7 Trees to Include in Your Garden for a Fabulous Fall Display

A great gardener thinks ahead, creating seasonal interest to ensure their yard looks stunning all year round. While your summer flowers may have seen better days come the autumn, deciduous trees are ready in the wings, ready to put on a fabulous fall show. In this article, we run through seven of the top choices for creating a flare of color in your garden as the season changes.

1. Gingko

With origins in South China, the ginkgo biloba tree lives happily in zones 3 to 8, producing an impressive display of golden leaves in the fall. At more than 245 million years old, gingko is one of the world’s oldest tree species, and the sole survivor of an ancient type of trees that predate the dinosaurs. Today, it is considered endangered.

2. Red Maple

This native maple grows up to 50 feet tall, with a spread of up to 40 feet. With its oval shape and wrinkly gray bark, it puts on a glamorous display of purple-red leaves in the fall. In addition to their distinctive autumn foliage, male red maples produce clusters of small, smoky red flowers in spring. Female trees produce a decorative red fruit called samsara from April to June. These unusual fruits feature a seed on one end with wings on the other, enabling them to spin down to earth.

3. American Sweetgum

Although it is finicky about the weather, the American sweetgum can put on a remarkable display, replete with hues of crimson, purple, orange, and gold. As the name suggests, the sweet gum produced by the species can be used for chewing gum, for medicinal purposes, or for crafts. It also provides food for a variety of woodland creatures, including chipmunks, squirrels, deer, and doves. For those only interested in the beauty of the tree, some cultivars do not produce gumballs.

4. Quaking Aspen

This species covers more surface area North America than any other type of tree. Suitable for zones 1 to 6, the quaking aspen grows up to 50 feet tall, its rounded leaves trembling in the breeze and turning from gilt to auburn in fall. The species is virtually impossible to kill. Although individual stems may be destroyed by disease, wildfires, animals, or humans, the root system is fantastically robust. Scientists believe that a grove of quaking aspens found in Utah is the largest identified living living being on Earth. With more than 50,000 stems on a single root system, the plant covers more than 100 acres and weighs over 6,000 tons.

5. Tuliptree

An excellent source of both shade and autumn color, the tuliptree is a pest-resistant, quick-growing species that produces tulip-shaped blooms in May and June. Come fall, it treats homeowners to a display of brilliant yellow leaves. The tuliptree was popular with pioneers, who used its wood to make barns, houses, and canoes; today, it is sometimes used for cabinetry.

Endemic to eastern regions of the United States, the tree is also used for medicinal purposes in the form of ointments and teas made from its parts. It is a member of the magnolia family, producing light yellow or green flowers, although it has to be a decade and a half old or more to bloom. The average lifespan of the tuliptree is 200 to 250 years, although given the right conditions, some examples have been known to live longer.

6. Serviceberry

Growing up to 25 feet in both height and spread, the serviceberry produces white blooms in spring, followed by an edible purplish-black fruit that can be easily preserved as a jam or jelly. The bark, flower, and occasionally fruit can contain traces of cyanide, which cause stomach upsets in both children and adults when eaten. The berry also attracts numerous animal and bird species to your garden. A member of the rose family, the tree is best known for its fall color, adding a tantalizing orange or cinnamon hue. The serviceberry is a comparatively short-lived species, living only around 50 years.

7. Sassafras

Native to the US and Mexico, when grown in the south the sassafras tree can reach 100 feet, whereas in the northern US it only reaches around a quarter of that height. With fuzzy yellow-green polymorphic leaves, sassafras has been prized for centuries. Its flowers, leaves, roots, and bark are used for both gastronomic and healing purposes. The myriad of different colors produced by the sassafras tree in fall make it a star, dazzling in an array of purple, red, orange, and yellow. Sassafras fruits also attract numerous bird species to the garden, including flickers, northern mockingbirds, and pleated woodpeckers.