Ivydene Gardens Plants:
Trees for Lawns Garden Use List

A tree in a lawn will become an important focus in the garden. It provides height and drama, shade and shelter, colour and movement.

It is best to remove the lawn radius 3 feet from the tree trunk when planting the tree. Put bulbs, rhizomes or tubers in this bare ground area before soaking it with water and mulching it to 4" depth with very coarse bark or spent mushroom compost. This will allow the roots of the juvenile tree to get water and nourishment. I usually plant bare root trees in November/December to allow their roots time to grow during the winter to provide the requirements for the tree's topgrowth in the following growing season. The bulbs can be inserted in September for Spring flowers, in March/April for Summer flowers and Autumn flowers. The water requirements of these bulbs will not be detrimental to the tree, whereas evergreen shrubs or perennials in the same ground would tend to have the rain/nutrients applied to the ground surface, in preferrence to the tree.

The plants in the Trees for Lawns Garden Use will be split into the following Soil Types:-

Any,
 

Acid or
 

Alkaline

Then, the Trees for Lawns Garden Use list is sorted in the following table under the following height of plant range:-

Below 2 feet in height
Between 2 and 6 feet in height
Above 6 feet in height

30 x 20
25 x 25
60 x 25
 

Abies koreana
Acer negundo 'Flamingo'
Araucaria araucana

Evergreen Tree
Deciduous Tree
Evergreen Conifer
 

30 x 25
30 x 30
12 x 12
20 x 15
25 x 25
20 x 25
 

Acer capillipes
Acer griseum
Acer palmatum 'Atropurpureum'
Acer palmatum 'Senkaki'
Arbutus menziesii
Arbutus unedo
 

Deciduous Tree
Deciduous Tree
Deciduous Tree
Deciduous Tree
Evergreen Tree
Evergreen Tree
 

25 x 25
20 x 25
60 x 20
60 x 20
60 x 20
25 x 30
40 x 20
 

Acer negundo 'Flamingo'
Arbutus unedo
Betula ermanii
Betula papyrifera
Betula pendula 'Tristis'
Betula pendula 'Youngii'
Betula utilis var jacquemontii
 

Deciduous Tree
Evergreen Tree
Deciduous Tree
Deciduous Tree
Deciduous Tree
Deciduous Tree
Deciduous Tree
 

The following list of trees for lawns will give a long-lasting effect over more than one year, but will mostly exceed the width of a lawn in a small garden within 10 years:-

Tree

Comment

Acer capillipes
 

Rich green leaves turning red and orange in Autumn.
Rounded crown with ascending branches.
Snake-bark of brown streaked with white.

Acer davidii
 

Glossy mid-green leaves turn orange and red in Autumn. Round-headed.
Snake-bark of green or purplish-red striped with white.

Acer griseum
 

Orange-buff young foliage becomes yellowish to dark green before turning red and scarlet in Autumn.
Ascending branches form slender, high crowned trees.
Paperbark Maple of peeling orange-brown bark to show cinnamon coloured new bark.

Acer negundo 'Elegans'
 

Pale green leaves brightly margined with broad yellow variegations.
Fast-growing upright tree.

Acer platanoides 'Royal Red'

 

Red-purple leaves, golden yellow to orange in Autumn.
Crown initially conical; later broadly round; branches reaching up.

Aesculus parviflora
 

Bronze young foliage turns to mid-green.
A shrubby "Horse Chestnut" of 6 feet high x 7 feet wide. Numerous slender stems and spreading by sucker growth.

Alnus glutinosa 'Imperialis'
 

Finely cut, feather-like mid-green leaves.
Attractive slender tree leaning at the top.

Alnus incana 'Aurea'
 

Yellow foliage turns to pale green in summer.
Slow grower. Conical broadening with age.
Bright orange wood in winter.

Betula pendula 'Purpurea'
 

Dark purple leaves.
Upright.
Purplish-black twigs and branches.

Betula pendula 'Youngii'
 

Mid-green leaves.
"Young's Weeping Birch". Dome-shaped weeping tree with thread-like branches reaching the ground.
Smooth white bark fissured black.

Betula utilis jacquemontii
 

Dark green foliage turns gold in autumn.
White bark.

Fagus sylvatica 'Dawyck Gold'
 

Bright yellow foliage turns green in Summer.
Compact and columnar.

Fraxinus excelsior 'Jaspidea'
 

Soft yellow leaves in Spring, green in Summer then clear yellow in Autumn.
Rounded, densely branched crowns.
Yellow wood in winter.

Gleditsia triacanthos 'Rubylace'
 

The fern-like Spring foliage is bright ruby-red darkening to bronze-green in midsummer.
Small to medium sized tree.
Tolerant of drought, foliage appears very late and trunks bear strong spines.

Liriodendron tulipifera 'Aureomarginatum'
 

Dark green leaves with broad yellow margins.
"Tulip Tree". Fast grower.

Liriodendron 'Fastigiatum'
 

Dark green leaves turn gold in the Autumn.
Narrow conical shape.
Effective where space is limited.

Malus
 

Apple and crab apple. See Top Fruit page for sizes and shapes that suit any size of garden, however small.

Prunus 'Kanzan'

Bronze foliage becoming green.
Tibetan Cherry produces rich pink Japanese Cherry Blossom.
Upright, vase-shaped when young, spreading wider with age.

Prunus padus 'Royal Burgundy'
 

Deep purple foliage in Summer, bronze in Autumn.
Ideal for small garden.

Prunus x sargentii
 

Coppery-red young foliage to dark green in Summer, then vermilion and crimson in Autumn.
Widely angled ascending branches form a round head.
Flowers ignored by bullfinches.

Prunus x sargentii 'Rancho'
 

It has the same leaf colour as sargentii
Up-swept branches provide high functional value for modern gardens.

Prunus serrula 'Tibetica'
 

Willow-like dark green leaves turn yellow in Autumn.
Semi-erect at first later becoming broad-domed with arching branches.
It has mahogany coloured bark on the trunk and branches.

Prunus 'Shirofugen'

Tibetan Cherry produces white Japanese Cherry Bloosom flowers which contrast with the bronze foliage. As the leaves turn green, the flowers fade to soft pink.
Spreading tree.

Prunus 'Umeniko'
 

Green leaves.
Fastigiate when young, broadening later.

Prunus virginiana 'Shubert'
 

Glossy green leaves which go purple after flowering.
Upright form with ascending branches.
excellent value as a specimen tree.

Pyrus calleryana 'Chanticleer'
 

Shimmering green leaves turn red or maroon in Autumn.
Narrow pyramid shape and recoommended as a specimen.

Pyrus nivalis
 

Green leaves covered with white "wool".
"Snow Pear". Ascending branches spreading later.
Yellow/green small fruits.

Pyrus salicifolia pendula
 

Narrow leaves covered with white down until early summer then turning grey-green.
"Willow-leafed Pear". A small weeping tree.

Quercus robur fastigiata
 

Dark green leaves.
The "Cypress Oak" is as upright in youth as "Lombardy Poplar", becoming broadly columnar with age.
Ideal where space is restricted.

Robinia pseudoacacia 'Frisia'
 

Bright yellow Spring and Summer foliage with coppery hues in Autumn.
Erect branched and round-headed.
Fast-growing when young.

Sorbus aucuparia 'Asplenifolia'
 

Fern-like green foliage turns bright red in Autumn.
"Mountain Ash" or "Rowan".
Strongly ascending branches form an irregular oval or round-headed tree
A British native tree.

Sorbus commixta 'Embley'
 

Green foliage becoming red and crimson in the Autumn.
Upright when young spreading later.
Orange-red berries.

Sorbus vilmorinii
 

Olive green foliage, which turn to purple and red in the Autumn.
Slender arching branches make a rounded spreading head.
Rosy-red small rounded berries.

Sorbus aria 'Lutescens'

The Spring leaves are silvery with yellow down, whch turn green above and grey below.
Compact round-headed tree of neat habit.