Jaques d'Alltrades wrote:
The message
from Stewart Robert Hinsley contains these words:

Or a birch, if the yellow autumn colour is acceptable. There's some
rowans with interesting bark, for winter interest, but more birches.
(But perhaps a birch grows too tall in the long run.)

I expect it would grow too tall in the short run.

)
I thought about the sweetgum, liquidambar styraciflula, scented
flowers, leaves turning bright orange, then red, then purple in automn.
The rowan too is good, the aucuparia/aria ones with their bright orange
berries (edible too). But I would definitely plant an hawthorn,
crataegus monogyna, for the insects it houses and the 'haws' food it
provides for the thrushes, fieldfares and redwings. There's lots of
them in Ireland.

"DM" -anti spam wrote in message
...
We would like to plant a tree in the front garden of our three bed
semi.
We would be grateful for suggestions for trees that fulfill the
following criteria:

1. It must be a tree that will not grow very tall.

2. It must have a crown that is not too dense, thus blocking light.

3. It must have foliage that changes colour through the seasons.

Amelanchiers are lovely small trees: spring flowers, gorgeous autumn colour
and berries that birds like. I don't know why they're not more widely grown.

Make sure you buy one that's a tree not a bush.

--
Sally Holmes
Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England

How about amelancier? Good size, not too dense, white flowers in
spring, and autumn colour.

do these need acidic soil?

--
Hayley
(gardening on well drained, alkaline clay in Somerset)

On Tue, 25 Oct 2005 18:47:12 +0100, Janet Baraclough wrote:

The message
from "DM" -anti spam contains these words:

We would like to plant a tree in the front garden of our three bed semi.

We would be grateful for suggestions for trees that fulfill the following
criteria:

1. It must be a tree that will not grow very tall.

2. It must have a crown that is not too dense, thus blocking light.

3. It must have foliage that changes colour through the seasons.

One of the sorbus/rowan family. Hardy, trouble free, three seasons of
attraction and feeds birds.
Unlike acer.

Janet
You have to be careful which Rowan you choose. We had a self-seeded one which grew as high as the
house in 3 or 4 years!