Some bushes are most prized for his or her flowering skills, and others for his or her enticing foliage. These are the backyard stars for many of the yr, from flowers in spring to good shades of pink, orange, and gold within the fall. Nevertheless, winter is the season for bushes with decorative bark to take middle stage.
Many species of bushes have decorative bark. This consists of bushes with colourful, peeling, or in any other case uncommon bark that units them aside and makes them stunning, even once they drop their leaves and enter winter dormancy.
When cultivating these bushes, you can also make extra of their ornamental bark seen by pruning the decrease branches and creating extra clearance underneath the tree. Many of those bushes are additionally flowering varieties, and a few boast beautiful fall foliage.
Right here is a listing of 21 bushes with hanging bark to enliven the winter panorama and add curiosity to the backyard when there may be little else to take a look at. Some are giant and want a variety of house to develop, whereas others are smaller, making them versatile and manageable.
American Sycamore
botanical title Platanus occidentalis |
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solar necessities Full solar |
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peak as much as 100’ |
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hardiness zones 4-9 |
American sycamore is a good place to start out if you happen to’re in search of a tree that makes a winter assertion. This gigantic species of sycamore can develop to 100 toes tall with a trunk diameter of as much as 15 toes. That is fairly an imposing tree, with a big open cover and fruits that always stay on the tree after the leaves have fallen.
The American sycamore shouldn’t be notably noteworthy in autumn. Its giant, maple-like leaves flip brown earlier than falling off. The bark is, nonetheless, thrilling and makes an important focus within the winter when its leaves are gone.
Its brown outer bark sloughs away in giant sheets. Beneath this layer, new, white bark reveals by way of in fairly patches.
Black Cherry
botanical title Prunus serotina |
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solar necessities Full solar to partial shade |
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peak 50’-60’ |
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hardiness zones 3-9 |
Black cherry is an excellent tree for winter curiosity, and it has an distinctive vary, rising from zone 3 to zone 9. It’s a giant tree with a mean mature peak between 50’-60’ tall, however some specimens attain an imposing 110 toes.
Flowers in spring are adopted by pink fruits. In fall, the leaves flip golden earlier than going dormant for the winter. The mature bark is thick and scaly, with a sloughing behavior that sees the bark flipping up in some spots.
The black cherry is an vital North American native. Its wooden is effective for producing furnishings, toys, and scientific devices. A cough medication can also be derived from the tree’s fascinating bark.
Coral Bark Japanese Maple
botanical title Acer palmatum ‘Sango Kaku’ |
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solar necessities Full solar to partial shade |
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peak 20’ |
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hardiness zones 5-8 |
That is one colourful maple tree that it’s important to see to imagine. Most maples have fantastic spring and fall foliage; the coral bark Japanese maple is not any exception. Spring leaves are available in a chartreuse shade earlier than turning darker inexperienced in summer season. Throughout fall, the foliage modifications to pink and bronze earlier than falling off for the winter.
As you will have guessed, the coral bark Japanese maple’s bark is a superb shade of coral pink. I really like this tree as a multi-trunk, shrubby tree, as a number of trunks imply much more of the attractive bark. This maple reaches 20-25 toes tall, making it a good, small, manageable tree that may be planted close to the house for optimum viewing.
Cork Oak
botanical title Quercus suber |
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solar necessities Full solar to partial shade |
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peak 65’ |
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hardiness zones 8-11 |
Cork oak is an evergreen, so it doesn’t lose its bark for the winter, nevertheless it does have some distinctive and helpful bark, so in case you have the chance, this can be a fantastic tree to plant. These long-lived, giant bushes mature at about 25 and can dwell as much as 200 years outdated. The bark of the cork tree is thick and knobby, rising thicker with age,
This thick, closely textured bark is used to make flooring, furnishings, and wine corks, amongst different helpful gadgets. The bark might be lower from the tree as soon as each 9-12 years after the tree has matured. Eradicating the bark doesn’t hurt the tree, and the bark will regenerate to be harvested repeatedly.
Crape Myrtle
botanical title Lagerstroemia |
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solar necessities Full solar |
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peak as much as 20’ |
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hardiness zones 6-10 |
Within the South, crape myrtle bushes are all the fashion in summer season with their fairly foliage and big panicles of colourful flowers. Most of the roads in my metropolis are lined with these fantastic bushes, which create a surprising avenue of flowers throughout summer season. The colourful foliage on the finish of the season is available in shades of pink, bronze, and gold.
Within the first few years, crape myrtle bark is pretty bizarre. It’s when the tree matures that it takes on a stunning attribute. The outer grey bark will start to peel, revealing new, rust-colored bark beneath. This makes the bushes stunning even in winter after their leaves have fallen.
Japanese Pink Cedar
botanical title Juniperus virginiana |
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solar necessities Full solar to partial shade |
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peak as much as 80’ |
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hardiness zones 2-9 |
Japanese pink cedar is definitely not a cedar however a juniper species. It’s evergreen, though the foliage can change to brown or purple throughout wintertime. The fragrant foliage is sticky and leathery, and the tree produces stunning berries that begin greenish-blue and progressively flip deep purple in shade. You gained’t see a lot of the bark when the tree is small and younger.
These giant bushes develop tall, as much as 80 toes tall, to be actual. The bark can be extra seen as soon as the tree’s clearance is at eye degree. The bark is papery and peels irregularly, revealing new reddish brown bark beneath the pale grey outer bark. A row of those bushes makes a wonderful windbreak and can develop at a reasonable to quick price of 1 to 2 toes per yr.
European Hornbeam
botanical title Carpinus betulus |
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solar necessities Full solar to partial shade |
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peak 40’-60’ |
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hardiness zones 5-7 |
This enticing tree grows as much as 60’ tall at maturity and has a rounded pyramidal form. It’s a member of the birch household and offers year-round curiosity with enticing foliage that turns deep inexperienced in the summertime and gold within the fall. The foliage is dense, making this a very good display screen or windbreak.
European hornbeam has very fairly leaves with deep veining and calmly serrated edges. The bark can exhibit for a number of months when the foliage falls. When the tree is younger, the bark is clean and grey. Because it ages, it turns into thicker with deep, irregular grooves.
Gumbo Limbo
botanical title Bursera simaruba |
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solar necessities Full solar to partial shade |
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peak 30’-40’ |
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hardiness zones 10-11 |
Gumbo limbo is one other tree that gained’t essentially lose its leaves in chilly temperatures. It’s semi-evergreen, however its beautiful bark is eye-catching year-round. The bushes are giant, with spreading branches that kind a cover as large because the tree is tall. The form of the tree resembles a dwell oak or banyan tree.
The papery, peeling bark of the gumbo limbo tree is a number of the most fascinating bark I’ve encountered. The outdated bark is reddish-orange and peels away in skinny layers to disclose clean, deep inexperienced bark under. These bushes have a small vary of climates the place they’ll thrive, however they’re definitely worth the funding if you happen to dwell in zone 10 or 11.
Japanese Stewartia
botanical title Stewartia pseudocamellia |
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solar necessities Full solar to partial shade |
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peak 30’-40’ |
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hardiness zones 5-8 |
This relative of the camellia was named for the Scottish botanist John Stuart. The species title, pseudocamellia, means false-camellia, because the vegetation strongly resemble one another. In contrast to the camellia, Japanese stewartia shouldn’t be evergreen, and its fall foliage is brightly coloured.
Japanese stewartia produces fairly white flowers resembling a sasanqua camellia’s blooms. In contrast to the camellia, this tree has fantastic peeling bark finest displayed within the winter after it has misplaced its foliage. That is one other manageably sized tree that works properly in lots of landscapes.
Kousa Dogwood
botanical title Cornus kousa |
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solar necessities Full solar to partial shade |
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peak 30’ |
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hardiness zones 5-8 |
The Kousa dogwood is an excellent medium-sized tree with tons of persona. In spring, the tree is roofed in candy, four-petaled white flowers frequent to the Cornus genus. The inexperienced foliage seems earlier than the flowers on this species and turns purple within the fall.
White flowers give approach to pink fruits, making this a extremely decorative tree year-round. Throughout winter, Kousa dogwood reveals off beautiful, peeling bark. There are generally a number of layers of bark seen concurrently. This creates an thrilling, multi-colored patchwork of delicate bark layers.
Monkey Puzzle
botanical title Araucaria araucana |
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solar necessities Full solar to partial shade |
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peak 60’-80’ |
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hardiness zones 7-11 |
This fascinating coniferous evergreen has a novel look and appears this fashion all yr! The bark of the monkey puzzle tree is fascinating as a result of it’s utterly obscured by tight spirals of small pointed leaves. Due to this enjoyable leaf formation, the trunk and branches all have a spiky look.
Native to South America, the species is understood for its longevity and hardiness. The leaves alone can last as long as 15 years. When it comes to conifers, monkey puzzle makes a really good bonsai specimen. Bushes can develop as much as 80 toes tall or taller over their lengthy lifespan. Pruning will encourage branching of a fuller look.
Paperbark Maple
botanical title Acer griseum |
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solar necessities Full solar to partial shade |
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peak 20’-30’ |
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hardiness zones 4-8 |
Maples are such a good looking group of bushes. They’re properly recognized for his or her beautiful fall foliage and total attractiveness. Paperbark maple is a small to medium-sized tree that does very properly in partial shade, making it a pleasant understory tree. Its comfortable inexperienced leaves change to good, fiery orange within the fall.
Because the tree matures, the bark takes on a papery, peeling attribute. The older layers of bark are gentle brown and peel away in giant patches to disclose beautiful cinnamon-colored new bark beneath. The tree has a pleasant form, with an upright, branching behavior and a rounded cover.
‘Pink Panda’ Birch
botanical title Betula albasinensis ‘Pink Panda’ |
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solar necessities Full solar to partial shade |
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peak 30’-50’ |
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hardiness zones 3-8 |
The Royal Horticultural Society has seen match to award this beautiful tree with its prestigious Award of Backyard Benefit, and it’s not shocking. The ‘Pink Panda’ birch has a number of the most stunning bark round. This low-maintenance tree provides year-round curiosity within the backyard and makes a beautiful focus within the panorama.
Small flowers bloom within the spring, and the inexperienced leaves of summer season change to gold within the fall. The bark is the principle attraction to this tree, and it reveals off year-round. Within the winter, although, it may be appreciated in all its glory. The bark is coppery to pink, with an abundance of white lenticels. Along with its fairly shade and texture, the bark additionally has a peeling behavior, shedding in giant sheets.
River Birch
botanical title Betula nigra |
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solar necessities Full solar to partial shade |
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peak 60’-80’ |
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hardiness zones 4-9 |
River birch is a nice tree for moist soil varieties. It may be seen rising in marshy areas and on riverbanks, as its desire is considerable water. These bushes are pretty giant and might dwell for as much as 75 years. The form is properly symmetrical and pyramidal, with an upright progress behavior.
Because the river birch matures, its bark takes on a heavy peeling look. The older bark is silvery and peels away in curly sheets to disclose shades of peach, salmon, brown, orange, and even lavender. This good, sturdy tree has good chilly and wind tolerance.
Shagbark Hickory
botanical title Carya ovata |
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solar necessities Full solar |
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peak 60’-80’ |
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hardiness zones 4-8 |
This tree within the walnut household has very fascinating bark. Their trunks are lined in thick, shaggy layers of brown bark that make glorious houses for native wildlife. These tall bushes like moist soil and humid climates however are very tolerant of various temperatures.
Shagbark hickory produces flowers within the spring. Feminine flowers produce fruit in the way in which of hickory nuts, that are interesting to people and wildlife. Their common lifespan is 200 years, though they’ll dwell longer. They start to supply seeds at round 40 years outdated. Its fall foliage is beautiful when it turns to shades of yellow and gold.
Silver Birch
botanical title Betula pendula |
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solar necessities Full solar to partial shade |
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peak 30’-40’ |
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hardiness zones 2-7 |
Silver birch bushes are stunning, with barely weeping branches and shining white bark. A grouping of those bushes makes a really elegant assertion within the panorama. The small flowers in spring give approach to conelike fruits containing many seeds. The foliage is small and toothy and turns from medium inexperienced to gold within the fall.
The bark is traditional for a birch tree. It’s silvery white with black clefts because it matures, making this a good looking addition to the winter panorama. Because the tree ages, the pale bark loses its clean end and turns into extra rugged close to the tree’s base.
Snake-bark Maple
botanical title Acer sect. Macrantha |
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solar necessities Full solar |
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peak as much as 60’ |
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hardiness zones 5-8 |
One other fantastic maple tree, the snake-bark maple, has some distinctive traits that set it aside from most maples. The leaves are easy and ovate, which is sort of completely different from the standard maple leaf formation. It prefers to dwell in climates with cool summers, though it could possibly tolerate heat summers if it has a little bit of afternoon shade to guard it from solar scorch.
Snake-bark is a big maple with an upright progress behavior and sometimes has a number of trunks. The autumn shade is beautiful in pink, gold, and orange shades to set the panorama ablaze. Inexperienced, striated bark is what offers this tree its frequent title, and it’s hanging in each shade and texture.
Snow Gum
botanical title Eucalyptus pauciflora |
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solar necessities Full solar |
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peak 12’-50’ |
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hardiness zones September 11 |
This evergreen solely grows in hotter climates, nevertheless it has amazingly stunning bark, so I’d be remiss to skip over this excellent species of eucalyptus tree. Generally known as snow gum, this tree can differ extensively in its mature peak, from as small as 12 toes to as giant as 50 toes tall.
Eucalyptus bushes have fragrant, pale, greyish-green leaves and produce clusters of enticing white flowers. The bark has a peeling look, however it’s sometimes fairly clean. Shades of white, cinnamon, gray, and inexperienced swirl across the curling and knotted trunk and branches.
Tall Stewartia
botanical title Stewartia monadelpha |
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solar necessities Full solar to partial shade |
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peak 20’-25’ |
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hardiness zones 5-8 |
Just like Japanese stewartia, tall stewartia is said to and resembles a camellia. This member of the Theaceae household has leathery, deep inexperienced leaves with calmly serrated edges. It’s very tolerant of various soil circumstances and prefers partial shade. The tree is very drought and heat-tolerant as properly.
Tall stewartia is also called orangebark stewartia. The rusty orange bark is clean and exfoliates to disclose shades of lavender and cream beneath. The foliage additionally has nice fall curiosity, altering to scarlet in autumn. Stewartia bushes are native to Japan and generally present in mountainous forests.
Tibetan Cherry
botanical title Prunus serrula |
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solar necessities Full solar to partial shade |
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peak 20’-30’ |
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hardiness zones 5-6 |
Cherry bushes are recognized for having enticing bark that provides a beautiful contact to the winter panorama. Tibetan cherry has flamboyant, pink bark closely banded with tough white lenticels. The pink floor of the bark is clean and shiny, with a satiny sheen that appears simply fantastic towards a stark winter panorama.
Tibetan cherry has gentle and ethereal foliage with a weeping high quality. It produces clusters of small white flowers, which give approach to pink berries within the fall. It’s a low-maintenance tree that matures to a really manageable peak of 20-30 toes tall.
Remaining Ideas
Including a number of fascinating and exquisite bushes to your backyard will enliven the winter panorama, including magnificence and curiosity through the dormant season. Even if you happen to dwell in a heat local weather the place most bushes and vegetation are evergreen, including a tree with stunning bark will boost the panorama and create a beautiful focus within the backyard.