How to Choose Specimen Trees?

As a plant buff, you must have always wanted a specimen tree for your garden. But, choosing one is a daunting task If you are uncertain about how to choose specimen trees, Gharpedia offers helpful tips to guide you through the process.

How To Select the Right Specimen Trees

Here are some valuable landscape tree selection tips:

1. The Scale of the Garden

2. Weather, Climate, and Seasons

3. Usage and Vibe

4. Rate of Growth

5. Investment of Money and Time

1. The Scale of the Garden

Courtesy - Balcony garden web

Is your garden big or small? The scale of your garden is the first thing you should look at before hunting for a specimen tree. The garden scale will tell whether you need a large or small tree. You should also have an idea about where you want to place the specimen tree. To ensure that it complements your garden’s overall design, these factors greatly influence specimen tree selection.

Also read: How to Grow Citrus Tree & Take care of it in Your Garden?

2. Weather, Climate, and Seasons

Before choosing specimen trees, you must conduct some research on what kind of climate your region has. Depending on that, you must choose indigenous plants or the ones that will flourish in the weather conditions of your region. Also, be mindful of extreme weather conditions and understand if your plant can sustain those conditions.

Seasonal changes will also affect the look of your garden. So first, think about when you will use the garden the most: is it going to be in the summer? In this case, you can go for a flowering specimen, for example, a cherry blossom, or if you’re going to use the garden in the autumn, look for specimens that look vibrant in the autumn, like a Japanese maple tree. 

3. Usage and Vibe

Specimen trees are not planted only for aesthetics. They create spatial experiences within a landscape. Understand how you want to use your garden, whether you want it to feel like a forest or you want to relax in the secluded haven of your garden.

In the first scenario, you will need to group large trees, in the second scenario, you may need just one large or small specimen tree.

Also read: How to Create a Beautiful and Comfy Garden Room?

You must also think about what the landscape and the built structure need concerning one another. Should the landscape complement the structure, or should it contrast and create a statement of its own? Even the specimen tree that you choose should follow the basic theme of the space. It shouldn’t look out of place; it must stand out while still belonging to the place. Choosing specimen trees that stand out while still belonging to the space is essential.

4. Rate of Growth

Some trees grow faster than others. A tree’s growth rate will determine how your garden will look at a given point in time. Maples and oaks are slow-growing trees; if you plant these saplings, you will have to wait many years to witness your vision for the space materialise. In such a case, you may either buy larger plants that are at least a few years old or consider buying trees that grow faster, like weeping willow, to see your vision for the landscape materialising.

Whether you buy a small sapling, a medium-sized plant, or a large plant, you need to consider the maximum size that it’ll reach and keep enough room for the tree to mature. Specimen tree selection is crucial in determining the long-term appearance and feel of your garden.

5. Investment of Money and Time

Specimen trees are an investment, not just of money but of time and labour. Smaller trees are relatively inexpensive, but giant trees can burn a hole in your pocket. Hence, you must be wise while choosing a specimen tree. Larger, slow-growing trees can be expensive because it has taken years for them to grow, and during that time, they were pruned, watered, fertilised and maintained. When you buy giant specimen trees, you pay for years of care and maintenance. Hence, it ought to cost something.

We hope you know how to choose specimen trees for your garden and make your space both beautiful and harmonious.

Also Read: 23 Best Artificial Christmas Tree Ideas For this Christmas Season!

Author Bio

Saili Sawantt – She is an Architect and Interior Designer by profession. Writing is what she treats as her passion. She has worked as an Architectural Writer, Editor, and Journalist for various design as well as digital portals, both national and international. Formerly she has also worked with Godrej Properties Limited (GPL) Design Studio, Mumbai, due to her keen interested in learning about Sustainability and Green buildings. Apart from this, she runs her blog ‘The Reader’s Express’ and is a practicing Architect & Interior Designer.