Slugs and Salal - Trees for Small Gardens

SMALL TREES FOR GARDENS

Most small ornamental and flowering trees grow to a height of 15 - 30 feet. Here are are a few suggestions suitable for a small garden area.

Dogwoods

Several of the flowering dogwoods (Cornus florida) grow in the 13 to 16-foot range. The pink dogwood (C. florida rubra), Cherokee Chief, and the variegated Rainbow are examples.

Most disease resistant among the dogwoods is Chinese dogwood (Cornus kousa), a small multi-stemmed tree with yellow and scarlet leaf coloring in the fall and creamy white, pink-edged flowers. It grows 10 to 20 feet tall. A form called China Girl is more compact.

Kousa dogwood colors up beautifully in the fall.

Japanese Maples

Many of the Japanese maples (Acer palmatum) grow to the six to 10 foot height range. A sampler: Katsura (Wig Maple), orange-yellow spring coloring, green in summer, bright orange and yellow in fall; O kagami, the Mirror Maple, purplish to blackish red foliage turning fiery red and scarlet in autumn; Red Pygmy, bright red-maroon, thread-like foliage darkening to purplish tones in autumn; Shishigashira, Lion's Mane Maple, dense, deep green foliage on short, stubby twigs; Villa Taranto, a bushy, lacy and delicate tree with narrow green leaves, pink-tinged in spring and golen in autumn.; Acer palmatum dissectum 'Crimson Queen', the Weeping Laceleaf Japanese Maple, lacy, deep red leaves and a pendulous habit.

Sumacs

The sumacs (Rhus) are well known for their spectacular fall color and clusters of sticky, mahogany-red fruit clusters. This ornamental shrub stays fairly small at around 13 feet. Sumacs thrive in poor, dry soil and they love the sun. Staghorn and cutleaf sumac are the two forms that are commonly available. Staghorn sumac can grow 25-30 feet, or the size of a small tree.

Oxydendrum (Sorrel or Sourwood Tree)

The sorrel tree (Oxydendrum arboreum) has beautiful bronze-tinted spring leaves, drooping clusters of white bell-shaped flowers in summer, and orange and scarlet fall coloring. It is a slow growing tree which reaches about the same size as a sumac. However, it can grow to 40 feet or more in the Pacific Northwest after many years in ideal conditions. The sorrel tree likes well-drained gravelly soils, and can tolerate dry conditions, but it dislikes pollution so is not considered a good tree for large urban settings.

Japanese stewartia

Although this tree (Stewartia pseudocamellia) can grow to 60 feet, it more commonly reaches only half that height in this climate. Lots of year-round interest with this tree, as it produces large white single camellia-like blooms in June-July and brilliant red foliage in the fall. In the winter, its flaking bark is a lovely cinnamon color.