Trees to plant for autumn colour
Our gardening expert, Karen Murphy, shares her tips on which trees to plant for creating autumn colour
Many deciduous trees are giving their last hurrah at the moment, a dramatic swansong before they say goodbye and go dormant for a few months. And what a spectacular sight it is when they colour up into what seems like every shade of the rainbow! Cold nights, dry weather and sunny days bring out the best colour in our trees, so here’s hoping for the perfect conditions into late autumn, so the kaleidoscope continues. But which trees can we plant this autumn and winter, so we can plan for a real show over the next few years? If you’ve got room, large trees give the ultimate wow factor. Growing up to 8m or more if given room is the magnificent Parrotia persica, whose wavy, round green leaves turn a breathtaking cerise. It also flowers discreetly in winter and doesn’t need pruning. Add a fiery beacon to a large garden in the shape of Liquidambar styraciflua. Its palmate leaves span the spectrum, with a vivid show of greens, yellows, reds, purples and pinks. Amelanchier lamarckii, up to 10m or so, is a great choice for year-round colour – large white spring blooms, bronze summer leaves and edible fruit, followed by stunning, large purple-red leaves in autumn. For small gardens, there are compact trees and shrubs that are just as beautiful but on a smaller scale. Technically a shrub, but no less spectacular for it, is euonymus ‘Compactus’. It’s a dwarf spindle (from www.bluebellnursery.com) that grows only up to 1m wide, going a bright blob of purple-red to contrast with your green shrubs. Pick a slightly larger euonymus variety, though, for added pink-orange autumn fruit. Cercis ‘Forest Pansy’ gets to about 5m, and is a classic for this time of year, with heart-shaped purple leaves that brighten to orange-red. And last but not least, the fluffy-flowered tree cotinus ‘Grace’ drops its flowers in autumn before turning an almost translucent pinkred. Beautiful! And all these trees simply need a trim of crossing stems to create a light canopy in spring and a mulch to feed them. You’ll never get bored of the colour these trees bring – as the weather worsens and the days shorten, they truly make autumn a time to celebrate!