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GARDENER'S
READING ROOM
The Art of Gardening
Trees and Shrubs
Trees for the Urban Eden
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Rhododendron vaseyi |
A
goodly number of us are now faced with less area in which to develop our own little paradise. Shrinking lot sizes, gardening restricted to containers on a deck…. But no garden, however small, should be without trees. Trees anchor the gaze. Trees go through eye-catching changes over the seasons. Trees provide shelter for birds and other plants and screening from the street. Trees refresh the spirit!
I'm witnessing a change in the nursery industry to make smaller trees available to meet this need. A good example is the new 'Gisela' dwarfing rootstock for cherries. A Kwanzan cherry (Prunus serrulata 'Kwanzan') that grows 35' tall can now be kept to 10-15'. You can even grow a 4-variety fruiting cherry in a small area with this rootstock!
For those of you facing width restrictions as well, there are solutions. Consider the two lovely purple-leaf crabapples, Velvet Pillar (Malus 'Velvetcole') and Red Baron (M. 'Red Baron'). Velvet Pillar, with its purple foliage and light pink flowers, can be kept at 6' wide; red-flowered Baron, at 8'. If you need something taller but thin, say for scale with a taller home, try Fran's Fontaine European Hornbeam (Carpinus betulus 'Fran's Fontaine'). This tree, which grows to about 25' by 8', could best be described as statuesque.
What's a paradise without fruit? The fig 'Negronne' grows only 8-12' tall and bears black figs with luscious red flesh. Two new Ukrainian persimmons, 'Nikita's Gift' and 'Russian Beauty', offer sweet fruit and bright orange fall color. Or be traditional and get apples - but on the M26 dwarf rootstock.
A different way to add tree-like structure to a small space is to get shrubs that have been trained or grafted as a "standard". In a container or small garden, they give the same effect and scale as a large tree does in a larger area. (Think of a bonsai for the extreme case.) The nursery industry has been working hard to develop more tree-form shrubs for the smaller garden. Let me take you through a year's worth….
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Contorted Filbert |
Winter starts with Contorted Filbert (Corylus contorta), its unusual form interesting year-round and its lovely
catkins signaling that spring is around the corner (really!). The dramatic pink/red blooms of Flowering Currant (Ribes sanguineum) follow in March. For later spring, a new item: Rhododendrons trained as trees, with blush pink, strong pink or
creamy yellow flowers. Lilacs are always a Mother's Day hit: try Syringa x 'Tinkerbelle', loaded with fragrant pink flowers. Next comes Diabolo Ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius 'Diabolo'): purple leaves, clusters of white flowers,
and attractively peeling white bark.
To keep your summer garden colorful, try a PeeGee Hydrangea (H. paniculata) with its huge snow-cone flowers, a fragrant Rose, or a hibiscus-like Rose of Sharon (Hibiscus rosa-sinensis). Finally, for fall colors - lots of them - try Grace Smoke Bush (Cotinus x 'Grace')! You'll be rewarded with purple, red, and yellow - on a single tree-form bush.
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Grace Smoke Bush |
As a buyer for Sky Nursery, I search high and low to find the right plants for your tighter spaces - and indeed for all your garden needs. This is a very brief sampling of our offerings; for a more complete list, check out our information sheet "Small Trees for a Big Impact", also available at our information gazebo. Figure out now what small trees will turn your garden into a small paradise.
By Bill Bloomfield
Skylights Spring 2006 Vol. 20, No. 1
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