Garden Studios

While oak trees, beech and horse chestnuts are glorious they’re far too big for even spacious gardens, and in case you are confined to a more modest domestic plot you ought to choose a tree that’s not only small but in addition has year-round interest.

You are searching for spring blossom, attractive summer foliage, autumn berries and colour plus interesting bark.

Not every tree can deliver in all those categories but many are spot on over lots of the seasons.

Positioning of trees can also be crucial. Obviously, don’t plant a tree so with regards to your house that its roots will cause problems when it’s mature and its canopy will cut out your daylight.

Instead, plant your tree in order that it becomes a focus within the garden, drawing your eye to it and far from less salubrious areas, similar to the compost heap or greenhouse.

Evergreen trees create an excellent backdrop to other planting in summer and are excellent in winter when there’s little or no colour within the garden.

You could try a kohuhu tree (Pittosporum tenuifolium) perhaps, which has glossy leaves, small honey-scented purple flowers in spring and is reasonably compact – even though it may grow to 20ft (6metres) once mature.

Another excellent evergreen is the magnolia tree Magnolia grandiflora, that is known for its fragrant waxy cream flowers and big dark green glossy leaves.

It is nice for growing against a border as it spreads itself out wide, but you would have to keep it in check: Magnolia grandifloras can grow to 40ft (12m) high.

Deciduous trees are better if you need autumn colour. Almost any Japanese maple offers you fiery reds and oranges, however the Acer griseum goes one better and has bronze-brown bark that appears adore it is peeling off – hence its common name the paperbark maple.

Silver birch trees are utilized by garden designers specifically thanks to their white trunks, which stand out particularly well in winter.

Betula jacquemontii is without doubt one of the best varieties, thanks to its extra-white bark, however it can grow to greater than 40ft.

If that’s going to cause problems, it’s possible to purchase silver birches which have had their main leader cut out in order that other branches grow to supply smaller multi-stemmed trees.

And for those of you who love spring blossom you can’t get significantly better than the flowering cherry tree Prunus serrulata ‘Mount Fuji’.

It is a frothy pale pink bouquet in spring but additionally has a glittery bronze trunk for winter interest and its leaves turn yellow and red in autumn – so it really works all year round.

But while you’re a pragmatic type your best bet is to plant a fruit tree. Apple, pear, plum, cherry – all of them have lovely spring blossom in addition to autumn colour and you’ve got the added bonus of free fruit.