Flowers and leaves are not the only aesthetic assets of shrubs; there is also their bark!
The decorative bark of trees and shrubs is an integral part of garden decoration, especially in winter, when flowers and leaves have disappeared.
The beauty of bark is not always visible from afar, but when you get closer, you can discover real treasures, whose appearance changes with the seasons: change of shape, colors, as is the case for birches.
Tree compositions with decorative bark
It is possible to create very beautiful compositions, thanks to the association of various trees with decorative bark.
Example of a composition made for an aesthetic winter effect: a Himalayan birch, with very white bark, behind a grove of dogwoods with colored young shoots ('Flaviramea' with yellow young shoots, 'Midwinter Fire' fluorescent orange red, some red varieties...)
Advice : to keep their aesthetic interest, it is necessary to prune the feet of the dogwoods at the base of the vines, every year or every two years, to have only young shoots (the older branches become dull and are less beautiful).
Selection of trees with decorative bark
Cinnamon maple (Acer griseum): it has a bark that peels off, and whose pieces of bark roll up like cinnamon sticks.
Cork oak (Quercus suber) : unfortunately not much used in gardens, it has a very nice shape and a corky bark, thick, cracked and swollen, with a very interesting visual effect.
The Tibetan cherry (Prunus serrula): one of the most spectacular bark. With its shiny mahogany color and exfoliating flakes, it deserves to be planted alone in the garden.
David's maple (Acer davidii): its snake-like skin (there are varieties with red bark), is vertically striated with a small white bloom.
The Manchurian cherry 'Amber Beauty' (Prunus maackii 'Amber Beauty'): its bark is light orange, reminding a little of amber. It produces beautiful white flowers in spring.
The "good" families
The botanical families that offer the most subjects with decorative bark are those of the prunus and birch. The latter often have very contrasting bark: the old bark bursts, peels off and reveals a new bark of different colors: orange and white, greenish shades ... several colors that appear successively.
