While pretty flower pots, hanging baskets and shrubs all create a picturesque scene, trees have the potential to add depth and height to your outdoor space.
Planting a tree may seem daunting at first, but the right choice will create a striking focal point in your garden or transform a cluttered area into an open, peaceful haven.
Whether you re looking to add a pop of colour or keep it looking fresh all year round, here are the 20 best trees to plant in your garden. Â
20 best trees to plant
Acer palmatum Osakazuki
The star among Japanese maples, for its truly brilliant orange-red autumn colour.
Most trees reach ultimately at least 23ft (7m) tall and although most âgarden treesâ attain 30ft (10m) or more at maturity, there are many examples that stay smaller, in all shapes and sizes, evergreen and deciduous.
Here s a complete guide to the best trees for small gardens, so hopefully you can find one perfect for you.
Trees under 30ft
Most gardens can find space for the smallest trees, under 30ft high at maturity. Here are three excellent examples that are great for proportion and decorative value.
Cercis canadensis Forest Pansyâ AGM, with large heart-shaped purple leaves, offers rich autumn colour.Â
The best methods to care for your garden during a drought
Are April showers a thing of the past? Here are the best tips to see your garden through this dry spell
26 April 2021 • 12:00pm
You don t have to use the hosepipe to keep your garden green during a drought
Credit: Getty Images
It’s been a dry spring. I’d say an alarmingly dry spring, except that I’ve loved it: the soggy end of my garden hasn’t turned into a bog, I’ve only once been rained off at the allotment, and I’ve very seldom walked across the plot and had my wellies instantly transformed into mud-soled platform boots.
Dogs and children both need space to play
Credit: Getty Images
If you think you’re seeing a lot more puppies on your daily walks, you’re right. Nearly a quarter of dog owners recently surveyed by the RSPCA had acquired their new pet since the start of the first lockdown in March last year.
In another survey, by the Kennel Club, three quarters of dog owners said their new puppy was the best thing about lockdown.
My son, his wife, and their two children, aged seven and five, count themselves in that group. A few days after their recent move to a house with a garden, I received a photo of their new poodle pup, nose down in a deep hole he’d just dug. More digging followed, accompanied by chewing of twigs and leaves.
Ray Mears: We have forgotten how to be outdoors
Bushcraft expert is urging us to get outside and interact with nature, rather than engaging in trendy pursuits and watching programmes on TV
20 April 2021 • 6:00am
Ray Mears in the Ashdown Forest in Sussex
Credit: Christopher Pledger/
Ray Mears has taken aim at the fashionable practices of “forest bathing” and “wild swimming”, suggesting that we have forgotten how to enjoy simply going for a walk.
The bushcraft expert, presenter and author has written a new book We Are Nature, which advises readers on reconnecting with the wild.
He said: “The publisher wanted me to write about rewilding the landscape, but I feel we need to rewild people. We live in this very strange world now, of ‘forest bathing’ and ‘wild swimming’ - but for me it’s just walking, being outdoors. And we’ve forgotten how to do that.”