Owners of small gardens often wonder whether a beautiful house tree fits on their property at all. In fact, it is better not to plant a forest tree in a small square meter area, but there is room for low-growing and narrow small trees everywhere - even on the balcony or terrace.
There is a large selection of small trees
Selection criteria for the small house tree
Due to its size and growth form - the gardener calls this habitus - the house tree determines the overall picture of your garden. In a small garden, trees that are as low as possible with a final growth height of up to eight to twelve meters should therefore be planted. But not only the growth height plays a decisive role in the selection of the variety, the habit should not be ignored either: For example, a hornbeam is not suitable for small gardens because it becomes very wide. Instead, you can plant a narrow columnar hornbeam, which really comes into its own when there is little space. Ball trees also grow rather weakly, remain compact and are particularly suitable for the front garden.
Criteria for choosing the small house tree at a glance:
- existing site and soil conditions
- expected final size / growth height
- expected growth width when fully grown
- annual growth rate (slow growing / fast growing
- Growth habit (narrow, expansive, rounded, broadly bushy…)
- Special features (flowers, fruits, leaf color and shape, evergreen…)
The most beautiful varieties for the home garden
Even a small house tree should not be squeezed between the house, hedge or perimeter wall and other plants. Give the piece of jewelery enough space so that it can develop its full effect. Most trees stand best as solitaires or as the radiant center of a border planting.
Ornamental and wild fruit trees
Most wild and ornamental fruit trees remain comparatively small and offer numerous advantages:
- The trees display lush white or pink flowers in spring
- In summer, solitary plants provide shade, many are bird protection trees.
- Varieties with red leaves also score points in summer with their variety of colours.
- In autumn, a magnificent color of the leaves sets the scene for the tree.
- Apples, small cherries or plums also ripen.
- These are often edible, but also feed birds and other wildlife.
Columnar Trees
Columnar trees are very slender in shape and take up little space, although some varieties can grow quite tall. There are both coniferous and deciduous trees in the form of columns, and some fruit trees have even been bred to be particularly narrow. These are not trimmed trees, but special breeds. These retain their characteristic growth form even without pruning measures.
ball trees
Ball trees are often so-called top grafts, the trunk of which grows very slowly or not at all. The spherical crown also remains compact in old age, so that the tree only casts little shade and can therefore be well planted. Many spherical trees do not grow higher than three to four meters.
Umbrella Trees
Umbrella-shaped trees that develop a broad, spreading crown and therefore look best on larger green areas require significantly more space. They are ideal for providing shade in summer or for placing the house bench underneath.
Overhanging Trees
Well-known trees with overhanging branches are the weeping willow, weeping birch or the deciduous elm. They grow very large and therefore need a lot of space in the garden. However, there are also hanging trees that remain significantly smaller and therefore also fit well in the small garden or even in a pot. A nice example of this is the hanging wild pear 'Pendula' (Pyrus salicifolia), which grows to a maximum of six meters high and up to four meters wide.
tips
Also very suitable for small gardens are so-called dwarf trees, which can often be recognized by the suffix 'Nana'.