An attractive driveway area makes coming home every night a pleasure... and also ups your house’s curb appeal. Lining a driveway with trees is one of the easiest – and most permanent – ways to make the entrance to your home prettier. The trees that work best along a driveway are those offering several seasons of ornamental value.
When you are ready to install driveway landscaping, you’ll want a short list of the best trees to line a driveway. Here are some of our favorites.
1. Flowering Dogwood
- Botanical name: Cornus florida
- Height and spread: to 25 feet (8m) tall and wide
- Zones: 5-9
- Sun exposure: dappled all-day sun
Are dogwood trees one of the most spectacular flowering trees? I think so. These native trees are fabulous for a tree-lined driveway, offering ornamental value in all four seasons. Their white or pink bract “blooms” appear in spring before the trees leaf out. In summer, the lushly layered foliage appears, followed by red berries in fall. Autumn also brings fiery foliage colors. Then, in winter, the bare trunks show off the distinctive branching structure. Don’t forget the red berries that hang on the tree all winter long. Fast Growing Trees has a stunning pink dogwood tree for sale.
2. Crape Myrtle
- Botanical name: Lagerstroemia indica
- Height and spread: to 30 feet (10m) tall, to 21 feet (7m) wide
- Zones: 6-9
- Sun exposure: full
Staples of southern landscapes, crape myrtles have many wonderful attributes. These deciduous trees are extremely ornamental, with huge summer crops of pink, white, or purple blossoms. Since their roots aren't invasive, you won’t face a cracked driveway.
While crape myrtle is known for the heavy crop of flowers with crinkled petals, you'll find that the trees add beauty to every season. The buds appear in springtime, as well as the new leaves. The summer show is the flowers, and, in fall, the leaves turn fiery colors. After they fall, you can admire the tree’s elegant mottled, peeling bark. Nature Hills has a gorgeous Tuscarora crape myrtle tree.
3. Italian Cypress
- Botanical name: Cupressus sempervirens
- Height and spread: to 70 feet (23m) tall and 20 feet (3m) wide
- Zones: 7-10
- Sun exposure: at least 4 hours of direct sun per day
If you like the look of columns in front of villas, you’ll love using Italian cypress to line a driveway. These tall, elegant, columnar evergreens look classy, even iconic, planted side by side along a driveway. The longer the driveway, the greater the charm. While their beauty doesn’t change from one season to another, Italian cypress show off their dark, gray-green needles all year long. Even with their tall, thin shape, they provide a little driveway shade. You can order your own Italian Cypress from Garden Goods Direct.
4. Japanese Maple
- Botanical name: Acer palmatum
- Height and spread: to 25 feet (8m) tall and wide
- Zones: 4-9
- Sun exposure: dappled sun
Japanese maples are ideal little trees and, with their multi-season interest, they make excellent driveway trees. Their roots are shallow and non-invasive, which means you won’t have any risk of pavement being pushed up. They are elegant trees with exceptional fall color, and they come in several forms, including upright and weeping. The Bloodgood variety from Fast Growing Trees is especially impressive.
Japanese maples are delicate trees that offer year-round beauty. The show starts with spring’s new flush of leaves – that can be red, pink or green. More leaves create a lush canopy in summer, then blaze in red, orange, and yellow in autumn. Look for a variety that offers an appealing architectural branch structure and colorful bark in winter.
5. Emerald Green Arborvitae
- Botanical name: Thuja occidentalis
- Height and spread: to 12 feet (4m) tall and 10 feet (2.5m) wide
- Zones: 2-7
- Sun exposure: partial or full sun
This is an evergreen tree species that offers trees of a consistent shape and color. That makes them great for lining a driveway, since their uniformity unites them. Emerald Green arborvitae are tough, easy-care, fast-growing trees that keep the same, beautiful look all year long. The flat sprays of shiny needles are a brilliant green, and they are accented with cones that turn mahogany color in the fall. Their lush growth creates ample driveway shade. You can get your own today from Garden Goods Direct!
6. "Winter King" Hawthorn
- Botanical name: Crataegus viridis 'Winter King'
- Height and spread: to 35 feet (11m) tall and wide
- Zones: 4-7
- Sun exposure: full sun
‘Winter King’ is a great tree choice for lining a driveway. This hawthorn cultivar offers clusters of white flowers in spring, with shiny, pointy leaves that turn brilliant yellow in the autumn. Fruit appears in early fall, an abundant crop of showy red berries that hang on the tree through to late winter. Winter beauty also includes exfoliating silver bark and a unique, crisscrossing branching habit. Add to that its drought tolerance, and low-maintenance ways, and you’ll see why ‘Winter King’ is up there on the recommended list.
It's currently sold out at Nature Hills, but it'll hopefully be back soon.
A tree-lined driveway can enhance the value and beauty of your home. The trees not only soften the harsh lines of a driveway, but they also help your environment. They improve air quality, assist native wildlife, and keep the driveway area cooler. Most important, trees lining the drive will offer natural beauty throughout the year.
