Slender Trees

Gardens these days are much smaller than in previous times.

- Jenny Dean

Gardens these days are much smaller than in previous times. Far from being restrictive, we have enormous scope to be creative with the stunning array of slender trees we are blessed with in South Africa. A gardener can have a woodland a cluster of slender trees in the smallest of spaces. Choose those with interesting bark and an upright growth habit, plant them close together and enjoy the effect they bring to your garden. A slender tree can be tucked into the smallest corner or used to highlight a feature even in a postage stamp garden.

Zanthoxylum capense (the Small Knobwood) is my first choice. Spines resembling little rhino horns are borne on the slender stem. The Small Knobwood has a sparse crown and will not cast too much shade in your small space. Fruit borne in dense clusters is much enjoyed by birds.