From Spotlight: Tiny Change, Big Impact: Yard Love

Best Trees to Plant for Curb Appeal

Easy-care trees with looks that stun.

Pink flowers of magnolia-x-soulangeana saucer Japanese magnolia in front of a house grow curb appeal
Image: AnkNet/Getty

Trees are nature's eye candy. Some look good year-round, while others dress up for a season or two. They're not only eye catching, but mature trees, especially, can add value to your home, according to the Arbor Day Foundation. View our roundup of possibilities to see what might glam up your yard.

Crape Myrtle

Bright pink Crepe Myrtles Lagerstroemia in lush green grass with white picket fence grow curb appeal
Lagerstroemia
Image: Robert Clay Reed/Getty

These survivors laugh in the face of drought and deer. They love hot, sunny climes and bloom in summer, when most trees have ended their show. BUT, crape myrtles hate to be topped off; if you give them plenty of room to grow (15 to 25 feet high and 6 to 15 feet wide), you can use a lighter pruning touch.

Zones: 6 through 9

Sugar Maple

bright leaves of gold orange yellow red and green of a Sugar Maple autumn foliage on the branches and across the green grass along a white picket fence
Acer saccarum
Image: Adria Photography/Getty

Not picky about soil and doesn't mind wide ranges of temperature. The hardy sugar maple can be a good replacement tree for an ash or elm tree taken by disease. Bonus: eye-popping fall foliage, and you can tap the sap and make your own syrup. Just don't plant close to roads, because salt from ice melters will harm the tree. They grow 60 to 75 feet high and 40 to 50 feet wide.

Zones: 3 through 8

Smoke Tree

close up of a smoke tree continus coggygria pink blooms green leaves along a fence grow curb appeal
Continus coggygria
Image: bgwalker/Getty

Smaller in size (10 to 15 feet high and 12 feet wide), they do well in groupings, hedges, or windbreaks. They like hot, dry weather and thrive in all types of soils. Tons of texture and color, too, from pink bloom clusters in spring to yellow, orange, and red in fall. Purple, gold, or green in between.

Zones: 5 through 8

Saucer Magnolia

Pink flowers of magnolia-x-soulangeana saucer Japanese magnolia in front of a house grow curb appeal
Magnolia x soulangeana
Image: AnkNet/Getty

Does well in clay soil but would prefer rich, well-draining loams. Its fragrant white-and-purple flowers usually show up in March, putting on a spectacular, if short, show. Grows 20 to 30 feet high and 25 feet wide.

Zones: 4 through 9

Colorado Blue Spruce

Colorado blue spruce tree picea pungens along a residential pathway grow curb appeal
Picea pungens
Image: Herman Vlad/Getty

Blue spruce can thrive anywhere, though give it room to grow (50 to 75 feet high and 10 to 20 feet wide). Birds, who nest in their branches, will love you; deer not so much, because they can't chow down on this regal tree. Gather pine cones for display in fall.

Zones: 2 through 7

Japanese Flowering Cherry (aka Yoshino Cherry)

Japanese flowering cherry Yoshino Prunus × yedoensis tree pink & white blossoms with bee grow curb appeal
Prunus x yedoensis
Image: Queserasera99/Getty

Although Yoshinos want moist and well-draining soil, they'll tolerate less. They have a few enemies — caterpillars, aphids, and spider mites — but the airy, delicate shape and beautiful white-and-pink blossoms are worth the effort to keep pest-free. They grow 40 to 50 feet high and 25 to 40 feet wide.

Zones: 5 through 8

Northern Red Oak

Trunk and branches of northern red oak quercus rubra tree with autumn leaves grow curb appeal
Quercus rubra
Image: anmbph/Getty

Red oaks mature at 150 years old and can live to 350 (65 to 75 feet high and 45 feet wide). They're famous for their generous shade, sturdy branches, and fire-engine red color in fall. Animals love them, too: Red oak acorns feed birds, squirrels, and black bears.

Zones: 3 through 8

Eastern Red Cedar

bright blue berries foliage and seeds of eastern red cedar tree Juniperus virginiana grow curb appeal
Juniperus virginiana
Image: Lyudmila Chetvertnykh/Getty

It thrives just about anywhere with full sun. The Eastern red cedar is also good as a windbreak and screen. Birds love this evergreen. They feed on its berries over winter and nest in its dense foliage. Grows 40 to 50 feet high and 8 to 20 feet wide.

Zones: 2 through 9

Fig

Branches of fig tree Ficus carica with green leaves and fruit against blue sky grow curb appeal
Ficus carica
Image: Olga Gont/Getty

Figs are less fussy (and messy) than apple or citrus trees. Grow near a wall or building to protect them from wind and cold. Prune so every branch is bathed in sun. It'll reward you with fruit after three or four years; optimally, expect two fig crops per year. Grows 10 to 30 feet high and 15 to 30 feet wide. 

Zones: 7 through 11

Housing And Real Estate Expert Lisa Kaplan-Gordon
Lisa Kaplan Gordon

Lisa Kaplan Gordon is an award-winning, Pulitzer Prize-nominated writer who contributes to real estate and home improvement sites. In her spare time (yeah, right!), she gardens, manages three dogs, and plots to get her 21-year-old out of her basement.

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