Chances are that you spend quite a bit of time enjoying your garden during the summer months, but there’s no denying that time outdoors can feel uncomfortably hot on scorching days, unless you have enough shade. Don’t worry, shade trees don’t need to be boring – here are four stunning architectural trees with canopies that are not only exquisitely unique to look at, but also provide plenty of summertime shade.
Imagine how much shade a tree with a dense, umbrella-like canopy could provide. Well, that’s exactly what you will get with the dramatic Dragon Tree.
This sub-tropical tree has a spread of about four metres once mature, creating a beautiful sphere of shade beneath. The narrow, sword-shaped leaves up above help to cool things down even more as they rustle and sway with the breeze.
The Dragon Tree is easy to grow and adapts well to being grown in a pot. This makes it a fantastic shade tree for both larger gardens and smaller patios.
Avocados have been in the limelight lately, with this superfood packed with so many key nutrients. Planting an avocado tree in your garden not only gives you access to this fruit at its very freshest, but it will also give you a unique shade tree.
Avocado trees have quite a dense canopy, but the foliage does still let filtered light through, casting beautiful shadows underneath on sunny days.
Naturally vigorous, avocado trees can end up quite tall, so you will need to take control when it comes to pruning, especially if you want to keep the tree at a height that’s easy to harvest.
A medium-sized tree that grows well both in containers and in the ground, the glossy foliage of the Tahitian Lime Tree is evergreen, providing a rich, tropical quality to a garden throughout the year.
In the summer months, those dark green leaves provide much-needed pockets of shade, but then also act as a windbreak during the winter. This makes the Tahitian Lime Tree perfect for planting around seating areas.
As an added bonus, the Tahitian Lime Tree produces its fragrant flowers and deliciously tangy fruits throughout the year, adding such a picturesque quality to any outdoor space.
The Queensland Bottle Tree is loved for its elegant, architectural qualities, with its smooth, bottle-shaped trunk able to make an impactful presence in a garden throughout the year.
The tree’s foliage sits atop the bulbous trunk and spreads with age, meaning that a more mature specimen would be needed for instant summer shade.
Once established, the Queensland Bottle Tree is drought-tolerant, making it easy to care for during a hot summer. It can also withstand strong winds, so can be planted in an exposed location as a single specimen to provide an eye-catching source of shade.
In addition to being able to provide shade during the summer, these four versatile trees have so much else to offer too. Whether this may be delicious, nutrient-dense fruits, or dramatic features that make a statement throughout the year, give your garden a new focal point with an architectural shade tree.