Trees add beauty to your garden by bringing lovely autumn colours, spring blossoms, and even provide you with fresh, healthy fruits. They can also offer privacy and shade to your property. While trees provide several amazing benefits, one of the most challenges faced by many homeowners is the limited size of their garden. Luckily, there are a variety of small trees that are perfect for small gardens.
If you are looking for the best trees to plant in your tiny garden, go for evergreens. Many homeowners prefer evergreen trees.
Here are several advantages of planting evergreen trees in your garden:
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- Maintain colour and character all-year round – Deciduous trees shed their leaves during autumn. Evergreens, in contrast, retain their luscious greenery all year round. While the surroundings might look dull in the middle of winter, evergreen trees maintain beautiful colour and character in your garden.
- Excellent windbreaker – Evergreens helps protect your home from strong winter wind and snow. Strong winds can damage some exterior parts of your house and small garden plants. Additionally, they also cool the air and provide shade in the summer, helping homeowners conserve energy and save money.
- Low maintenance – Evergreen trees can grow beautifully in your garden without requiring much upkeep, aside from watering. Homeowners do not need to spend a fortune to ensure that their trees will remain healthy.
- Great for the environment – Trees do not only provide oxygen; they also filter and clean the air, save water, and prevent soil erosion.
Top Ten Evergreen Trees for Smaller Gardens
While there are hundreds of evergreen trees to choose from, these ten trees are well-suited for smaller gardens because of their lower height and smaller canopies. Most of these trees do not grow above eight metres tall and take years to reach full maturity.
- The Blues Weeping Colorado Spruce (Picea pungens) – If you are looking for a low-maintenance show-stopping tree, then “the blues” is the right choice for you. This beautiful and extremely hardy variety of weeping blue spruce grows about 3 metres in high and spreads 1.5 to 3 metres. It has thick blue-green needles that hang downward on its branches. It thrives in full sunlight and can survive extreme temperatures to -45 Celsius. It is one of the most deer-resistant dwarf evergreen trees.
- Hinoki Cypress (Chamaecyparis obtusa) – This compact, soft-needled, extremely slow-growing evergreen is known for having a lush, dark green, fan-shaped foliage, which gives it an almost feathery texture. It can survive lows of -35 C and is 3 to 3.5 metres tall and 1 to 1.2 metres wide. It requires well-drained soil and full to partial sun. If you want an even smaller version of Hinoki cypress (full height of 1.5 metres tall), look for the cultivar “Nana Gracilis.”
- Dwarf Balsam Fir (Abies Balsamea) – Also known as “Nana,” this compact evergreen is a stunning, rounded fir with lush needles. Hardy to -40 degrees, its slow growth rate makes it a perfect choice for busy homeowners with limited time for pruning. The dwarf balsam fir has compact, dark green needles that are densely packed on its branches. Its maximum spread can reach 1.5 to 1.8 metres wide after years of growth.
- Blue Wonder Blue Spruce (Picea glauca) – Also referred to as “blue wonder,” it can survive extreme winter temperature down to -40 degrees. It has a stunning and lovely compact blue-gray foliage, making it a great alternative to dwarf Alberta spruce. It can slowly grow up to 1.8 metres in height and one metre wide at maturity. If you have limited space in your garden, the “blue wonder” can add a striking accent throughout the year.
- Tip Top Dwarf Swiss Stone Pine (Pinus cembra) – The “Tip Top” is another evergreen tree that is worth planting in your garden. It too is extremely hardy to -40 degrees. What makes this dwarf evergreen tree downright adorable is its long, soft needles with white undersides that give the tree a shaggy green puppet look. It grows to a maximum of 1.8 metres in height and one metre wide. Due to its narrow and conical characteristic, Tip Top does not require any pruning to maintain its small stature.
- Green Spire Euonymus (Euonymus japonicus) – Commonly called the “Green Spire,” this fast-growing evergreen is perfect for narrow hedges and screens due to its glossy green foliage, giving it a more formal appearance compared to other types of evergreen tree options. Its maximum height can reach up to 1.8 to 2.4 metres with a spread of just 30 to 60 cm wide.
- Dwarf Japanese Black Pine (Pinus thunbergii) – Popularly known as “Kotobuki,” the maximum height for this slow-growing, densely needled evergreen is just 1.2 metres and 60 cm wide. What makes Kotobuki excellent for small gardens is its upright candles of new growth and its narrow growth. Its needles measure about half the length of regular Japanese black pines.
- Upright Japanese Plum Yew (Cephalotaxus harringtonia) – Also called the “Fastigiata,” this non-flowering evergreen is known for its slim vertical growth profile. Its height maxes out at 2.4 metres tall and 90 cm wide. It’s broad, densely-spaced dark green needles grow on bottlebrush-like upright branches. Each needle measures approximately 5 cm long. It grows well in partial to full sun but prefers afternoon shade during hot summer months.
- Dwarf Pencil Point Juniper (Juniperus communis) – What makes the dwarf pencil point juniper or “compressa” unique is its columnar form. Its height tops out at just 1.5 metres tall and 30 cm wide and can handle temperatures as low as -40 degrees. This sun-loving evergreen has blue-green needles and a tapered shape, making it a great accent plant for small gardens. Female compressas produce blue berry-like fruit in the fall.
- Swiss Mountain Pine (Pinus mugo) – Also called the Mugo Pine, the Swiss Mountain Pine is the only pine shrub. It is grown in North America primarily as an ornamental plant and is also used for larger bonsai specimens.
The beauty, diversity, and ease of maintenance of these evergreen trees earn them a place in your little garden. No matter what variety of evergreen you choose to plant, they can add a huge impact on your landscape.
If you are looking for evergreen trees for sale in Toronto, Caledon Treeland is your go-to place. We have the best selection of evergreens to help you create stunning landscapes and gardens. Call us now at (905) 880-1828, and we will schedule you for a visit at our family-owned tree farm.