Small Trees For Modern Yards

Tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) is a native tree known for its towering size (70 to 100 feet) and yellow, tulip-like blooms that open in summer. ‘Little Volunteer’ brings that stately beauty down to a size that fits modern gardens. Leaves offer an unusual shape and shimmer in the wind. Look for gold fall color and cup-like fruits made of seeds. It’s a medium-fast grower, reaching a size of 12 feet tall by 6 feet wide in 4 years (starting with a 3- to 5-foot sapling). The strong pyramidal shape looks elegant in winter, especially when wet snows stick to branches. This is one tree you won’t regret planting. Size: to 20 feet tall by 9 feet wide. Hardy in Zones 4-9.

Flowering crabapples are a classic yard tree, beloved for their spring blossoms, fall fruits and fall color, if they have disease resistance. Ruby Tears is a weeping crabapple that blends disease resistance with pretty pink blooms. Red fruits form in late summer that beckon birds. If you don’t want a weeping tree, look for dwarf flowering crabapples, such as ‘Red Jewel’ (white blooms, 14 to 18 feet tall and 9 to 12 feet wide) or ‘Sugar Tyme’ (pink buds open to white blooms, 12 to 18 feet tall and wide). Ruby Tears—Size: 8 to 10 feet tall by 12 to 15 feet wide. Hardy in Zones 4-7.

Discover a native tree that’s perfect for any size yard. This beauty delivers white, fringe-like flowers in late spring to early summer, followed by blue-black fruits that are favorites among birds. Fall color delivers with leaves that shift from bright green to shades of yellow-gold. This tree has no pests and stands up to pollution. It also doesn’t need pruned. The shape is rounded (like those lollipop trees you drew in elementary school). It often forms multiple trunks, which is not a problem. Size: Plants grow 12 to 20 feet tall and wide. Hardy in Zones 3-9.

Meet a dogwood that blends disease resistance with small stature (no pruning required!). Venus dogwood is the result of a cross between Pacific dogwood (Cornus nuttallii) and Korean dogwood (Cornus kousa). The resulting beauty features 6-inch-wide spring flowers, red berry-like fruits in autumn and red fall color. Birds flock to this dogwood to gobble the fruit, making it a must-have in a wildlife or bird garden. Size: Up to 15 to 20 feet tall and wide. Hardy in Zones 5-9.