5 Native Trees for Winter Interest
No evergreens allowed! They are lovely but often a touch dominating in small urban gardens so here we’ll be focusing on native deciduous tree options, for winter interest in Southern Ontario.
Showy Mountain Ash
Sorbus Decora
Height: 8m (25’)
Width/Spread: 6m (20’)
A beautiful four-season interest, medium-sized tree, that won’t steal all the sunlight from your garden. In the spring it boasts clumps of white flowers. Summer has a canopy of compound leaves creating movement and allowing filtered light into the space below. Late summer the bright red berries appear. Fall brings a yellow hue to the leaves. After the leaves drop the colourful berries persist and are a burst of colour against the snow.
Showy Mountain Ash support many birds such as robins and blue jays, as well as squirrels, who eat the berries and assist in propagating it’s seeds. According to the Arboretum of the University of Guelph if a native and introduced variety are available, birds will eat from the Native first. This is fairly typical for most natives against cultivars or introduced species.
The berries of this tree are great for activities with kids as, unlike many berries, these are not poisonous, yet are extremely vibrant and attractive to kids. The leaves compound arrangement can make for interesting art activities, print making etc but can also be used to make natural dyes. The bird luring possibilities with this tree lend many opportunities for further teaching moments.
Showy Mountain Ash are susceptible to pests (ash borer), bacterial disease (fire blight) and changes in environmental air quality, as well as being drought intolerant.
White Birch (Paper Birch)
Betula Papyrifera
Height: 15m (50’)
Width/Spread: 8m (25’)
With single and multi-stemmed trunk options and textured, vibrant bark this tree places the interest at a human scale despite being a larger tree at maturity. These trees like growing in clumps and work well in groupings but also as a single specimen tree making them incredibly versatile in a garden design. In the spring catkins appear and in the fall it shows off with beautiful yellow foliage. The bark does take time (maturity) to become white and as it continues to age the white begins to display black markings.
The textural value of these trees are invaluable for children. This tree provides the opportunity to connect with land heritage, and can be the backbone for many crafting activities. An activity often left to field trips, you can tap and make syrup from birch trees. Sugar maples are often intolerant to environmental pollution and don’t fare well in cities, but birches thrive.
White Birch prefer cooler, moist soil and can be weakened in extreme heat or drought conditions leaving them susceptible to birch borer, leaf miners, blight among others.
Sycamore (American Plane Tree)
Platanus Occidentalis
Height: 18m-37m (60’-120’)
Width/Spread: 18m-30m (60’-100’)
The Sycamore is not a small tree and won’t be an option for many urban gardens, but it is a tree to stop you in your tracks with it’s unique bark and smooth limbs. It’s soaring heights mean that it’s foliage and flowers, already non-showy, go mostly unnoticed. Spring flowers lead to fruiting balls that turn brown in October and persist through the winter. They do not provide much food for wildlife although some birds (finch), muskrat, beaver, and squirrels eat the seeds, but they provide shelter for a number of animals such as owls and wood ducks. This is another tree that prefers moist, riverside conditions and will typically be happy in the same setting as a willow tree.
Children are often drawn to looming trees in awe, but they also find interest in the various colours and unusual patterning of this trees bark. Any kid that is into ‘army-print’ will dig this tree. The Sycamore’s shedding bark can be a physical metaphor for many teaching moments.
Pin Oak
Quercus Palustris
Height: 18m-21m (60’-70’)
Width/Spread: 7m-14m (25’-45’)
Oaks are notorious for being a large tree, but the Pin Oak is prized for it’s ‘smaller’ stature (when compared against other oaks. It will still be a large tree at maturity). It is often selected for landscaping due to it’s fast (for an oak) growth rate, strong architectural lines with a straight pyramidal shape and brilliant fall colour. It’s winter interest is found in it’s keeping of leaves through the winter months. Their rust-orange colour and gentle rustle in the winter winds, break up the grey and look quite elegant against the white snow.
It’s another tree that prefers a moist setting, providing nesting habitats for water fowl but the acorns also provide food for wild turkeys, bluejays, deer, woodpeckers, ducks and more.
Oaks in general are great fun for kids as their leaves are much more durable then many other deciduous trees. This allows them to be canvasses and tools for many projects, great additions for “nature soup” in the winter without the typical slimy factor that winter leaves bring. The acorns can be collected for projects, fed to wildlife, eaten (with some processing) or turned into natural dyes. The support that Oak trees provide to wildlife can afford many opportunities to observe the ecology around your property.
Pin Oaks are susceptible to Wilt, Galls, Scale, Gypsy Moth infestations and bacterial leaf scorch.
Eastern Redbud
Cercis Canadensis
Height: 6m-9m (20’-30’)
Width/Spread: 7m-10m (25’-35’)
If there was a fairy tree, this would be it. Eastern Redbud’s are understory, (small) trees that provide colour and interest at a human level. They begin the year with an explosion of small pink blossoms that hug along the branches before leaves appear. The leaves are heart shaped and go from a green to brilliant yellow in the fall, before fading away to show rustling, seed-pods. They can be found in both single stem or multi-trunked configurations making them flexible for many design options.
They attract a variety of birds with their seeds but goldfinches seem to pay them special attention. Bees frequent the spring blooms and in some areas this tree is valued for it’s nector towards honey production.
This is a romantic tree. A tree for picnicking under. But the easily recognizable, heart-shape leaves can also be used for learning and crafting. The winter seed pods are abundant and can be incorporated into crafting, music making, germination of new trees, or as an additive to homemade bird feeders.
Unlike the other trees in the list this one is drought tolerant and can be used in xeriscaping applications. It’s generally not a fussy tree and isn’t prone to many issues. Gypsy Moth infestations can occur but this tree is not their first pick.
