Choosing Trees for a Small Garden
Another choice might be Parrotia persica, which has flowers in spring and a vivid mix of red, orange and gold leaf colour in autumn. It's hardy to Zone 5 and older trees have the added bonus of attractive grey and white bark. Another choice for blocking a view might be growing a vine on a trellis - maybe clematis, wisteria or ivy.
If you're looking for a small tree that will behave itself and not consume too much precious space consider one of the smaller magnolias, such as Magnolia stellata, which grows to about 10 feet tall and has fragrant white star-like flowers. Dogwood is another lovely small tree - try Cornus 'Eddie's White Wonder' or Cornus florida for white spring flowers (actually they are bracts) or C. florida rubra if you prefer rosy pink bracts. Most dogwoods have reddish leaf colour in autumn and are hardy to Zone 5 or 6.
For privacy consider a weeping birch - Betula pendula or B. p 'Fastigiata'. (Fastigiata, by the way, means thin, so any tree with that in its name will be a slimmer version of the standard tree.) Birches, like many of the willows, are tough customers and well used to cold weather. Many of them are hardy to Zone 2.
If you want year round privacy, try holly. There are many varieties, some with variegated leaves and others with minimum spines. If you want berries for Christmas decorating you will usually need both male and female trees. One or two hollies are self-pollinating - Ilex aquifolium 'J. C. van Tol' is one of these. It has shiny dark green leaves with few spines and large crops of shiny red berries.
A few things to consider when you are buying a tree:
- Beware of trees that may not grow large in height, but they grow very bushy and wide and take up lots of garden space. Hammamelis, or witch hazel is one example. It only grows to about six feet tall and has zany yellow flowers in late winter and vivid fall foliage BUT it grows as wide as it is tall.
- When in doubt, buy a tree native to your part of the country. It may not be as gorgeous as another tree, but it will do better because it's used to the local conditions.
- When you're planting a tree, dig a hole way larger than you think you'll need, and spread the roots out
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