Specimen Trees

Lemon bottlebrush is a small tree or large shrub that gets 6-12 ft (2-4 m) tall and 6-9 ft (2-3 m) wide. The leaves are narrow, lance shaped, and leathery, with a distinctly citrus aroma (thus the common name). The bright red, plump, bottle-brush shaped flowers are composed mostly of stamens. They bloom off and on throughout hot weather. The bark is somewhat rough and light brown. Other less hardy forms of bottlebrush are available, including C. viminalis (weeping bottlebrush) and C. speciosus (showy bottlebrush). Callistemon rigidus is about equally hardy to cold with smaller flowers. Click the image to read more!

The strawberry tree is a beautiful small evergreen tree or shrub that can occasionally reach 9 metres tall and 8 metres wide, though it is usually rather smaller. There are several named forms and some of these are no more than 2 - 3 metres tall. The strawberry tree produces masses of beautiful white flowers in November and December. Since the fruit takes 12 months to ripen, the tree carries both mature fruit and flowers at the same time and is then incredibly beautiful. This is a superb plant to grow as a specimen in a lawn, and it also grows very well on the sunny edges of a woodland garden. Click the image to read more!

With its pyramidal shape, soft grayish-green (or blue) needles and drooping branches, this cedar makes a graceful specimen or accent tree. Growing rapidly to 40 to 50 feet tall and 20 to 30 feet wide, it also works well as a soft screen. The trunk stays fairly straight with lateral branches nearly horizontal and drooping. Lower branches should be left on the tree so the true form of the tree can show. Allow plenty of room for these to spread. The tree has been successfully used as a street or median planting with lower branches removed. It appears to tolerate compacted, poor soil but declines in areas where smog is a problem. Plant on 20-foot-centers to create a canopy of blue foliage over a small residential street. This is probably the best true cedar for the South. Click the image to read more!

It makes a striking evergreen specimen, with a distinct, graceful, weeping habit. Even one plant will soften any landscape. Use it near water or around a patio or as a lawn specimen in residential or commercial landscapes. This tree has outstanding ornamental features and could be planted more. Very attractive when planted in a container or above-ground planter; near a deck or patio. Specimen trees in full sun look great. The Nootka False Cypress is a graceful, weeping, pyramidal evergreen, and can reach 60 to 90 feet in the wild buy stays within a height of 35 feet and a spread of 20 feet in cultivation. The trunk remains straight and dominant throughout the life the tree. The long, pendulous, flattened branches are clothed with dark lush-green or grayish-green, scale like “needles”. Click the image to read more!