How Do You Choose An Ornamental Flowering Tree?

Give yourself a living gift every season - choose a tree for its ornamental flowers. Enjoy an early burst of color with trees that bloom before their leaves appear in spring, and keep the color coming with trees that bloom on summer's hottest days. Understand your region's climate and your own particular landscape site to choose a flowering tree that will thrive for years. Consider rainfall and irrigation, available sunlight, and exposure to winds and heat. Begin to narrow your search for good candidates. Decide how big a tree you can use based on your available space; most flowering trees fall in the small to medium size ranges, although larger trees also bloom. Locate the tree in your mind's eye and see its height and overall spread to get an idea of what fits. Pick a shape for your flowering tree that adds dimension to your landscape. Aesthetically, an upright or cone shape inspires the viewer, an open-vase shape is welcoming, and a single trunk makes a bolder statement than a ...  more