How often do you find yourself bent double or crouched down in the garden just to see a flower up close? It’s not surprising given a lot of the plants that make a garden lovely live below our knees. Pansies. Daffodils. Zinnias. Gardenias. We all have our favourites, and we can’t hold their short stature against them. But it does hint at an opportunity to enjoy a glorious flowering show without bending over… simply by planting a small flowering tree so you can appreciate their beauty at eye-level…

1. Timing: there are lots of very nice small flowering trees to choose from so to make the job easier, decide when you’d like to enjoy an arboreal flower show. Winter? Spring? Summer? Depending on where you live, late winter is a terrific time to have your spirits boosted by an astonishing show of a Jury Magnolia. Or maybe you crave the cool shade of a white or pink crepe myrtle on a warm summer’s day. Once you’ve worked out when you want your new little tree to perform, you can narrow down the search to the next step.

2. Evergreen or deciduous: Step two involves deciding between these two formats. In other words, do you want your tree to have leaves on it all the time (evergreen), or are you keen to have it bare in winter (deciduous)? Ask yourself, do you need the sun to shine through bare branches to warm a patio or brighten up indoor spaces? Or is it more important to have the foliage year around to screen an ugly view? Again, once you’ve made this decision, the list becomes even tidier.

3. Colour: Now it’s time to think about the rest of the garden because your new tree is joining an established gang. If your existing plantings are mostly green, you can pick anything from the deep purple of a Black Tulip™ magnolia to the brilliant yellow of an Australia wattle. But if you already have a colour theme, check what will be in flower around the time your new trees comes into bloom and pick something that will complete the effect (rather than clash or compete). This sounds complicated but it isn’t – it’s like making sure you invite the right guests to your table for dinner so everyone has a great night.

4. How to: And once you’ve decided on your new small flowering tree, planting it is as simple as watering your new plant in its pot and remembering to water it once it’s in its new hole. To get your tree to establish itself faster, try digging a hole that’s twice as wide as the container your new plant came in, and loosen the soil at the bottom of the hole a little. Two things not to do are: don’t buy a baby tree that’s been in a pot so long that its roots have been forced to grow around and around in a death spiral (before you buy it, tip it out of its pot and take a quick squizz): and don’t plant the new tree too deep (just keep the top of the root ball level with the surrounding soil).