Trees for Small Spaces

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What is a tree?

No, really. It’s not as easy to define as it may seem. Nature doesn’t care which words we use to describe it, so there aren’t clear definitions for things like trees. You know it when you see it, right?

When you think of a tree, what do you picture? Is it big, tall, and woody? Does it have a single trunk, or multiple stems? Are the branches near the ground or high above?

Maybe a different question can help: where is the tree you picture? Is it in a forest, surrounded by more trees? Is it in a public park, out on its own? Trees can look very different, depending on the context.

A tree is…

In the garden, a tree is defined by its role. Whether it’s a 50-foot-tall spruce or a 4-foot dwarf Japanese maple, trees are used to add size and weight to a landscape.

Even in a small space, a tree is often a great way to give the garden a sense of completion, as the largest and visually heaviest pieces in a garden. They can help turn a flower bed (plain, flat, impermanent) into a real landscape (structured, dimensional, permanent).

Most of our trees do have a few things in common. They tend to have a sturdy, woody structure, usually featuring one or more trunks with little or no foliage on the lower portions. This structure is what gives them much of their impact.

Selection

Just like the rest of the landscape, success comes down to selecting the right plant for the job. If you want a tree for your landscape, choosing a good plant for the space is vital, especially since a “tree” can be 6 feet tall in some landscapes and 60 feet tall in others.

There are countless great choices of large trees for large landscapes, but for a smaller landscape, there is a hard size limit for the tree. Not just a tree that is small, but a tree that can stay small, via regular pruning, small habit, and/or slow growth rate.

If you know what to look for, there are plenty of great choices for small trees:

• Velvet Viking Japanese maple slowly grows as a low, mounding form with soft, delicate foliage
• Ruby Falls weeping redbud’s branches weep down without taking up much space
• Jade Butterflies dwarf ginkgo grows slowly and has that “old tree” look

Companions

For a small tree to have a big impact, does it have to be big? In a way, yes, or at least the biggest piece in the garden. A 6-foot-tall weeping redbud isn’t much of a tree if it’s next to a 6’ hydrangea. Maintaining a clear sense of scale keeps the whole space balanced.

In a small garden, miniature or dwarf plants give the garden substance without being crowded. The Ruby Falls redbud would be great with mouse-ear tickseed (Coreopsis auriculata ‘Nana’), a dwarf perennial with bright yellow flowers. If everything else is small, the small tree seems big.

Trees can bring a new level of complexity and interest to a landscape, and they don’t have to be big to have a big impact.