Diarmuid Gavin: Five small trees perfect for a front garden

Diarmuid… any suggestions for a tree for our front garden? Adam​

Dear Adam,

Thanks for your question. It’s a gardening query common to so many people and, while we’ve just passed optimum time for bare-root tree planting, now that everything comes containerised, we can plant all year round. I’ve made a trip to the garden centre to see what’s out there so you don’t have to.

First of all, we must consider the context of your garden. It’s a front garden with a lawn and borders. The grass is, in effect, an island and there is a lot of moss growing through it. That doesn’t bother me and I hope it doesn’t bother you as you have a perfect green rug. But what it does indicate is that your garden is shaded at times during the day.

A tree is very important in this situation for a number of reasons. It adds to the streetscape. It will make your whole neighbourhood look better if you plant something that is appropriate. However, appropriate is the key word. One of the biggest mistakes we tend to make when we are planting a garden is putting the right plant, the one we fall in love with, in the wrong space.

You want a plant that will live happily for years to come without the need to be moved, chopped, pruned or removed. What you are looking for is a small garden tree.

Traditionally we plant, as you suggest, in the middle of the lawn. There are good reasons for this. You’re maximising the space for the spread of the tree and, for some people, it looks pleasing. I’d off-centre it a little bit for a nicer overall look. ​

So what fits the bill for a small tree with an attractive shape and interesting foliage, with flowers and berries as added bonuses?

Japanese maples make excellent specimens in front gardens. They are slow-growing with beautiful foliage that puts on a vivid autumn display, and although the flowers are insignificant, they are followed by interesting winged fruit.

As they age, the limbs can twist and become gnarly and form intriguing silhouettes in winter. There are tonnes of varieties available with leaves in different colours and shapes.

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Flowering cherries are very desirable but they have one major drawback in a front garden beside a driveway as, over time, the spreading roots will start to lift up the paving or tarmacadam, and this can be a costly job to repair.

If you want spring blossom, consider a flowering hawthorn such as ‘Paul’s Scarlet’, or a crab apple tree.

You’re unlikely, in a front garden, to require something that fruits. This is a little sad but is how our gardens have evolved. There is a movement in some parts of the USA and Europe to encourage people to grow fruit and veg in the front of their houses and, maybe, at some stage, that will happen here.

Malus ‘Gorgeous’ is crab apple with a neat, rounded habit, and lots of white spring blossoms followed by rich crimson fruit in autumn as well as autumnal foliage.

Pyrus salicifolia is a weeping silver pear, grown mainly for its interesting and elegant outline, the branches drooping towards the ground with willow-like foliage.

My final choice for you is an evergreen topiary bay tree. This could come in the form of a lollipop shape, pyramid or cone, which I grow in my plot. This would be an elegant contemporary statement for your front garden but you would need to give it a good shears at least once a year to keep the overall shape sharp.

Plant of the week

Aesculus hippocastanum The horse chestnut is one of the most easily recognisable trees, particularly during these months when it is covered in spikes of creamy blossoms. Get a closer look if you can as they are really wonderful blooms, frilly cream with flushed pink throats that form pyramid-like candles all over the tree. Although not a native, our bees enjoy the sweet nectar. Stand beneath and gaze up at the parasol-like arrangements of leaves. In autumn, the tree delights again with its conker bounty. This species is sadly under attack from a leaf-mining insect, so let’s hope a remedy can be found.

Reader Q&A

I’ve had a Mock Orange plant in my garden for four years but it has never flowered – what am I doing wrong? Neil

Mock orange, or Philadelphus, is a relatively easy shrub to grow and is prized for its perfumed white flowers at this time of year. My guess is that you have a very young plant and it is just settling in — hopefully. this year. flower buds will start to form and you will see flowers next spring. For this year, just leave it alone, don’t prune, and give it a liquid high-potash fertiliser such as tomato food, which will help with flower bud formation.

Submit your gardening questions to Diarmuid via his Instagram @diarmuidgavin using the hashtag #weekendgarden