10 Beautiful Small Trees to Decorate Your Garden

Who doesn’t love a tree? They add height and visual interest to your yard, and provide a reliable display of foliage (or flowers!) year-round. A tree towers over everything around us, providing us with shade and refuge, while also being a habitat for wildlife and migratory birds. Everything from the bark to the natural forms to the different colors of the foliage and flowers stand out season after season. Like anything, trees come in all shapes and sizes.

Therefore, it is important to choose the right size tree for your area. Whether you’re looking for a small tree with spring and summer blooms, evergreen foliage, or a low-maintenance plant, here’s a compact tree to consider. Here are some of the best trees for small southern gardens.

1. Crabapple

Name: Malus selections

Add a spectacular seasonal touch to your landscape with crabapples. White, pink and red flowers come in a variety. Whether their flowers are pendulous, round, or columnar, they can produce orange, gold, red, or burgundy fruit. ‘Prairifire’ is an outstanding variety with deep pink flowers, reddish-purple leaves and great disease resistance. Another popular variety is ‘Centurion’, which is characterized by pink flowers, an upright shape and high disease resistance.

Name: Choice of Begonia

2. Redbud

Name: Cercis canadensis

Valued for its outstanding display of pink or white flowers in spring, redbud is an easy-to-grow small tree with delightful heart-shape leaves that turn golden-yellow in fall. ‘Forest Pansy’ is a standout variety that has purple foliage which fades to dark green in late summer. Also look for ‘Silver Cloud’ which has white-splashed leaves. ‘Royal White’ clearly stand apart from other flowering tree varieties with its pure-white flowers.

3. Crape Myrtle

Name: Lagerstroemia selections

Common in Southern gardens, crape myrtle produces large clusters of ruffled flowers in pink, red, lavender, or white in summer and fall. Many varieties display beautiful red, yellow, or orange foliage in fall, and interesting green or silver spots appear on the underside of the peeling cinnamon-colored bark. ‘Arapahoe’ is an outstanding variety with red flowers, purple foliage, and good disease resistance. ‘Catawba’ is also a good choice with its purple flowers, bright fall color and good disease resistance.

4. Flowering Dogwood

Name: Cornus florida selections

One of North America’s most beautiful native trees, the flowering dogwood produces pink or white flowers in spring, bright red fruit in late summer, and exceptional purple leaves in fall. If you’re looking for a dogwood that’s a little bit unique, check out ‘Cherokee Sunset’ for its variegated foliage and rich pink flowers. Also check out ‘Cloud Nine,’ a flowering variety with oversized buds.

5. Kousa Dogwood

Name: Cornus kousa selections

Coosa dogwood puts on a wonderful spring show with its attractive pink or white flowers. This small ornamental tree will still do well after spring is over. It produces red fruits in late summer and beautiful reddish-purple leaves in fall. It is generally more disease resistant than its North American relative, the flower dogwood. If you’re looking for a variety with lots of flowers, consider growing Milky Way. Another excellent pink flower is ‘Satomi’.

6. Saucer Magnolia

Name: Magnolia x soulangeana

The most beautiful flower of all trees, the Saucer Magnolia produces large white, pink, and purple blooms in mid to late spring.

Test Garden Tip: Do your research before buying magnolias to make sure you have the best option for your climate. Although some varieties are hardy, their flowers can be damaged by late frosts.

7. Fringe Tree

Name: Chionanthus virginicus

Native to parts of eastern North America, the fringe tree is a versatile plant that can be grown as a large shrub or a small tree. The fringe tree produces fragrant white flowers in late spring, which turn into clusters of bluish-purple fruit in fall. These fruits are sure to attract birds.

8. Golden Chain Tree

Name: Laburnum x watereri

Golden chain trees bloom in late spring to early summer, producing clusters of drooping yellow flowers that resemble wisteria. Its flowers give way to seed pods, which ripen in fall. The emerald green clover-like leaves are also attractive.

9. Carolina Silverbell

Name: Halesia tetraptera

Enjoy a lovely early spring performance from Carolina Silverbell. This small ornamental tree (or large shrub, depending on how you prune it) displays hanging clusters of white bell-shaped flowers before sprouting. In autumn, its leaves turn a wonderful yellow. Finding named varieties of this tree can be difficult, but look for ‘rose’ with pink flowers or ‘Taylor variegated’ with chartreuse foliage.

10. Hawthorn

Name: Crataegus crus-galli

Hawthorn is a dense, low-branching tree covered with many large thorns that attracts pollinators with fragrant white flowers in early summer. It attracts birds with its small red fruit in late summer and fall. The orange-red fall color adds another appeal.