12 Trees with Noninvasive Roots for a Picture Perfect Landscape

Trees give your garden shade, structure, even color with their foliage and flowers, but their roots can be troublesome… You must have seen whole sidewalks lift up and even walls lean to a side pushed by the power of an invasive, large, and strong radical system of a big white oak, and if you have seen a giant fig tree, you know that they can literally crawl like snakes over streets… So, you can guess why varieties with noninvasive roots are quite useful for landscaping…

In fact, especially if you have a small garden, or you want trees near your home, for foundation planting, you need to be very careful about what they do underground, with their roots, not just above your head, with their branches.

If trees with strong and large radical systems are great to hold the soil and moisture, you’d better avoid them in small gardens and near buildings. So, here are some safe trees with noninvasive roots for you.

For small gardens, foundation planting or not to risk ruining a wall, here are 12 really beautiful trees with noninvasive roots. Some are great for exotic gardens, others grow in even very cold countries, but the first on our list is a real classic…

1. Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum)

Japanese maple, with its many varieties, is by far one of the safest trees to grow in small gardens and and near houses and buildings. And one of the most beautiful. Small and compact, its roots don’t extend too far, nor too deep. But above ground it offers you the most decorative crowns ever, spreading on very elegantly shaped branches, and then… Then there is the foliage, with its finely textured palmate leaves… In all colors!

And in fact, it must be one of the most colorful trees ever, with green – yes – but also gold, orange, ruby, crimson and purple! So, if you want dark intensity, you may go for winner of the Award of Garden Merit by the Royal Horticultural Society ‘Bloodgood’ and its purple foliage, or you could opt for variegation with ‘Butterfly’ in cream to sliver white and Persian green, but with pink tips as the season progresses. Most change tonality through the year as well, giving you an ever changing but always beautiful landscape.

One of the mist popular and loved small trees for urban gardens all over the world, Japanese maple will definitely enrich any green space, even small, and in most styles, including oriental, as a specimen, given its beauty, but also near buildings for foundation planting.

• Hardiness: USDA zones 5 to 8.
• Light exposure: full Sun or partial shade, also depending on the variety.
• Flowering season: spring, not showy.
• Size: 6 to 33 feet tall (1.8 to 10 meters) and 6 to 20 feet in spread (1.8 to 6.0 meters), depending on the variety.
• Soil and water requirements: fertile and organically rich, well drained and evenly humid loam, clay, chalk or sand based soil with pH from mildly acidic to neutral.

2. Orchid Tree (Bauhinia variegata)

For an exotic looking garden, a wonderful tree with noninvasive roots is certainly orchid tree. A relative of peas, it will give you so much above ground while taking so little below. The name comes from its amazing flowers, in shades of pink, rose, magenta and white, which literally cover the branches in winter and spring! Each bloom is about 5 inches across (12.5 cm), and with five petals that open like a big butterfly, and arching pistils.

They are followed by long and edible seed pods, about 12 inches from base to tip (30 cm). The foliage is not very dense, leaving a dappled shade effect onto the soil, but really decorative. Each leaf, bright green is about 6 to 8 inches across (15 to 20 cm), with two roughly symmetrical lobes and a deep cut in the middle. The whole spectacle is completed by the arching habit of the round crown, which makes it structurally very valuable.

One of the most exotic looking flowering varieties you can ever grow, orchid tree is perfect for small gardens and foundation planting in tropical or Mediterranean gardens, and it has become a popular choice in public places, like on streets and parks, in hot countries. The only drawback is that it is not cold hardy.

• Hardiness: USDA zones 9 to 11.
• Light exposure: full Sun and partial shade.
• Flowering season: late winter to mid spring.
• Size: 20 to 33 feet tall and in spread (6.0 to 10 meters).
• Soil and water requirements: average fertile, well drained and medium humid to dry loam or sand based soil with pH from mildly acidic to neutral. It is drought tolerant.

3. English Yew (Taxus baccata)

Conifers tend to have a smaller radical system than many deciduous trees, and one has become a great garden favorite: English yew. With varieties that can be shrubs and others small trees, it offers you all year round foliage with its soft and finely textured needle like leaves, in shades of green, but also bluish and golden… You also have a great choice of habits and crown shapes, which is very useful for landscaping.

So, for example, golden Irish yew (Taxus baccata ‘Fastigata Aurea’) is tall and columnar with yellowish reflexes, while Davostan’s yew (Taxus baccata ‘Davostaniana’) forms a large and spreading pyramid of forest green lushness with horizontal branches and pendulous tips. Don’t forget the decorative bright red cones that it will display to you and your guests, small but cup shaped, and very attractive.

As we said, some varieties of English yew are shrubs, while others can also be small trees, but you can play with both when landscaping your garden, and make the best of their different shapes and colors. In all cases, their roots will not tamper with the foundations of your buildings and walls.

• Hardiness: USDA zones 7 to 8.
• Light exposure: full Sun or partial shade.
• Flowering season: N/A, conifer.
• Size: 6 to 15 feet tall (1.8 to 4.5 meters) and 4 to 8 feet in spread (1.2 to 2.4 meters).
• Soil and water requirements: average fertile to rich, well drained and evenly humid loam, clay, chalk or sand based soil with pH from mildly acidic to mildly alkaline.

4. Desert Willow (Chilopsis linearis)

Desert willow is quite popular for many reasons… To start with, its roots do not spread wide, so you can grow it in a small garden. But despite this, it will give you very beautiful flowers, showy and similar to those of catalpa, starting pale pink or rose at the frilly margins of the petals, turning to intense patches of magenta and then drawing you in with some golden yellow splashes at the center.

And the fragrant blooms also attract lots of pollinators and even hummingbirds! And the blossoms will last for months – basically all through the season! Hardier than orchid tree, it could be a good substitute in colder regions…. The deciduous foliage has a very fine and thin texture, giving you a sense of light and an open habit.

This is because the green leaves are thin and elongated, similar to those of oleanders or willows. It will also produce decorative seeds pods, 6 to 10 inches long (15 to 25 cm), which persist on the branches into the winter months!

A tough and easy to grow tree, desert willow will tolerate harsh conditions like drought, but it always gives you a great spectacle all year round and it will not disturb your walls or buildings. It will suit exotic and Mediterranean styles, xeric gardens and even more traditional spaces, including urban yards,

• Hardiness: USDA zones 7 to 11.
• Light exposure: full Sun.
• Flowering season: late spring to early fall.
• Size: 15 to 30 feet tall (4.5 to 9.0 meters) and 10 to 20 feet in spread (3.0 to 6.0 meters).
• Soil and water requirements: average fertile, well drained and medium humid to dry loam, clay or sand based soil with pH from mildly acidic to mildly alkaline. It is drought tolerant.

5. Dwarf Mountain Pine (Pinus mugo)

Dwarf mountain pine is native of mountainous regions of Europe, where it often grows on harsh and shallow soil, and its roots will go deep if they can, but not wide. And there are many small varieties too…. Don’t expect the typical pointed and conical habit though… So many are quite a surprise, in fact!

You can even get spreading and almost crawling shrubs among the Pinus mugo range, but talk mg about some of the best trees… Take a look at the sweet looking ‘Mops’ cultivar, for example, a winner of the Award of Garden Merit by the Royal Horticultural Society… It forms round cushion like crowns that open on very elegant trunks, with sliver bluish needles!

But maybe ‘Gnom’ is more suitable for what you had in mind? It naturally takes that Japanese style branching, with flat clouds of deep green foliage at the tips artistic looking branches! Basically, a natural bonsai shape, though on a larger scale… The small reddish brown cones will decorate the tips and ripen to dark before opening.

One of the most decorative small conifers you can grow in modest gardens or even for foundation planting, dwarf mountain pine gives you all year round structure and shape, and its slow growing rate adds value to its landscaping use.

• Hardiness: USDA zones 3 to 7.
• Light exposure: full Sun.
• Flowering season: N/A, conifers.
• Size: 2 to 8 feet tall and in spread (60 cm to 2.4 meters).
• Soil and water requirements: average fertile, well drained and medium humid to dry loam, clay, chalk or sand based soil with pH from mildly acidic to mildly alkaline. It is drought tolerant.

6. Tree Aloe (Aloidendron barbareae, formerly Aloe barbareae)

Like all succulents, tree aloe has small roots… Native of South Africa and Mozambique, you can guess what it may look like from its name, and, in fact, it even fooled botanists when they first imported it to the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew, London, in 1874 and put it in the genus Aloe, despite its size. Un fact, it can grow quite big, but very, very slowly.

At the base, you will see a large and upright, smooth looking grayish trunk that branches off into sinuous branches that are leafless till the tips. There, you will find beautiful rosettes of evergreen and fleshy leaves, pointed and triangular in shape, just like an Aloe vera and in a bluish green tonality. It is also a flowering plant, and the spikes of dense, bright orange blossoms that appear at the very top, will come in waves, on and off from spring to fall!

A very sculptural variety, tree aloe is a wonderful choice for a Mediterranean or coastal garden, it is excellent for xeriscaping, and the roots are so small that you can even grow it in containers!

• Hardiness: USDA zones 9 to 11.
• Light exposure: full Sun.
• Flowering season: spring to fall.
• Size: 25 to 40 feet tall (7.5 to 12 meters) and 15 to 20 feet in spread (4.5 to 6.0 meters).
• Soil and water requirements: average fertile to poor, well drained and lightly humid to dry loam or sand based soil with pH from mildly acidic to mildly alkaline. It is very drought tolerant.

7. American Hornbeam (Carpinus caroliniana)

For a garden in temperate and even cold climates, American hornbeam offers you a decorative tree with non aggressive and noninvasive roots. Native of Canada and the USA, this species will also color your garden all through the season! In fact, its ovate, serrated and deeply veined leaves emerge in spring with a reddish purple color.

Each is 2 to 5 inches long (5.0 to 12.5 cm) and they turn to bright and then deep and dark green as the days get warmer. But maybe you will get its best spectacle in fall, when the foliage takes on vibrant shades of golden yellow, orange and fiery red! It will fall after this show, being a deciduous variety, but you will be left with the beautiful and elegant, sinuous branches that take on a bluish gray coloring during the winter months. And when the new season starts, lots of catkins will fill it, then followed by lovely winged nutlets that look like butterflies!

American hornbeam is an excellent choice for small gardens and foundation planting in traditional and temperate looking and shady gardens, and one of the most attractive deciduous trees for cold countries.

• Hardiness: USDA zones 3 to 9.
• Light exposure: full Sun, partial shade and full shade.
• Flowering season: spring.
• Size: 20 to 30 feet tall and in spread (6.0 to 9.0 meters).
• Soil and water requirements: fertile and organically rich, well drained and medium humid to wet loam, clay, chalk or sand based soil with pH from mildly acidic to mildly alkaline. It is wet and dry soil as well as heavy clay tolerant.

8. Frangipani (Plumeria spp.)

From a cold hardy but colorful variety to yet another very exotic tree that does not have invasive roots: frangipani! Known all over the world for the fragrance of its blossoms, it also offers you jaw dropping clusters of exotic looking but elegant and sweet flowers, up to 4 inches across (10 cm) and with charming rounded petals.

There are many varieties, mainly in three species, one Plumeria rubra, winner of the Award of Garden Merit by the Royal Horticultural Society, with amazing fuchsia to red and orangish blooms. Or you could pick any of its cultivars in with yellows, tangerine, pink and white! Or you could grow Plumeria alba, snow colored and with a golden center… This floral display will last from spring to fall as well!

But the leathery, glossy and ovate leaves that grow on the succulent branches are no less valuable for landscaping… Their rich and vibrant green is as lush as you would expect in a tropical forest!

Frangipani will never bother the foundations of your home or walls, but it will add a very exotic look, with amazingly bright colors and blooms, as well as decorative foliage and even the scent of heaven itself! Nice to have it near a window…

• Hardiness: USDA zones 10 to 12.
• Light exposure: full Sun.
• Flowering season: mis spring to late fall.
• Size: 15 to 20 feet tall and in spread (4.5 to 6.0 meters).
• Soil and water requirements: fertile and organically rich, well drained and medium humid to dry loam or sand based soil with pH from mildly acidic to mildly alkaline. It is drought tolerant.

9. Italian Poplar (Populus nigra var. italica)

Back to a tree with a noninvasive root system for landscaping in colder regions, Italian poplar is literally famous for having very small roots. But if this is an asset near ditches, where it often grows, and in overall open fields and parks, it’s not suitable for foundation planting. And the problem is not underground… Look at the towering straight trunk, up to 60 feet in the air (20 meters) and you will realize why it can fall down easily.

This spectacular asymmetry, however, also gives you an overwhelming columnar crown, which can add lots of variation in wooded areas… The deciduous foliage is deltoid in shape, serrated and bright green, and it stays close to the trunk with small, frail upright branches.

Before winter comes, the foliage turns beautifully gold to orangish, adding a warm flare to your land. And before it emerges, in early spring, it fills with lovely crimson catkins. Originated in Italy in the 1600s, it has since won the Award of Garden Merit by the Royal Horticultural Society.

Very common on the sides of country lanes, Italian poplar (or lady poplar or Lombardy poplar) is ideal for a great vertical accent in large spaces, even when the soil is not deep, especially where the soil is rich in water, but remember, not near your home.

• Hardiness: USDA zones 3 to 9.
• Light exposure: full Sun.
• Flowering season: mid to late spring.
• Size: 40 to 60 feet tall (12 to 20 meters) and 8 to 12 feet in spread (2.4 to 3.6 meters).
• Soil and water requirements: fertile and humus rich, well drained but consistently humid loam, clay, chalk or sand based soil with pH from mildly acidic to mildly alkaline.

10. Golden Chain Tree (Laburnum anagyroides)

Here us another spectacular tree with non invasive roots – and you can also grow it in temperate gardens: golden chain tree… How to describe it… When it blooms, from late spring to early summer, you may confuse it for an oddly colored wisteria! In fact, it produces a sea of drooping racemes, up to 24 inches long (60 cm) and packed with bright yellow flowers!

What is more, the blossoms are fragrant and pea like, so, the effect is fantastic, and, well suitable to its name! After this awe inspiring floral display, you will see bean like seed pods that will ripen in the fall. All through the season.

However, you will enjoy the glossy green foliage, with many leaves, each divided into three leaflets. Winner of the Award of Garden Merit by the Royal Horticultural Society, however has a drawback. The short radical system does not allow it to live for long, only 25 to 40 years.

Golden chain tree will work wonderfully well forming arches over paths or near your home; you can even prune it into a bright flowering porch! It is suitable to all informal styles, including very traditional designs like English country or cottage gardens, but also urban and suburban. But its adaptability and massive display also make it a good choice for more exotic and oriental landscapes.

• Hardiness: USDA zones 6 to 8.
• Light exposure: full Sun and partial shade.
• Flowering season: late spring and early summer.
• Size: 15 to 30 feet tall and in spread (4.5 to 9.0 meters).
• Soil and water requirements: fertile and organically rich, well drained and medium humid loam, clay, chalk or sand based soil with pH from mildly acidic to mildly alkaline.

11. Lemon Tree (Citrus x limon)

You must have seen beautiful lemon trees in containers; and this will tell you something: their roots are not invasive and suited for small spaces. And if you can shelter them over winter, they will be happy to live outdoors even in fresh climates.

We all recognize them by their juicy and tasty yellow fruits, of course, but fragrant clusters of star shaped flowers, yellow with golden centers and opening from lavender buds are no less of a spectacle. And you may get these lovely blooms all year round, though they are more frequent and intense in winter.

In fact, you can even see blossoms and lemons at the very same time! The glossy and waxy elliptical leaves that fill the crown are bright green, on the emerald shade, and evergreen too. Prune it properly and you will have a fantastic looking little tree! And it is also a winner of the Award of Garden Merit by the Royal Horticultural Society.

Lemon trees have an elegance and a personality of their own; they are a must have in Mediterranean Hispanic and Arabic gardens, but they will be perfectly suitable even as foundation, or near walls, in more conventional styles. And don’t forget that they really love growing in containers…

• Hardiness: USDA zones 9 to 11.
• Light exposure: full Sun and partial shade.
• Flowering season: all year round.
• Size: 6 to 15 feet tall (1.8 to 4.5 meters) and 6 to 12 feet in spread (1.8 to 3.6 meters).
• Soil and water requirements: average fertile, well drained and medium humid humid loam, clay or sand based soil with pH from moderately acidic to neutral. While it is drought tolerant, it prefers abundant watering.

12. Crabapple (Malus spp.)

Crabapples too don’t have invasive roots! If you see them growing through pavements and similar structures, it is because they already had cracks. No, these fresh looking flowering trees will not break through them! A relative of the rose, their flowers are actually similar, with five rounded petals and a golden tuft of nectar rich pistils in the middle.

Opening in spring, there are many varieties you fan choose from. ‘Centurion’ must be one of the darkest, with its vibrant cherry rose blossoms, but there are pink and white ones as well as the oddly lavender colored ‘Indian Summer’. Then again, there are also double cultivars, like the beautiful pastel but bright pink ‘Brandywine’.

All, however, will literally fill the whole crown with their short but spectacular floral displays. Of course, you will also get the fruits that ripen to red, and they are edible too (though they are better cooked). The leaves usually appear as green to copper, mature to darker and darker shades of green, and then they blush to yellowish to reddish shades before falling.

A lovely flowering and fruiting tree to grow by your home or near a wall, crabapple is perfect for traditional looking gardens, where it can bring an explosion of romance like few other varieties can. And with dwarf cultivars, you can have one even in the smallest of gardens!

• Hardiness: USDA zones 4 to 8.
• Light exposure: full Sun.
• Flowering season: spring.
• Size: 5 to 20 feet tall (1.5 to 6.0 meters) and 5 to 15 feet in spread (1.5 to 4.5 meters).
• Soil and water requirements: moderately fertile, well drained and medium humid loam, clay, chalk or sand based soil with pH from mildly acidic to mildly alkaline. It is drought tolerant.

Trees with Small Roots but Big and Beautiful Personalities!

As you can see, you can still grow a beautiful tree near your home or a wall, without worrying about invasive roots. All these varieties have a noninvasive radical system, and, some exotic, some temperate and even cold looking, they all have striking landscaping value and great personalities!