Five horticulturalists, 25 expertly chosen plants and an autumn/winter garden full of colours, textures and wildlife

5 TREES

Tony Kirkham MBE

Former head of the arboretum, gardens and horticultural services at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

When I’m selecting trees for a garden, especially a small garden with limited space, I look for as many different seasonal attributes as possible to increase and spread the ornamental value from that one specimen. The more attributes, the more space it deserves in the garden. Here are my top five small- to medium-sized trees that I’d happily plant in my small garden, and that are readily available in any tree nursery or garden centre.

ARBUTUS UNEDO/STRAWBERRY TREE

A medium-sized evergreen tree with a wide, bushy crown. The leathery leaves are a dark, shiny green and highlight the white, bell-shaped flowers in autumn, which are pollinated by bees. These mature into orange, strawberry-like fruits that are eaten by birds and mammals (including humans). Add to this the beautiful orange bark and its tolerance of any soil – even by the seaside – and you get a hard-working tree for any garden.

BETULA ERMANII/GOLD BIRCH

In my opinion, this is one of the best birches for the garden. Also known as Erman’s birch, it is a Japanese tree that reaches about 15m in height with a well-balanced conical shape. The peeling cream bark is tinged with pink and is the highlight. It can be grown as a multi-stemmed tree to show off more of the bark