These 19 garden trees reach heights of 10-20m

Garden trees that are a maximum of 20 meters high not only fit very well in smaller gardens, but are also versatile compared to large trees with significantly greater heights.

Medium-sized trees for the garden

The following list shows you 19 garden trees that reach a height of between 10 and 20 meters.

Deciduous trees

From A to G

American sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua)

• Height in Central Europe: 10 to 20 meters
• Spread: 6 to 12 meters
• Growth: conical to cylindrical
• Flower: green, inconspicuous
• Flowering period: May
• Foliage leaves: maple-like, palm-shaped split, 10 to 20 centimeters in size
• magnificent Autumn colors

Chinese bluebell tree (Paulownia tomentosa)

• Height: 15 to 20 meters
• Spread: 8 to 10 meters
• Growth rate per year: 40 to 50 centimeters
• Blossom (in Europe only after mild winters): blue-violet funnel-shaped flowers with yellow stripes inside
• Flowering period: April to May
• Leaves: broadly ovate, up to 25 centimeters long

Ash maple (acer negundo)

• Height: 10 to 20 meters
• Spread: 5 to 10 meters
• Growth rate per year: 15 to 30 centimeters
• Flower: red trugdolgen (male flower), hanging, yellowish grapes (female flower)
• Flowering period: March to April
• Foliage leaves: pinnate, up to 20 centimeters long, serrated leaf margin

Common ash (Fraxinus excelsior)

The common ash is known to many plant enthusiasts as a tree with a height of up to 40 meters. But there is also a smaller edition, namely the golden ash "Jaspidea":

• Height: 12 to 17 meters
• Spread: 7 to 10 meters
• Flower: yellow-red, inconspicuous
• Flowering period: April to May
• Foliage leaves: pinnate, 5 to 12 centimeters tall, light yellow leaves shoot, later light green
• Autumn color: bright golden yellow

Antler tree (Gymnocladus dioicus)

• Height in Central Europe: 15 to 20 meters
• Spread: 8 to 12 meters
• Growth rate: 25 to 30 centimeters
• Flower: pyramidal panicles (up to 25 centimeters long), greenish-white
• Flowering period: June
• Foliage leaves: pinnate in pairs, very large (up to 80 centimeters long, up to 50 centimeters wide)
• Autumn color: bright golden yellow

Ginkgo tree (Ginkgo biloba)

Among the different cultivars, the following have a height of 15 to 20 meters and a growth width of 10 to 15 meters:

• "Fairmont"
• "Tit"
• "Autumn Gold"
• "Jade Butterflies"
• "Landliebe"
• "Princeton Sentry" (narrower: 4 to 6 meters wide)

Further information on these varieties:

• Growth rate per year: 30 to 40 centimeters
• Flower: male catkins (three centimeters long, yellowish), female flowers inconspicuous
• Flowering period: April to May
• Foliage leaves: leathery, fan-shaped, up to ten centimeters in size
• Autumn color: bright golden yellow

Golden birch (Betula ermanii)

• Height: 15 to 20 meters
• Spread: 6 to 10 meters
• Growth rate per year: 35 to 45 centimeters
• Flower: yellow-green catkins
• Flowering time: April
• Foliage leaves: egg-shaped, serrate, green-yellow, five to eight centimeters long
• Autumn color: bright golden yellow

Note: The leaves of the golden birch stick for a long time in autumn.

Large-leaved alder (Alnus speathii)

• Height: 10 to 15 meters, rarely 20 meters
• Spread: 7 to 10 meters
• Growth rate per year: 40 to 50 centimeters
• Flower: showy male catkins, about ten centimeters long, drooping, yellow-reddish, in small clusters
• Flowering period: February to March
• Foliage leaves: ovate, pointed, clearly serrated leaf margin, 6 to 16 centimeters tall, purple-purple when shoots, pale green in summer
• Autumn color: purple-red

Note: Because of its attractive autumn color, it is often called "purple alder".

From J to W

Japanese pagoda tree (Styphnolobium japonicum)

• Height: 15 to 20 meters
• Spread: 10 to 18 meters
• Growth rate per year: 20 to 45 centimeters
• Blossom: yellowish-white, filigree panicles (up to 25 centimeters long),
• Flowering period: July to August
• Leaves: pinnate, shiny, up to 25 centimeters long
• Autumn color: bright yellow

Crimea-Linden tree (Tilia x euchlora)

• Height: 15 to 18 meters
• Spread: 7 to 10 meters
• Blossom: yellow, pendulous umbels, up to seven centimeters long
• Flowering period: June to July
• Foliage leaves: heart-shaped, up to ten centimeters in size, serrated leaf margin

Note: Like all linden trees, the Crimean linden also exudes a strong fragrance.

Nymph tree (Nyssa sylvatica)

• Height: 15 to 20 meters
• Spread: 5 to 12 meters
• Growth rate per year: 20 to 40 centimeters
• Flower: pale green to whitish, in clusters
• Flowering period: April to June
• Foliage leaves: ovate, wavy edge, five to twelve centimeters long
• Autumn color: splendid orange-red to bright scarlet red, often tinged with purple

Black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia)

Robinia usually reach a height of up to 25 meters. The variety "Monophylla" remains well below this height (10 to 15 meters):

• Spread: 6 to 8 meters wide
• Growth rate per year: 60 to 150 centimeters
• Blossom: white, long racemes, strongly fragrant
• Flowering period: late May to early June
• Foliage leaves: unpaired pinnate, up to 20 centimeters long, serrated leaf margin
• Autumn color: bright yellow

Note: The legumes of the Robinia "Monophylla" stick to the tree even in winter.

Trumpet Tree (Catalpa bignonioides)

• Height: 10 to 15 meters
• Spread: 6 to 10 meters
• Growth rate per year: 30 to 50 centimeters
• Flower: upright panicles (10 to 15 centimeters long); bell-shaped, white single flowers with two yellow stripes and purple spots (inside)
• Flowering period: June to July
• Foliage leaves: heart-shaped, up to 20 centimeters in size, short pointed, hairy white

White mulberry tree (Morus alba)

The white mulberry tree reaches heights of between one and sixteen meters. The “Macrophylla” variety was grown at a height of between 10 and 15 meters. It is also known as the sycamore-leaved mulberry tree:

• Spread: 6 to 7 meters
• Growth rate per year: 20 to 40 centimeters
• Flower: green, spike-shaped
• Flowering period: May to early June
• Foliage leaves: heart-shaped, dark green
• Autumn color: bright yellow

Note: The red berries are ripe from August and have a sweet taste.

Winter linden (Tilia cordata)

With a height of 30 meters, the winter linden actually belongs to the large trees. However, there are cultivated forms that do not grow taller than 20 meters and are therefore also suitable as medium-sized garden trees, for example the "Greenspire" variety:

• Height: 12 to 15 meters
• Spread: 8 to 10 meters
• Growth rate per year: 30 to 40 centimeters
• Blossom: light yellow umbels, sweet-smelling
• Flowering period: July
• Foliage leaves: heart-shaped, shiny, three to ten centimeters in size
• Autumn color: bright golden yellow

Conifers

Among the conifers that are planted as garden trees, there are far fewer medium-sized trees with a maximum height of 20 meters than among the deciduous trees. One of the reasons for this is that spruces, pines and firs usually grow as large trees. Therefore, individual varieties have to be used here.

Occidental tree of life (Thuja occidentalis)

The occidental tree of life is used in many gardens as a privacy hedge. For example, the "Fastigiata" variety is suitable as a solitary plant with a height of between 15 and 20 meters:

• Spread: 3 to 6 meters
• Growth rate per year: 25 to 30 centimeters
• Flower: small, inconspicuous
• Flowering period: April to May
• Cones: from October, upright, at one centimeter long, hang on the tree through the winter
• Scale leaves: dark green, scale-shaped, evergreen; yellowish discoloration possible in winter

Note: If many female cones form, the tree can appear light brown.

European yew tree (Taxus baccata)

The European yew can grow as a shrub or tree. Trees with a height of between 10 and 15 meters include, for example, the varieties "Amersfoot" and "Cheshuntensis":

• Spread: 6 to 10 meters
• Growth rate per year: 20 to 25 centimeters
• Cone flower: inconspicuous, only a few millimeters in size
• Flowering period: February to March, in colder regions from April to May
• Cones: small, red, berry-like, from September, young cones with a yellow color
• Needles: dark green, evergreen

Giant arborvitae (Thuja plicata)

Varieties with a stature height between 10 and 20 meters are for example:

• "Atrovirens": 10 to 15 meters high, 2 to 3 meters wide
• "Excelsa": 12 to 15 meters high, 3 to 5 meters wide

Additional Information:

• Growth rate per year: 20 to 30 centimeters
• Flower: inconspicuous
• Flowering period: March to April
• Cones: oval, brown, small, from August
• Needles: dark green, shiny, scaly, evergreen

Spruce (Picea pungens)

Varieties that are suitable as medium-sized garden trees with a stature height between 10 and 20 meters are, for example:

• "Countryside Select" (10 to 20 meters high)
• "Edith’s blue spruce", "Glauca", "Blue Lagoon" and "Super Blue Seeding" (15 to 20 meters high)
• "Erich Frahm", "Hoopsii", "Koster" and "Omega" (10 to 15 meters high)

Additional Information:

• Spread: 6 to 8 meters
• Growth rate per year: 15 to 30 centimeters
• Cones: light pink to light red (female, in the upper crown area), yellow and slightly tinged red (male, in the entire crown area)
• Flowering period: May
• Cones: light brown to straw-colored, cylindrical, six to eleven centimeters long, from September
• Needles: blue-green, pungent, evergreen

Note: In everyday life, the spruce is often called blue spruce.

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