Apple Trees
You do not have to be a farmer to want to grow apple trees (Malus spp.) in your yard. It is about more than just fruit. Apple trees are beautiful bloomers in their own right. The fruit is a bonus. If you do not care about growing edible fruit, then crabapples will serve your purposes better. A type with rosy-red flowers that reaches a height of 20 to 25 feet is Malus x ‘Centzam’ or Centurion, which can be grown in zones 4 to 8.
Dogwood Trees
You will likely want more than just flowering landscape trees that provide a floral extravaganza in spring. Fortunately, sometimes you get a two-for-one deal (or better) in landscaping. In this case, that means versatile specimens that earn their keep during more than just one of the four seasons. Dogwood trees (Cornus florida and Cornus kousa) offer such a deal: blooms for spring, colorful foliage for fall, berries to attract wild birds in winter, and an interesting branching pattern year-round.
Maidenhair Trees
Maidenhair trees (Ginkgo biloba) are delightful in both summer and fall due to the delicate and interesting shape of their leaves. They are green in the summer and golden in the fall.
Katsura Trees
But bigger isn’t always better. A big tree can overwhelm a small yard and actually pose a danger to its inhabitants. A smaller tree is usually better suited to such a yard. Katsura tree (Cercidiphyllum japonicum) is one such choice. The ‘Rotfuchs’ cultivar is one of the best for foliage color. Standing 30 feet tall (with a spread of 16 feet), it bears purplish-bronze leaves in spring, greenish-bronze leaves in summer, and orangey-bronze fall foliage.
Red Maple Trees
The problem with the wild red maple trees (Acer rubrum) is that their fall leaves do not always turn out red. If you want a color that you can count on, select a cultivar, like ‘Autumn Blaze.’ Maples do not have a monopoly on autumn colors; there are many types of trees that offer autumn splendor.
Dwarf Alberta Spruce Trees
Also popular as an evergreen tree is another kind of spruce, the dwarf Alberta spruce (Picea glauca ‘Conica’). You will often see them used in pairs to flank the entryway to a house for a formal look that strives for balance. Because dwarf Alberta spruce trees will remain relatively small for a number of years, people sometimes treat them (at least initially) as container plants.
Arborvitae Trees
Arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis) does more than just look pretty year-round. This evergreen is widely planted to create living wall privacy fences to screen you from the prying eyes of nosy neighbors. If you are looking for something of intermediate size, try the North Pole arborvitae cultivar.
Nellie R. Stevens Holly
Another tree or shrub that offers winter interest and is planted to form privacy screens is the holly (Ilex spp.), including the Nellie R. Stevens holly. This one is evergreen, too, but with a twist: It is considered a broadleaf evergreen.
Birch Trees
Not all landscape trees planted for winter interest bear evergreen foliage. Some just have interesting branching patterns or an unusually pleasing bark. Birches (Betula spp.) are examples of landscape trees with the latter quality—bark that peels into leathery, paper-like plates.
