Top 5 Trees With Striking Bark For Adding Year-Round Interest To Your Landscape

Fall and winter are right around the corner, which means it is also the time when most trees begin to lose their leaves. While a majority of trees become dull and disappear into the background of your landscape, we have a few suggestions for trees that will do just the opposite!

The following 5 trees will provide an explosion of interesting textures and pops of color to your landscape all year long. While designing your dream landscape, make sure to include the following:

For a tree with maximum texture and color, plant a Paperbark Maple! This tree has green foliage in the spring that will turn a rustic red in the fall, but that is not the most interesting aspect of this tree. It also has reddish-brown bark that peels all year long! 

It takes about 6-7 years for the bark to start peeling, but once it does, it will continue to do so throughout its lifetime, which can be up to 150 years! Although this tree can live a long life, it does not grow to be very large. They only grow to be up to 30 feet tall and 25 feet wide.

There are loads of options to choose from when it comes to Crape Myrtles! They produce blooms in shades of white, pink, red, and purple, but the color does not stop there. They also have foliage colors ranging from dark green to red and even purple!

While the summertime blooms, spring and fall foliage colors are all intriguing, it is the bark that is the most striking. Crape Myrtles, especially Natchez Crape Myrtles, have interesting patches of gray throughout their light brown bark. On the smaller side, mature trees can be as tall as 25 feet and as wide as 15 feet.

Birch trees are well known for their interesting bark, no matter which variety you choose. On the medium size side, they will typically reach heights up to 50 feet tall. Two of the most famous and differing varieties of Birches include the following:

River birches make great trees for rain gardens due to their moisture tolerance. They stand out amongst all other plants with their grayish-brown peeling bark that is white or reddish-brown underneath. The wintertime is when its bark shines the most once its luscious green leaves turn a golden color and then fall off.

As an added bonus, both the Dura Heat and Heritage River Birches are native to grow zone 7.

If a zebra were a tree, it would be a White Birch. This variety of birches, also known as Paperbark Birches, have white bark with grayish-black streaks growing horizontally up the tree. Its lime-green foliage in the spring provides a plethora of wonderful fall colors before it sheds its leaves in winter.

Similar to other Japanese Maples, this tree falls on the shorter side, reaching mature heights of 20 feet tall and 15 feet wide. However, other than its size, the Coral Bark Japanese Maple highly differs from its family members.

From spring to fall, you can enjoy a show of neon green leaves against coral-colored bark. Once colder weather approaches, its leaves will drop, and its bark becomes an even more vibrant coral color.

As the largest tree on this on this list, the Dawn Redwood is sure to stand out from great distances. This deciduous conifer can stand up to 160 feet tall and about 25 feet wide. It has a pyramidal growth habit with its reddish-brown bark shining below its springtime bright green needles.

After its needles turn rustic red and then fall off in colder temperatures, that is when its bark shines the most. This is when you can see all of the twists and red streaks throughout the bark.

Year-round interest in a landscape is not just for evergreen trees. All of the deciduous trees listed above provide different seasons of interest all year long and are sure to be a striking addition to your home! Stop by Patuxent Nursery today and speak with our plant experts to find the perfect tree for your growing conditions.