Hi

I have a 12m x 6m suburban garden. In the back left corner there's a concrete hard standing (old wendy house base?), 2.5m x 3m which I am going to pave and make into a plant patio (ie no table/chairs, just my potted hosta collection).

A paved path runs from the house to the patio, bounding a 1m wide garden bed to its left.

I want to put in 2 trees, one to the left and one to the right of the hard standing, obviously suitably spaced away from the boundary fence and the patio itself. They need to have an upright habit and not grow too big and overwhelming.

Should I pick two identical trees; 2 similar trees or 2 contrasting trees?

Currently we are looking at birch, small mountain ash, cherry - but other suggestions welcome.

My 'fear' regarding contrasting trees is are we trying to cram too much variety into what is a small garden? BUT would 2 very similar trees look boring?!

Thanks for your thoughts.