Lawn & Garden

10 of the Best Trees for Any Backyard

Trees add much-needed shade, privacy, color, and value to your backyard. Check out this list of longstanding favorites that you can easily incorporate into your lawn design for stunning results.

Dogwood

1/11

A dogwood tree brings beauty and interest to your backyard all year long. It flowers during spring in a profusion of white, pink, and red blossoms, and then features a lush and compact canopy of foliage in the summer. Most varieties display red foliage in the fall before dropping leaves to show off attractive branching in the winter. There’s a variety for most any zone in the United States, making it no surprise that dogwood is one of the most popular flowering trees in America.

Related: 7 Easy, Budget-Friendly Backyard Makeovers

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Tulip Tree

2/11

The tulip tree does double duty as a shade tree and an ornamental. It is bursting with tulip-shaped flowers in springtime and flaunts brilliant yellow leaves in the fall. A fast-growing hardwood, the tulip tree can grow more than two feet in a year. It is subject to few pest problems and can be grown in Zones 4 through 9, making it an ideal choice for backyards throughout the country, providing they can handle its height.

Related: 6 Fast-Growing Shade Trees

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Saucer Magnolia

3/11

Emblazoned with pinkish-purple, saucer-shaped flowers in the early spring, saucer magnolia is a backyard showstopper. Growing 20 to 30 feet tall and thriving in Zones 4 through 9, it’s an ornamental that's suitable for almost any yard.

Related: Flowering Climbers—8 Cures for the Common Garden

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Sugar Maple

4/11

If you’re looking to add fall interest and color to your backyard, sugar maple is a great selection. Growing 60 to 75 feet tall, the sugar maple boasts a spreading canopy that puts on a vibrant show in autumn. Considered both a shade and an ornamental tree, it’s no wonder this is an American favorite for the yard.

Related: Bold and Beautiful—10 Fall-Blooming Flowers

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Silver Maple

5/11

In as little as five years, the silver maple tree will transform your backyard into a shady retreat. The silver undersides of its leaves not only give the silver maple its name, but also lend the tree a shimmering silver appearance in the breeze. It has a vast root system and large trunk, so be mindful to plant it away from sewer lines and walkways.

Related: 12 Garden Sheds You Could Actually Live (or Work) In

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'Green Giant' Arborvitae

6/11

Backyard privacy is important in so many places, but it's especially crucial between houses and yards in housing subdivisions. 'Green Giant' arborvitae has become a popular privacy screen for plenty of reasons: A fast-growing evergreen, it is exceptionally hardy, tolerates almost any soil, and has a beautiful conical shape. It’s great for a hedge, a screen, or as a single specimen in the backyard.

Related: 11 Ideas for Better Backyard Privacy

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Weeping Cherry

7/11

Few trees are as romantic and elegant as the weeping cherry. With cascading branches festooned with white or pink blossoms in spring, this graceful tree will quickly become the highlight of any backyard. Growing 20 to 30 feet tall, with a 20- to 25-foot spread, it’s small enough to fit almost anywhere.

Related: Early Bloomers—7 Spring Flowers Bringing Color NOW to a Yard Near You

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Red Oak

8/11

The red oak gets its name from the brilliant leaf color it shows off in the fall. Popular for both its hardiness and beauty, it’s also a fast grower—reaching up to 75 feet tall in maturity—with a rounded canopy. For larger backyards requiring shade, red oak is an excellent choice.

Related: Garden Paths—16 Easy-to-Imitate Garden Paths

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American Holly

9/11

Whether you’re looking to provide evergreen privacy for your yard or enhance your property with a singular ornamental stunner, American holly delivers. Small, white springtime blooms give way to red berries (actually drupes) in the fall, which remain throughout winter. Holly offers both visual interest and food for wildlife, attracting birds and other small creatures to your yard.

Related: 10 Plants Sure to Stop Deer in Their Tracks

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Eastern Redbud

10/11

One of the first signs of spring is the brilliant purplish-pink flowering of the eastern redbud, but its branching pattern makes this tree just as beautiful in winter as it is the rest of the year. Growing 20 to 30 feet high, with a 30-foot spread, the eastern redbud will make a dramatic display in any backyard.

Related: 9 Backyard Games to Make and Play This Summer

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A Tree Grows Indoors

11/11

Love the look of these stunning trees? While they’re obviously too large to bring inside, there are plenty of trees that are small and easy to grow in your house.

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