Choosing shady trees for suburban backyards

Space-saving fruit trees

If we include fruit trees, with up to five varieties for each kind, Diggers lists nearly 40 trees suited to small gardens. Fruit trees need only four-metre spacings, so they can be planted at high densities, especially if managed as espaliers on walls and trellises. Growing your own fruit means you can reduce your carbon footprint by avoiding the emissions created by the machinery and transportation inherent in commercial orcharding.

Any of the following fruits can be grown in an area four metres wide: apple, apricot, cherry, fig, pear, plum, almond, avocado, jelly palm, lemon, orange, grapefruit, lime, mandarin, babaco, guava, feijoa, Natal plum, tamarillo, banana and paw paw.

Tall and narrow trees

Choosing trees that grow upwards, rather than outwards, takes up less room at ground level, meaning more space for open areas and other plantings. Some suitably upright trees include fastigiate oak and pear selections, bottle tree, palms, silk floss, cockscomb coral, bay tree and juniper.

Our backyard garden in Northcote has a relatively tiny garden area for planting at just 12x14 metres (168m2 ), but within that space we have planted four trees. Between the trees we still have a sunny area of about 100m2 , which is enough space for children’s parties and family picnics. Each of our trees has been chosen to give enough shade on a summer’s day whilst not being too gloomy in the cooler months when they lose their leaves and allow in the welcome winter sun.

For a 12x12 metre garden (slightly smaller than our space) you can plant three or four trees of the following trees: dawn redwood, river birch, Cook’s pine, ginkgo, silk tree, cape chestnut, magnolia, flowering pear, Russian olive and white cedar.

Using our home as an example, you can see that planting trees for smaller gardens is possible with some careful planning.

Written by Clive Blazey, co-founder of The Diggers Club and The Diggers Foundation.