proportion and scale in the garden because it is so fundamental to garden design.  I tend to think that most people have an eye for proportion and scale but forget to research the fully mature height and width of the proposed plantings when they plan their garden space. A small tree can frame a house or view in a small space, whereas a larger specimen will often have the opposite affect and dwarf the house and or view.  There are many wonderful small trees to choose from so your hardest decision will be to determine whether you want to plant a tree that is evergreen or deciduous, one that is architecturally interesting or simply ornamental. I am happy to suggest a few of my personal favorites and give you a bit of information about each, particularly mature growth heights.

I never grow tired of the lace-like effect of the branches and the leaf pattern distinctions of the many species of Japanese maple.  This is a great understory tree that grows best in part shade with moist well-drained soil. There are literally hundreds of varieties to choose from so you’ll need to do more research regarding form, color, etc. before making your final selection.  The mature height can range from 8 to 20 feet.

Southern Living once referred to the fringe tree (Chionanthus virginicus) as “the best native tree nobody grows.” The main requirement for growing this little gem is a love for lightly fragrant, creamy white showy blooms in spring. Give it full to partial sun and you will have a multi-trunked tree 12 – 20 feet in height at maturity.

I should admit before going any further that I have always had a love affair with the many plants in the Rosaceae family, which includes cherries, plums, and roses.  This does tend to bias me a bit about plant selection, but I simply can’t leave out these next two trees.  The Taiwan cherry (Prunus campanulata) is so graceful, and the bright rosy pink blooms are an early spring harbinger often blooming before the Japanese magnolias. They will tolerate heat better than most cherries, and that alone makes them a top choice for our area. The maximum height is about 25 feet. If you love cherry trees but want something a bit smaller I’d recommend door stop cherry (Prunus hiromi). This is a dwarf flowering cherry variety that will only grow to about 6 feet in height and 4 feet in width

Chaste tree (Vitex agnes-castus var. latifolia) is to me the southern version of a lilac. It’s actually in the mint family and native to the Mediterranean.  The lacy leaves are quite aromatic, reminding me a bit of artemisia, and the bright blue-purple flowers are amazing in the landscape. Mature height is about 10-15 feet, and the multi-trunked growth habit adds to the architectural interest of the tree.

Magnolias are a southern classic and there are many hybrids available for small gardens.  If you want something a bit different, give star magnolias (Magnolia stellata) a try.  ‘Leonard Messel’ is one of my favorites. The star- shaped petals are creamy white on the inside and tinged with purple-pink on the outside, and nicely fragrant. ‘Little Gem’ is a dwarf and slower-growing cultivar of the Southern Magnolia. Both have a mature height of 15-20 feet. Magnolias prefer full sun to partial shade, but make sure you give them at least 4 hours of direct sun for the best bloom show.

There are so many more wonderful small trees to choose from, and I recommend reading, ‘The Southern Gardeners Book of Lists’ by Lois Trigg Chaplin to help guide you in your selection.  My best advice is to analyze your site for the growing conditions before selecting any tree and you will save yourself the cost and heartache of planting the wrong tree in the wrong place.

Editor’s Note: Regina Gunn was a star member of the 2011 Master Gardener intern class, and though she is no longer with us, we remember her gardening wisdom, her enthusiasm and her voice.

Little Gem dwarf Magnolia bloom by Judy Weaver

Fringe Tree in bloom by Judy Weaver