Your guide to learning about ornamental shrubs and trees

Ornamental shrubs and trees are undemanding plants that add beauty and fragrance to your yard. They can provide a visual framework for the garden or draw the eye to significant spots when grown singly on the lawn.

Their foliage, blossoms and berries provide colourful accents to any home. Take your yard's light and soil conditions into account when you're planning where to put trees and shrubs. After all, you don't want to be transplanting trees and shrubs year after year.

• Find pretty, red berries, even during the cold season, on the barberry bush, mountain ash, yew, staghorn sumac, cranberry bush or hawthorn.
• Rich blue fruits adorn the mahonia, while purplish-pink-coloured fruits adorn the beautyberry.
• The green and white striped bark of the snakebark maple is appealing in winter. The winged spindle tree has attractive green bark and the Chinese red birch boasts orange-red bark.

• Ornamental shrubs and trees that offer a visual treat in all four seasons of the year are perfect for smaller gardens that lack space for a larger selection of plants. The goldenrain tree displays yellow blossoms in the summer, and yellow leaves and unique seedpods that look like little Chinese lanterns in fall. The Amur maple sprouts red shoots, has yellowish-white blooming stalks, reddish fruit and red foliage in the fall.
• Plants that thrive in the shade are red-flowering currant, beech, yew, beautybush, dogwood, Oregon grape, daphne, wild black cherry and witch hazel.
• For damp locations, select alder buckthorn, Japanese maple, purple willow, red osier dogwood, black alder, white willow or hawthorn.
• Never plant birches, alders, willows or flowering cherries next to flower beds or vegetable plots, since these are shallow-rooted plants that make it difficult to cultivate the soil.
• Shrubs and trees draw water and nutrients from the soil, so make sure neighbouring plants can tolerate their proximity.