There are dozens of excellent trees for the average sized home garden, but forced to choose just one tree, I would pick this one – the Japanese snowbell tree (Styrax japonicus). It’s the perfect tree for any home garden.
My snowbell tree is at its peak right now in front of my house and is literally covered with beautiful, delicate, slightly fragrant white flowers with a soft yellow centre.
It’s perfect for small and medium sized gardens because of its size. It rarely grows more than 15 to 20 feet high by about 15 feet wide.
It also has exquisite leaves that develop early in spring and look great all year, turning yellow with shades of orange in fall.
When the tree drops its leaves, it leaves a pool of colour on the ground around the trunk. This is also a pretty sight, adding to the overall value of the tree.
Over the years, I have asked other garden experts to name their favourite tree. Many have named the snowbell tree, after first considering a stewartia, cherry, ginkgo or a form of Japanese maple.
The Japanese snowbell tree is best viewed when in full flower from below. That’s because the flowers hang down. If possible, it is best to locate it where you can look up into the canopy.
In my garden, it is planted at the top of the driveway on the boulevard where you are forced to look up into the canopy as you walk up the slight incline.
It is also deliberately placed on the boulevard to give it full sun exposure and make it more visible for the whole neighbourhood to enjoy.
In fall, the tree is covered with tiny, green nut-shaped seeds that dangle in clusters. These offer yet another attractive element.
Styrax obassia is another form of snowbell tree that some experts often rave about as being superior but in my experience this is not the case – the flowers of S. obassia maybe slightly more fragrant but the leaves are a little larger and, if anything, more coarse and less attractive than those of S. japonicus.
