How many people have followed the recent trends of the Outdoor room? Placing paving, decking and chippings where there used to be a garden. No room for plants…or is there? Barbecues and outdoor patio heaters and furniture seem to dominate the modern (outdoor space).

Well, take a moment to look at what the Japanese have been doing for years and adapt it to the Great British way. Bonsai is the art of growing miniature trees in a very small space. A fully grown Pine may be ancient but is only a few feet across. If you adapt this to our modern Gardens there is a compromise between Bonsai and true tree, which is much larger and which does make a truthful contribution to the environment, but in a small space.

The rainforests of the world decide and rule the weather. Like it or not they do breathe for the planet. We can help the world to breathe by growing a tree even if it is in a restricted area. Every little helps.

What trees will do this? Well, the answer is that any of them will survive given the correct growing environment.

Okay, you cannot grow a giant redwood tree and expect it to reach 100 feet in a pot but you can still grow one in miniature.

Modern growers of trees have realised that we need to be growing smaller trees for the modern garden and they are being grafted onto slower-growing roots (known as dwarf rootstocks). Ornamental cherries are being grafted onto rootstocks that dwarf the tree together with stems that keep the plants at no more than 3 feet high. But the flowers are the same size and the impact is as spectacular.

Leaving those alone it is possible with a half barrel as a container to produce a reasonable tree of any type and shape in a miniature form that will breathe for many years in your garden and will give an annual reward to the owner. My choice is the Amelanchier. It is a North American tree that grows well in this country. There are 3 main features. It has snowy white flowers in spring. (Hence the name Snowy Mespilus) followed by red berries in summer, earlier than most, and it has a really amazing autumn colour as the leaves fall. 

It is a perfect candidate for the containerised tree and will grow as a bonsai-type tree year after year. If you want a tree that will give you something to eat then don’t forget the fruit trees that are suitable to pot culture also. You need expert advice on what will grow as a decent tree in a half barrel for a long period so first of all, find your expert, (you know where to find us) then buy your tree and contribute to the environment and reap the rewards of a beautiful feature.