Trees are differentiated according to their growth rate, among other things. Slow-growing trees have the advantage that they often become very old - in contrast to fast-growing species, which often have to be replaced after just a few years or decades.
The Japanese maple grows slowly and inspires with its reddish leaves
The most beautiful slow-growing trees for the garden
However, garden owners should not make the mistake of confusing “slowly growing” with “remaining small”. The opposite is often the case: Just because a tree only grows a few centimeters a year, it can still become very large with age. This rule also applies the other way around: the very fast-growing paulownia, for example, only grows to a height of around ten metres.
Sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua)
The very slow-growing, deciduous sweetgum tree is between ten and 20 meters high. Due to its narrow, cone-shaped crown, it still finds enough space in medium-sized gardens. This can be up to ten meters wide in old age. The leaves turn colorful, bright colors in early fall, ranging from purple-brown to deep red to orange and yellow. The tree is somewhat sensitive to frost when young.
Japanese maple (Acer palmatum)
The popular Japanese maple, originally from East Asia, is often planted as a solitaire near a pond, in courtyards or in large planters or combined with ferns, grasses, bamboo and small trees. The very diverse species needs a sunny to light-shaded location that is sheltered from the wind.
Norway maple (Acer platanoides)
The Norway maple native to us grows slowly but steadily into a stately, up to 30 meter high tree with a stately crown. The tree needs a sunny to semi-shady location and is also suitable for urban climates.
Yew (Taxus baccata)
The European yew is probably one of the best-known and oldest coniferous trees in Germany. The slow-growing, extremely long-lived tree can be used in a variety of ways in the garden, for example as a trimmed hedge plant and topiary, for privacy or wind protection, in groups or as a solitaire.
Oak (Quercus)
There are numerous oak species, some of which are also very suitable for small gardens. In contrast to many other large-crowned oaks, the Armenian oak (Quercus pontica), for example, only reaches a maximum growth height of six meters. With growth heights of up to 20 meters, the scarlet oak (Quercus coccinea) and the swamp oak (Quercus palustris) grow significantly taller. The golden oak (Quercus robur), which only grows to a height of 15 meters, is also considered to be slow-growing.
tips
Furthermore, the tree hazel (Corylus colurna) is considered to be slow-growing, but due to its size it is only suitable for large gardens and parks.