Tony Carnell wrote:
Hi all,

I'm looking for suggestions for a relatively small tree I'd like to
plant through a deck I intend building at the top of my garden.

The site is north facing, with a reasonable amount of sun, and the soil
has been well cultivated over the years so it's in good condition.

I'm after a smallish tree with as much seasonal interest as possible
(flowers, autumn colour, interesting bark), but one that hasn't got
invasive roots because although it won't be near any buildings it will
be close to the boundary with a neighbour and they have a path that I
don't want to damage.

Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Tony.

Since you failed to indicate a climate zone, here are recommendations
for my zone, from my own garden.

From the smallest to the largest "small" tree --

Australian tea tree, Leptospermum laevigatum. This can actually be a
large shrub or pruned to be a multistemmed tree. It has small pink
flowers.

Loquat, Eriobotrya japonica. Mine is 'MacBeth', which is a hybrid with
large fruit.

Red-flowering gum, Eucalyptus ficifolia. This is one of the smaller and
cleaner eucalypts, with large clusters of red flowers followed by
bell-shaped seed pods.

All three are evergreen.
--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean
Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean
influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19)
Gardening pages at http://www.rossde.com/garden/