Feature Trees

Choosing one tree to carry the garden

Apply the four season test. A tree planted as the centrepiece should give you at least two acts a year, not one fortnight of flower and eleven quiet months. The White Crepe Myrtle 'Natchez' passes easily: months of summer flower, orange autumn foliage, then smooth cinnamon bark all winter. Cercis 'Forest Pansy' opens with pink pea flowers on bare wood, then holds burgundy heart shaped leaves until autumn. The whole crepe myrtle range works this way, which is why they anchor so many Australian front gardens.

Be honest about scale too. American Sweetgum colours brilliantly but reaches 15m with aggressive surface roots, so it needs a large lawn, not a courtyard. In small spaces look at trees that finish at 3m to 5m instead.

Matching feature trees to your climate

In cool temperate gardens the classics all perform: Japanese maples (Acer palmatum) reach about 5m in fifteen years, Silver Birch grows fast to 10m, and Mount Fuji cherry spreads its horizontal white tiers, though it needs winter chill and birches sulk in hot inland and subtropical gardens. In warm temperate and Mediterranean climates, Chinese Pistachio gives scarlet autumn colour on a 9m tree with deep, well behaved roots, and Ginkgo builds slowly to about 8m. In the subtropics, lean evergreen: 'Teddy Bear' magnolia makes a dense 4m column with fragrant cream flowers. For dry, sculptural gardens, grass trees and yuccas hold their form on almost no water; our architectural plant range carries the full set.

Positioning and planting

Place the tree where you actually look: framed by a window, at the end of a path, or off centre in the front lawn rather than dead middle. Keep trunks at least 1m from paving, and give a weeping form like 'Inaba Shidare' a full 3m of width, because it spreads wider than its 2.5m height. Dig the hole twice the width of the pot and no deeper, water in well, and mulch 75mm deep with the mulch clear of the trunk.

Care in the early years

Water deeply twice a week through the first summer, then taper. Feed once in early spring with a controlled release fertiliser. Prune for shape only: remove crossing or dead wood in winter and let the natural habit develop, because a feature tree clipped like a hedge loses the outline you bought it for. Shelter Japanese maples from hot afternoon sun and drying wind.

Common questions

What is the best feature tree for a small garden?

Japanese maples at 4m to 5m, 'Forest Pansy' at 5m and 'Teddy Bear' magnolia at 4m all fit tight spaces. For a courtyard pot, a weeping maple like 'Inaba Shidare' stays around 2.5m.

Which feature trees are safe near paving?

Japanese maples, Ginkgo, Chinese Pistachio and 'Teddy Bear' magnolia all have non-invasive roots. American Sweetgum is the one to keep well away from paths, pipes and pools.

Can I grow a Japanese maple in a warm climate?

Warm temperate gardens, yes, with morning sun, afternoon shade and wind protection. They are not suited to tropical or subtropical conditions, where an evergreen magnolia or crepe myrtle is the better choice.

Evergreen or deciduous for a feature tree?

Evergreens give year round presence and screening as a bonus. Deciduous trees give the bigger show: flowers, autumn colour and winter branch structure. If the tree stands where bare branches would matter, go evergreen.