Plant now for spring blossom

摘要

If stunning spring blossom's what you're after, now's the time to get planting cherry trees and crab apples, Geoff Stebbings compares these stars of the small garden. Ask any gardener to name a flowering tree and chances are that flowering cherries (prunus) will be their first answer. No trees pack a floral punch quite like Japanese cherries. Magnolias may have larger flowers but a healthy 'Kanzan', its branches groaning under the weight of the double, sugar-pink blossom, is a more memorable sight.Crab apples (malus) come a close second for their floral display and there's usually the bonus of attractive fruit in autumn. So which is the best for your garden? Both are generally small and will fit all but the smallest garden. Most reach about 4m (13ft) high, with a similar spread after 10 years.