An oasis of shade, flowers and fruit in the garden: 5 small and easy-to-manage shrubs you can enjoy
A small garden or a large balcony can benefit greatly from the presence of large shrubs or small trees: these plants can offer us shade, beautiful flowers, fruits and wonderful scents.
Furthermore, being generally small in size, they are relatively easy to manage and take care of when it comes to pruning and routine maintenance. Below, we suggest 5 plants that you could consider having on your balcony or in your small garden.
Snow tree (Chionanthus virginicus)
bastus917 (영철 이)/Wikimedia Commons
This is a large bush/small tree that reaches 6-10 meters in height and is native to the north-eastern and south-eastern United States. It is famous for the fact that its splendid spring-flowering blossoms resemble delicate snowflakes. Furthermore, the flowers are very fragrant and the leaves turn golden yellow in autumn, making it a very decorative plant for most of the year. It is a deciduous plant that can tolerate the cold and does not need to be pruned. It can also be grown in large pots, although it does best in open ground. It should be placed in the sun or partial shade.
Cornus Kousa
There are many types of Cornus, but the Kousa - the so-called Japanese variety - is the most popular and widespread in gardens around the world. It is a deciduous tree of small size and very slow growth and reaches a maximum height of 4-7 meters. It has an umbrella-like, slightly pyramidal shape, perfect for creating lightly shaded areas, without depriving the land (or the house!) of sunlight in winter.
Its decorative value lies in it having leaves (or more correctly, bracts) that look like white petals of various shapes, depending on the exact species. They are usually white but there are also delicately pink varieties. The flower is a insignificant green sphere in the center, but it produces deep pink-colored fruit which are also very pretty, edible and much-loved by birds. The foliage also takes on fascinating color during the fall.
Lagerstroemia indica
One of the most popular medium-small trees is the Lagerstroemia, which flowers in summer, filling gardens and park avenues with color. It can have white, red, orange or pink flowers, creating extremely scenographic color combinations in any environment. It can grow on its own or in a hedge (and even in large pots), and has very attractive red foliage in autumn. It grows slowly and reaches a maximum size of around 4 meters.
American sumac (Rhus Typhina)
This deciduous shrub is not at all demanding in terms of cultivation. It typically reaches a height and diameter of about 4 meters as an adult, it flowers in summer with yellow-green panicles followed by spherical red fruit. But its true beauty is shown off in autumn, when the foliage turns purple. It can be cultivated singly or in groups.
Loquat (Eriobotrya japonica)
A very elegant addition to any garden, the loquat has very pretty flowers in spring and edible fruit in summer. It is a small evergreen, with a maximum height of 8-9 meters (but is often smaller). The foliage is thick and made of very large, thick leaves and offers excellent shade in the summer.
Which of these shrubs would you like to have in your garden?
