November’s plant of the month is trees, often viewed with some trepidation among gardeners who don’t have much room – but it’s a myth that you need lots of space to have a tree. In fact there’s a tree for every possible situation, with some even small enough to grow in containers.
Trees really shine out at this time of year, with leaves turning every shade from deepest purple through oranges, reds, and yellows. One of the very best is the Japanese maple: Acer palmatum var. dissectum ‘Garnet’ is content with no more than a roomy container, and turns rich wine-red in autumn.
For something productive as well as pretty, try apples, pears, plums and cherries: ‘Ballerina’ types are trained into a single stem and can also be grown in pots where they’ll be smothered in fruit at this time of year.
If you have a little more room, there are dozens of lovely garden trees perfect for limited space as they grow no more than 8m tall and work really hard for their living, often looking good all year round. Look out for the juneberry (Amelancher lamarckii), Tibetan cherry (Prunus serrula), paperbark maple (Acer griseum) and white-berried rowan (Sorbus cashmiriana) – all ideal choices for small gardens.
