How often do you see a huge eucalypt (gum) towering over a house, ready to inflict the worst possible damage during a storm?

One of the prettiest, smaller trees, ideal for a suburban garden is flowering now, Crepe Myrtles.

They are ideal as they are easily controlled by pruning, growing from four to six metres. Lagerstroemia indica (Crepe Myrtle) originates from South East Asia – they are deciduous, preferring warm to hot conditions and good well-drained soil.

Keep an eye out for powdery mildew during summer.

Often the loveliest small trees are deciduous, but don’t let this be a deterrent as they give shade in summer, allowing the sun into the garden during winter.

Golden Rain Tree (Koelreuteria paniculata) also loses its leaves, but trust me it is magnificent.

Its soft fern-like leaves bear clusters of yellow flowers which are followed in autumn by the most amazing pink pods.

If you are searching for a colourful tree that blossoms in spring, Prunus cerasifera ‘Nigra’ is one of the darkest-leafed trees in cultivation.

Growing five to six metres, prunus, in spring are covered in masses of small pink blossoms.

The prunus family is extensive, but ‘Nigra’ is great because it is not particularly fussy about soil type, but it must be well drained.

One of my favourite small trees is Sapium sebiferum or Chinese Tallow-Tree.

This native of China has small, heart-shaped leav-es, which change colour from yellow to claret or purple.

Sapium is one of the few trees, which displays autumn foliage in the sub-tropics.

Now to evergreens, which of course refers to their continual foliage, but

when choosing don’t discount deciduous trees that only drop leaves once a year, whereas evergreens can be quite messy throughout the year under windy conditions.

Don’t be deterred by this first evergreen’s height as under ideal conditions it can grow to 12m but ‘ideal’ means rich soil in a forest canopy.