Fall Tree and Shrub Planting

Keep color in your yard and garden

Summer may be fading, along with your annuals and perennials. That doesn't mean you need to sacrifice color in your outdoor spaces. Many trees and shrubs stand out and shine in cooler temperatures. Dare we say sometimes “outshine” other fall plantings? Along with fall colors, shrubs with ornamental berries are a great way to keep your garden interesting during the last months of the year. Blueberries “Cabernet Splash”, Vacciunium corymbosum, are one such plant that produces medium-size berries and has gorgeous dark cabernet foliage during the fall. Beautyberry, Callicarpa bodineieri, is best known for its colorful fruit in the autumn, which varies from cream to deep purple.

If you’re looking for trees to radiate fabulous color in your yard, here are a few of our suggestions.

Burnishing bushes for fall

A Dwarf Burning Bush, Euonymus alatus, will showcase precisely what it’s name implies. The Burning Bush displays gorgeous green leaves in the spring/summer changing to raging red fall color. Crape myrtles, Lagerstroemia, have blooms bursting in late summer into October in western Oregon. Another shrub to consider is Clematis, Clematis, with some varieties providing blooms in the spring and the fall.

Fall is an excellent time of year to assess your landscape focusing on color transitions from autumn to winter.  Splashes of orange, yellow, and deep red foliage would be “scene stealers” and add great interest to your green foliage. Color is not just for spring and summer!