Privacy Patio Trees

Conifers

• Evergreen and dense, conifers make perfect privacy screens. Norfolk Island pines are an excellent choice for patio trees. They are commonly grown in containers and have attractive, light green needles. Lacebark, Swiss stone and mugo pines are all good container evergreens. The dense, blue foliage of the "Carolina Sapphire" cypress is not only attractive but the tree can be brought inside as a living Christmas tree during the holidays.

Citrus

• Citrus trees are a triple threat on the patio. They have dense, attractive foliage, sweetly scented flower and they bare delicious fruit. Satsuma mandarins are recommended for container growing by Texas A&M. They are cold hardy and produce good yields. Dwarf varieties of almost every citrus are available. If you live in a cold area, citrus trees may need winter protection, which can be a drawback if you're using them as privacy screens.

Non-Flowering

• For those not interested in cleaning up after messy flowering trees, there are small, non-flowering trees available. Several varieties of maple, including Japanese maple, hedge maple and fullmoon maple can be grown in containers. River birch requires large containers and has unique, peeling white bark. American hornbeam also requires large planters but has attractive fall foliage. These trees are deciduous and may offer less privacy during the winter months when they lose their leaves.

Flowering

• Flowering trees can turn your garden into a fragrant wonderland in the spring. Kousa dogwood has copious blooms of four-petaled white flowers. Southern magnolia has deep green, waxy and evergreen foliage with delicate white flowers. Purpleleaf plum, Yoshino cherry and callery pear are also excellent container trees, but they all require large containers.