Spectacular Autumn Toned Trees for Cool Climate Gardens

Autumn, especially in cool climate gardens is the season when color truly rules. When outside temperatures start to drop it is the time of year when the gardens come into their own making a strong visual impact. Choosing the right sized tree and knowing what color it could be can make a stunning statement to any garden.

When a Leaf becomes a Flower

In French philosopher Albert Camus’ words ‚”autumn is a second spring when every leaf becomes a flower” with many gardeners agreeing with Camus believing autumn to be the best time of the year. The change in seasons is heralded by the changing colors of many trees and the associated drop in temperature only increases the vibrancy of the color. The change in color is also a precursor to the trees dropping their leaves before morphing into winter hybernation. There are a number of truly magnificent autumn toned trees in the marketplace that really strut their stuff with an amazing variety of colored trees to suit any size garden.

Small to Medium Autumn Colored Trees

• Purple Maple: grows to 2 metres in height x 2 metres wide; it is a small fine laced leaf foliage of a deep purple hue that is best suited to sheltered gardens
• Japanese Maple: grows to 4 metres in height x 4 metres; it is a spectacular tree that turns bright crimson or red in autumn
• Pistacia: grows to 8 metres in height x 6 metres and is one of the best mid range trees; it thrives in dry conditions and has exquisite autumn color
• Maple: grows to 9 metres in height x 6 metres; it is a sensational autumn tree that can handle most conditions
• Ginko Biloba: grows to 11 metres in height x 5 metres with the fan shaped foliage turning a wonderful yellow color
• Tupelo: grows to 11 metres in height x 6 metres; it is a tree suited to wetter climates and grows to 6 metres. It has a beautiful seasonal display of color

Large Autumn Colored Trees

• Canadian Maple: grows to 13 metres in height x 10 metres; it is a classic tree with excellent autumn colors
• Scarlet Oak: grows to 12 metres in height x 8 metres; it turns a vibrant deep crimson or red in autumn
• Liquidamber: grows to 13 metres in height with a width of 7 metres; it is a quite narrow tree that has a broad range of colorings from yellow to reds and purples
• Purple Beech: grows to 13 metres in height with a width of 9 metres; is an elegant addition to any garden, but especially to large gardens where avenue trees are required
• Pin Oak: grows to 15 metres in height with a width of 8 mtres; due to its size is best suited to the larger garden
• Purple Beech: Grows to 13 metres in height x 9 metres; it is best suited to the larger garden it is a stately tree that make an excellent specimen tree
• Poplar: grows to 20 metres in height x 6 metres and is suitable for larger gardens as a specimen or as avenue trees. The brilliant yellow colorings make poplars a very attractive autumn foliage tree

When Planting Trees

Prepare your soil by adding good quality fertilizer to the hole prior to planting, and have compost at the ready to cover the soil after planting to protect the roots from frost. Remember that the quality of the soil and the amount of available water can have an impact on the growth and size of trees.

A great garden generally uses a layered effect to plantings, with small shrubs and trees planted in front of larger or taller trees; this gives the garden a sense of depth and adds greatly to the palate of colors. Therefore knowing the colors and sizes of trees when designing the garden allows the astute gardener to plan the palate and could be the difference between a good garden and a really great garden.