Small (native?) tree for urban garden

Mikros

Does anyone have a recommendation for a small, ideally native, tree or trees that could be planted in a housing estate garden without having the neighbors banging down the doors? Part motivation to encourage some birds and wildlife, part to have something to add some interest to the otherwise plain lawn. Open to any suggestions. Garden is sunny most of the day and is long enough that any tree would be nowhere near any building.

Danzy

Elder flower.

Big but not too big, great colour in late spring, lots of berries

Nice leaves, fast enough to grow and easily cut back .

purplesnack

Alder buckthorn is a beautiful tree. Bees love the tiny white flowers and it produces small black berries in autumn

Mikros

Great suggestions thanks. I know I've probably missed the window for planting now but at least I can plan for next year

looksee

Hawthorn, grown as a tree rather than a bush. Easy, very hardy, blossom and fruit, leaf colour in autumn. Varieties available but the common hawthorn is a winner imo.

Its not too late to plant a container grown tree - keep it watered for its first season, though if the weather continues as wet as it has been it will hardly be necessary.

In theory you can plant container grown trees all year round, but I would be wary of planting them between about May and September. Container grown trees that have been in the pots too long are in danger of being pot bound - a mass of roots going tightly round and round the pot. If you do get one like this you can usually release the roots and spread them a bit.

Don't pop any plant, even small flowering plants straight into the ground if the roots are circling the pot. You can be quite ruthless in scraping the outside of the ball of roots with a hand fork or any other implement to break up the shell of fine roots, try and ease away any bigger roots to give them a nudge to escape the pattern they have got into.

MacDanger

Rowan, has nice white flowers in spring and lovely red berries in autumn; doesn't grow too big either

GloriaBog

We love Rowan as well and so do the birdies.

looksee

I have a couple of wild rowans in the garden, around maybe 18 to 20 years old, and they are 30ft high, maybe get a named cultivar for a small tree. Agreed they are a lovely tree.

secman

Paul's Scarlet is a lovely small native tree