Backyard Tree Recommendation

We have a 15 foot Red maple tree in our six foot by 8 foot front garden. The trunk is only 4 inches in diameter. The crown is not large and can be easily trimmed. Its leaves are a beautiful red in the spring and will remain that way given sufficient light. Neighbors comment that it looks so beautiful then. However, in our case when the big oak street tree in front of our house leafs-out and limits the sun the maple tree leaves turn green. Then again in the late fall the leaves return to a deep red color before falling. Now we want to put our own garden in. But really don’t want to destroy this tree. Therefore, we would be willing to give this tree (probably worth a lot of money) to anyone who would uproot it and take it away.

You can somewhat limit the growth of a tree by planting it in a big pot instead of the ground. Potted bamboo is stunning and keeps them from spreading underground to your neighbor’s yard.

The Eastern Redbud is small, and have tiny pink spring blossoms. Birch are lovely but need good sun exposure to have good color. Japanese maple are a good small space choice, but I find they tend to be more shrubby in shape. I also am a fan of our fig tree, which does produce edible fruit. We have no problems eating all the fruit before it falls on the ground!

I should have prefaced that by saying that I understand you don’ want a tree that will get too big (this being a “fast” growing tree co.) but that they provide lots of information and good pics.

Personally, I love my Japanese Maple and my dogwood. I’d also look at the Newport flowering plum which is also a good tree for smaller spaces.

Best,

THL

birches are nice because they don’t cast too much shade as they’re pretty vertical and the foliage reflects sun so beautifully.