Small trees with a big impact: find out everything you need to know about trees for small gardens and front yards and choose the right tree for your outdoor space.
11.02.2025
Small trees with a maximum height of eight to ten metres, which may be slender, columnar or spherical for example, are suitable for small gardens.
If you are looking for low-maintenance, small trees for your front yard or small garden, it’s best to choose one of the space-saving and mostly low-maintenance ball trees or columnar trees, such as the Globosa ball cherry or the Sorbus Aucuparia Fastigiata columnar tree.
There are many short trees suitable for small gardens, such as the columnar juneberry (Amelanchier alnifolia ‘Obelisk’), the purple Japanese maple (Acer palmatum ‘Atropurpureum’), the dwarf pin oak (Quercus palustris ‘Green Dwarf’) and the columnar Irish yew (Taxus baccata ‘Fastigiata’). Low-growing, small-crown fruit trees and ornamental trees are also suitable for smaller outdoor spaces.
You can still grow trees if you have a small garden or front yard. After all there are good reasons to plant trees in small gardens:
trees can be used as natural garden design elements, to provide shade or privacy. They mark out the property boundary and create structure around paths and gates. Whatever tree scheme you choose, whether it’s a single tree, a pair of trees or a group, you have complete freedom in your garden design and can create features based on your own taste.
Before you start planting a small tree, you need to take a few practical considerations into account. Below you will find out what you should bear in mind for planting trees in your small garden or front yard.
If you want to plant a small tree in a small garden, it’s important to choose the right tree species or variety. Trees for gardens that are tight on space are unlikely to be less than three metres high, but should not be much taller than a standard detached house; this results in a maximum tree height of eight to ten metres. Pay attention to the officially stipulated distance from neighbouring gardens, which must also be applied for small trees.
Larger trees are not suitable for small gardens or front yards – and such trees cannot be kept permanently small simply by cutting them back. Trees always have a certain crown-to-root ratio that needs to be considered. In addition, heavy pruning of a tree just means strong new growth.
When you choose a small or short tree for your garden or front yard, the planned location of the tree is key. Pay attention to which tree species will thrive in your shaded, part-shaded or sunny garden or front yard.
Varieties grown as “standard”,i.e. trees with a crown height of at least 1.80 metres, keep the line of sight clear and are great for planting next to a terrace. Columnar trees also keep the view open, while large shrubs as well as evergreen and branching trees offer welcome privacy in small gardens.
Small ball trees and columnar trees fit particularly well in narrow front yards. Low, but wide-growing canopy trees can effectively conceal walls or boundaries and create an appealing background for borders. This also applies to trees that are trained as espaliers, such as small fruit trees or ornamental garden trees.
Depending on the tree species, the amount of work and requirements differ considerably in some cases. Deep-rooted trees require less watering, while flat-rooting trees can push up patio slabs if you do not ensure sufficient spacing.
In the case of small fruit trees, it should be noted that falling fruit is associated with additional work, but also with the joy of harvesting. Blossoming trees drop petals that need to be swept away.
If you are choosing a small or short tree for your garden or front yard, you have many different options. Whether columnar and slender, overhanging or spherical – the type of tree depends both on your personal taste and the individual properties of your garden.
Different types of small trees are more suitable for a shaded or part-shaded garden, for example, than for a sunny garden. If you have children or pets in your household, you should avoid poisonous and thorny trees. The following overview provides you with the most important information on popular small trees for front yards and tightly spaced gardens.
Pendulous willow-leaved pear (Pyrus salicifolia ‘Pendula’): up to 6 metres tall, slightly trailing growth, permeable, fresh soil in full sunshine; compared to the Pyrus salicifolia species, the ‘Pendula’ variety has stems that overhang more
Anyone choosing a small tree for their front yard or small garden can choose between potted trees, root-ball specimens or bare-root plants. While potted trees are offered all year round, bare-root trees are seasonal products. Root-ball trees, i.e. plants with soil on the roots, wrapped in burlap, are also available in autumn. They grow better and more reliably than bare-root trees, but are also more expensive.
The type of tree is also important for your small garden, so coniferous woods and evergreen trees for small gardens are usually only sold as root-ball trees or in pots. In terms of sustainability, benefits of native bare-root options include their lower weight and shorter transport routes. You can find out what else you should bear in mind when planting your small tree in our tree planting guide.
Bäume für kleine Gärten nachhaltig beziehen
To get hold of trees for small gardens you could contact a specialist garden centre or look for DIY stores with a garden department. To ensure sustainability, it is advisable to find out in advance about the transport routes covered.
The most environmentally friendly solution: get your trees directly from the field at a regional nursery.
