Ornamental Trees: The Living Art of Nature

Planning to beautify your boring garden?

Change the game with a beautiful ornamental tree!

Ornamental trees are vibrant colorful trees that enhance the beauty of your garden instantly. These natural living pieces of art will add charm to your dull yard. The eye-catching beauty of ornamental trees is a smart and long-term investment to your garden as they offer year-round charm to your outdoor space. Once ornamental trees are planted, taking  care of them is easy if you understand the basics. This article will assist you all about how to maintain a healthy environment for these unique plants. 

Inspired by the striking beauty of ornamental trees but confused which to choose?

One large centre piece or smaller ones for vibrant colour blocks?

No worries! This article has everything that you need to know about ornamental trees. We will discuss:

Describing Ornamental Trees 

Ornamental trees are planted for their beauty and striking colours. They add charm to your gardens making them more enjoyable and eye-catching.

They have very artistic features like beautiful flowers, unique shapes, colourful bark and vibrant, bright fall leaves that add charm and dreamy beauty to your garden.

Though many fruit trees can also be grown  ornamentally, ornamental trees do not produce fruit. These trees are purely created by nature to fulfill the aesthetic need of the plant’s landscape.

Why to Choose an Ornamental Tree?

Choosing an ornamental tree for beautification of your garden will be a smart and eco-friendly choice. Some of major highlighted reasons are:

• Aesthetic Appeal : Enhances the beauty of the garden.

• Year-Round Beauty: Offers beautiful garden views through all seasons.

• Curb Appeal: Increase property value by boosting up the visual appearance.   

• Low maintenance : Ornamental trees are budget friendly as they require minimum care once grown. 

• Long-Term Investment: Once they are planted, they will benefit for a long time.

• Eco- Friendly:  Along with beauty ornamental trees also improves air quality, supports local wildlife, offers shade and decreases pollution leaving the planet safe.

How to Choose an Ornamental Tree?

Lost in the forest of ornamental trees?

Narrowing down your preference and desired features will make your selection easier and smarter. Ornamental trees are traditionally popular because of their two special features.

Vibrant Colours

Vibrant colours of ornamental trees are actually the primary reason for their popularity as they make your garden colourful and aesthetic. Soft purple blossoms of the jacaranda, the rich red shades of claret Ash the cheerful golden tones of the golden tree are some famous choices.

Distinctive Foliage

Bside colours some ornamental trees are also popular because of their distinctive and unique sha[ed foliage and flowers. Lagerstroemia, famous for its complex, frilly blossoms, is available as red “Indica” and “Crepe myrtle” while the Ginkgo Maidenhair and Himalayan pine are other standouts for their unique and interesting leaf shapes.

Beside these two factors some other practically considered aspects are:

• Space Requirement : Checking the size of your outdoor space is important because some ornamental trees grow large and have extensive root systems that need a large space and high amount of nutrients.
• Compatibility: Consider compatibility before planting an ornamental tree because not all plants can thrive alongside tree roots.
• Aesthetic Preference: Selection of trees should be according to your aesthetic preference.
• Leaf Shedding: Ornamental trees are deciduous trees that shed leaves in bulk in autumn (winters) creating a mess and slippery surface. However, these leaver can be reused in DIY mulch. 

How to Plant an Ornamental Tree

To help the growth and success of your ornamental tree, three basic aspects are very important: sunlight, watering and soil.Different ornamental trees have their own specific needs, so it’s crucial to check care instructions before selection of planting space.

Soil Preparation: 

• -Preparing soil before planting helps to create a healthy environment for an ornamental tree.
• -Mostly trees prefer fertile, loamy and ornamental rich soil.
• -To improve your soil quality add fertilizer or organic compost a few days before planting. 

Commonly ornamental trees are sold in following variants:

Bare Root Trees

Bare root trees are uprooted trees with intact root systems and are not kept in pots. Their roots are usually wrapped or protected before planting. Base root trees are cheaper in price, have high adaptability and comparatively better growth rate.

Planting Bare Root Trees:

•  Dig a hole deeper than tree’s width
• Make the hole about twice the width of the tree’s root ball

• Create a small mound in the center to support roots
• Place the tree gently in the hole
• Spread roots over the mound
• Backfill the hole and water the soil thoroughly.
• Add mulch around roots for boosted growth.

Container-Grown Trees:

These are sold in pots and are available for planting throughout the year, but Spring and Autumn are usually more suitable seasons for certain types.

Planting Container-Grown Trees: 

• These are easy to plant and easy to shift even during growth. 
• Dig a hole about 10-20 cm wider than the size of the pot.
• Plant a tree at the same depth of pot.
• Water thoroughly and mulch to help establish roots. 

Pruning Ornamental Trees 

Pruning plays an important role in care of ornamental trees. To promote new and better growth of trees, it is important to remove dead or old growth.Pruning also helps in shaping the foliage canopy to give a more aesthetic look to your ornamental tree.

As every ornamental tree has their own specific needs, following are some tips to prune your tree according to its type:

• Evergreen Trees : 

Prune in late winter, to enhance spring growth of tree.Try to remove only one-third of tree at a time. Prefer trimming dead and unattractive branches.Also cut-off weak and low hanging branches to shape up your tree. 

• Flowering and Deciduous Trees :

Prefer pruning in Autumn or Winter, right after the end of blooming season.Be careful not to damage new buds.

Mulch,Compost and Fertilizer

Trees are giant living things and providing them extra nourishment will help them to grow and stand tall for a long time.Adding organic fertilizer is a great and natural way to support growth of your tree. Fertilize your ornamental tree once a year for the first three years- but don’t forget every tree has its different needs.

Mulching annually also helps to retain moisture in dry seasons and composts improves the health of soil making it more fertile and favorable.Once grown, most trees are quite independent in self-care and need low-maintenance.

Top Rated Ornamental Tree Options For your Garden

Here are some best and top rated options for a vibrant upgrade to your garden.These striking flowering and non flowering plants will assist you in best selection:

• Frangipani: Best option for coastal gardens with its fragrant reddish blooms because of being drought resistant, and salt-tolerant .
• Royal Poinciana: A large, fast-growing tree with vibrant tropical flowered  wide canopy, best for bigger spaces.
• Golden Trumpet Tree: Good choice for year round bloom with bright yellow flowers in spring and sporadic blooms year-round; drought-tolerant.
• Ivory Silk Japanese Lilac: With its versatility and creamy, fragrant blossoms in late spring; is an easy going choice because of low-maintenance. 
• Eastern Redbud: An aesthetic choice with bright spring flowers, edible blossoms and heart-shaped leaves which  turn yellow in fall.
• Colorama Scarlet Crape Myrtle: Best choice for warm weather  because of its heat and drought tolerance ; with deep red blooms.

• Hong Kong Orchid Tree: Ideal for tropical regions with its beautiful  rose-pink flowers with no seed pods.
• Jane Magnolia: Smart choice for small gardens with its tulip-shaped blooms.
• Flowering Plum Tree: Perfect choice for gardens seeking striking  spring colors and summer fruit with its gorgeous pink flowers, purple foliage, and plums. 
• Fringe Tree: Elegant choice for compact spaces and gardens with intense fragrance of white spring blooms.

• Milky Way Tree: Aesthetic choice for year-round beauty with fragrant white flowers with unique orange seed pods.
• Crabapple: Good choice for decorative purposes in small spaces with its stunning spring blooms and decorative fruit lasting till cold weathers.
• Dogwood: Suitable choice for small yards with moist soil, beautifying with showy pink or white spring blossoms.
• Mimosa Tree: A bold, eye-catching choice with its bright pink summer flowers, fast growth and low maintenance  lasting from June to October.
• Little Gem Magnolia: Low maintenance choice for four season beauty of compact yard/garden with  evergreen, fragrant  white flowers. 
• Japanese Maple: Aesthetic and vibrant choice with lace-like foliage; grows in small yards with regular pruning.
• Dwarf Flowering Cherry: Charming cherry tree option for small spaces, available in its petite version with pink or white spring blossoms.
• Hibiscus Tree: Suitable option for containers or relatively warmer regions with its bold tropical blooms available in a variety of colors.
• Serviceberry: A delicate choice for small yards to add colors with its spring flowers and colorful fall foliage.
• Wisteria Tree: A dreamy choice for dramatic and cascading effect with its  violet-blue trailing flowers; pruning helps in growth and enhancing shape and beauty.
• Weeping Trees: A captivating addition to create a soft,romantic focal point to your area, with its drooping branches and unique foliage.
• Maple Trees: Popular choice because of their versatility,unique, deep shade foliage providing year-round beauty.Different types like red maple, sugar maple,Japanese maple, silver maple and Norway Maple are low-maintenance.
• Cherry Blossom Trees: A poetic addition to your garden with their delicate pink, white, and purple blooms representing Japanese aesthetic taste.

FAQs

What is the most popular ornamental tree?

The Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum) is one of the most popular ornamental trees popular  for its colorful, delicate leaves and petite size, making it perfect for both  gardens and smaller spaces.

What is the best tree to have in the front yard?

Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida) is commonly considered as the best option for a front yard.On other hand your climate, space, and aesthetic preferences also matter.

What is a decorative tree?

A decorative tree is grown for its aesthetic appearance,having colorful flowers, unique foliage, or appealing shape, rather than for fruit or shade.

What is the meaning of ornamental shrubs?

Ornamental shrubs are grown for their decorative features, such as vibrant flowers,distinctive foliage, or unusual and beautiful shapes.Some common examples are  boxwoods and hydrangeas.