Trees

The Cercis canadensis ‘Forest Pansy’, or Eastern Redbud, produces pretty heartshaped leaves with pointed tips, which turn striking shades of orange, red, yellow and purple in autumn. Often grown as a multi-stemmed tree, it looks striking in beds and borders against contrasting foliage. To get the best leaf colour, make sure it has plenty of sun and, ideally, moist but well-draining soil. It’s also a good idea to mulch with plenty of organic matter in the autumn or spring. It requires little else in the way of upkeep: prune in winter to remove damaged or unhealthy branches – and if you share your garden with rabbits, protect it with a guard.

A super specimen tree, the Stag’s Horn Sumach (above) is often grown for its distinctively finely-cut dark green leaves, which produce a fiery display of orange-red tones in autumn; the cone-shaped dark red fruits of the female plants are also eyecatching at this time of year. Culinary horticulturists take note: the fruit can be dried and used as an alternative to citrus-flavoured spice sumac, but ensure it’s Rhus typhina and not R. Verniciflua, which is toxic.

It likes moist but well-drained soil and plenty of sun, and it is worth surrounding the tree’s roots with a nonperishable barrier as it spreads by producing suckers.

Whether you’re growing our native rowan, or US or Japanese varieties, you can rely on these pretty specimens to produce dramatic displays of russet-red leaves in the autumn (above), along with bunches of red, yellow and orange fruit. They’re all super choices for a small garden, where they will cope in full sun or partial shade and prefer moist but well-drained soil. They also need little pruning, unless branches are diseased or damaged, in which case remove them in late winter or early spring.