PAGE.100
GRASSROOTS
SMALL TREE: One of my favorite oaks is
dwarf chinkapin oak (Quercus prinoides).
Ranking among the smallest of North
American species and sometimes described
as a large shrub, it grows slowly to 12 feet tall
at maturity. It can grow in dry shade and just
about any garden soil. Its apple green catkins
appear more ornamental than most oaks’ and
it bears acorns at an early age. Its greatest
feature is its almost indescribable cuteness—a
miniature-scale oak perfectly sized for the
modern, compact garden.
MEDIUM TREE: A native of the eastern North
American forest, pagoda dogwood (Cornus
alternifolia) earns its name from uniquely
tiered branches that spread widely from the
main leader. Its floral display lacks the elegant
bracts of flowering dogwood (Cornus florida),
but the pagoda dogwood makes up for this
with a profusion akin to soft white frosting in
late spring. It thrives along woodland edges—
in dappled light and woodsy soil with good
drainage. It rarely reaches more than 25 feet
tall at maturity. Uncommon beyond collector
gardens, two variegated selections riff on the
usually green foliage: Gold Bullion (‘Bachone’)
shows acid-yellow new growth that ages to
chartreuse and ‘Argentea’ displays dramatic
silver-bordered leaves that appear nearly
cream to white from a distance. Red to
burgundy fall color is the norm.
LARGE TREE: In the Upper Midwest,
sweetgums have an unduly earned reputation
as warm-blooded Southerners. Yet with
appropriate site selection, you can grow
handsome specimens with fall color worth
relishing. Liquidambar styraciflua ‘Slender
Silhouette’ cuts a leaner profile and also
produces fewer fruits. It can widen to 6–8 feet
with maturity, but many specimens only
reach 4 feet wide and up to 50 feet tall. This
exclamation point tree closes the growing
season with a full stop: golden shades that
intensify into scarlet and crimson.
SMALL TREE: When it comes to small trees,
it’s hard to beat the compact crabapples
(Malus), as long as the cultivar you select is
disease-resistant. Crabapples show off lovely
blooms in early spring followed by colorful
fruits that can persist well into fall. The trees
feature smooth gray bark and often develop
a pleasing gnarled profile with age. But they
can be subject to diseases, including apple
scab, which disfigures their leaves and can
defoliate a tree in severe cases. A variety that
is outstandingly resistant is Lancelot (Malus
‘Lanzam’). Producing a rounded crown just
8–10 feet tall and wide, it bears red buds that
open into white flowers. These are followed by
golden fruits. It’s petite and hardy to Zone 4.
MEDIUM TREE: For a tree of medium stature,
I like the native sourwood (Oxydendrum
arboreum). Reaching a height of 25–30 feet
and a spread of 20 feet, it is hardy through
Zone 5. It features lustrous green leaves that
turn yellow, red, and purple in the fall, and in
early summer it bears an abundant crop of
white lily-of-the-valleylike flowers. Sourwoods
are slow-growing but long-lived and, in my
experience, tenacious. An adult specimen
in my Connecticut garden was killed back
to the trunk, but it sprouted anew and has
reasserted itself in the most attractive way. Its
flowers are a magnet for butterflies and bees.
LARGE TREE: A large tree that grows
gratifyingly fast is the dawn redwood
(Metasequoia glyptostroboides), which can
reach a height of 50 feet in 15–20 years and
eventually attain 100 feet or more. Its delicate
bright green needles pose a fine contrast
to the rugged, buttressed trunk. An ancient
tree, the dawn redwood was known only from
fossils until it was discovered growing in a
remote area of China. Hardy to Zone 5 and
into 4, it forms a conical spire, and although it
is a conifer, it is deciduous; that is, its needles
turn salmon-color and fall away in autumn.
SMALL TREE: I recently moved and am
getting pickier about what trees are worth
the time, space, and water at my new place.
‘Taylor’ juniper, commonly known as Eastern
red cedar (Juniperus virginiana ‘Taylor’), is
a small narrowly columnar drought-tolerant
evergreen with a muted dark gray-green
color. In my former garden it stood 15 feet tall
yet not quite 3 feet wide. Heavy snows have
rarely splayed it. A female clone, it bears small
bluish berries the birds love. ‘Taylor’ is less
susceptible to the fungal diseases cedar-apple
and cedar-hawthorn rust than Rocky Mountain
juniper (Juniperus scopulorum). I’ve planted
four at my new place, three in a casual group
and one outlier nearby.
MEDIUM TREE: Another tree I’m growing
again is bigtooth or Wasatch maple (Acer
grandidentatum), a midsize native that grows
more upright than other maples. My former
trees grew up to 25 feet after 15 years and
stayed about 10 feet wide. Orange fall color,
good adaptability to alkaline soils, and a strong
branching habit make it a favorite. I planted
a small grove with an evergreen backdrop to
contrast with its luminous fall color.
LARGE TREE: For shade I’m planting a fast-
growing northern catalpa (Catalpa speciosa).
At my old place a 5-gallon plant grew to
almost 40 feet tall and 25 feet wide. Large
heart-shape light green foliage gives the tree
a tropical look, and in June it opens trusses of
large frilly white flowers. These waft fragrance
at night to attract moths and are scentless
during the day, when bees visit. A common
street tree in my town, it suffers less snow and
wind breakage than most deciduous trees.
Catalpa’s other common name, Indian bean,
refers to the large leathery pods that form
after bloom and drop in the fall and winter.
Some people find the flowers and beans
messy; I have no problem raking up the beans.
I love seeing blossoms strewn about; they turn
brown, dry, and disappear in no time.
Kelly Norris is the director of
horticulture at the Greater Des
Moines Botanical Garden and
the author of Plants with Style
(Timber Press; 2015).
Lauren Springer is a designer,
author, and plantswoman on
staff at the Gardens on Spring
Creek in Fort Collins, Colorado.
Tom Christopher gardens and
consults on sustainable lawns
and landscapes in central
Connecticut.
Cornus alternifolia ‘Argentea’
MIDWEST MOUNTAIN NORTHEAST
Catalpa speciosa Sourwood (Oxydendrum arboreum)
OUR REGIONAL EXPERTS SHARE THEIR FAVORITE TREES TO
FIT ANY SMALL, MEDIUM, OR LARGE NEED.
