Ornamental Potted Trees

Evergreens

• Evergreen trees, particularly dwarf varieties, can thrive in containers. Dwarf spruce like Oriental, Alberta and Siberian grow slowly with attractive natural shapes. Italian cypress, holly and yew have ornamental shapes naturally but must be pruned to maintain a smaller container size. Gardeners can prune boxwood, juniper and cypress trees into spirals, ball shapes or cones to look like topiary. Ornamental palm trees in pots always make a striking statement.

Fruit

• In USDA hardiness zones 7 to 3, dwarf fruit trees, sensitive to frost, can easily be moved indoors for winter protection. Dwarf citrus tree, such as lemon, limes and oranges often spend winter indoors and summer outside. Even without its fragrant flowers blooming, the citrus tree emits a pleasant aroma. Other dwarf fruit trees like apple, pear, peach and cherry can grow well in containers, particularly if space is limited for in-ground growing, but will not produce an abundance of fruit.

Deciduous

• Strictly for outdoor growing because of leaf drop, ornamental deciduous trees can be quite attractive all year. Flowering ornamental trees in dwarf varieties such as crape myrtle flower throughout the growing season, and during the winter the tree bark becomes attractive. Japanese maple, a small deciduous tree with branches naturally growing artistically, produces small, colorful leaves. Magnolia trees, serviceberry and dogwood flower in the spring, produce attractive summer foliage and have striking wintertime berries.

Bonsai

• One of the most familiar potted tree is one grown for a Japanese bonsai display. Japanese bonsai is an traditional art form of training a young tree into pleasing shapes through consistent pruning. Perennial woody trees suited to bonsai by top and root pruning feature natural branching and the ability to remain small while growing in a shallow container. Generally tree species are selected based on the type of foliage, particularly trees with small leaves or needles.