With their upward-reaching branches, tall skinny trees create a striking appearance that demands attention without crowding the space. Plant these trees to bring a sense of elegance, vertical interest, height, and a sophisticated look to the outdoors.
Due to their slender, upward-reaching form, tall, skinny trees are perfect for different areas, from small yards, entryways, near fences, and patios to framing the corners of your home.
These trees also block your home from nosy neighbors or unsightly views. Let’s explore the 15 best tall skinny trees that are sure to dazzle your landscapes.
The Best Tall Skinny Trees For Landscaping
1. Italian Cypress
First on our list is an evergreen tree that is truly a sight to behold. The Italian Cypress is popular in many landscapes, especially the Mediterranean-style gardens. This gorgeous tree stands out for its slender, pencil-like appearance.
If left unbothered, Italian Cypress can grow up to 70 feet tall, but you can prune it to keep it shorter. In contrast, this beautiful tree is among the slimmest (3-5 feet wide).
Italian Cypress makes an excellent alternative to traditional fencing. Plant them in rows closely together along your fence line.
Hardiness zones: 7-10
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2. Lombardy Poplar
For quick coverage, grow Lombardy Poplar, as it can grow up to 6 feet per year and stands 40 to 70 feet tall when mature while staying narrow (10 to 15 feet wide). This towering plant is a popular border plant that effectively blocks views, noise, and wind.
Plant Lombardy Poplar along your property line for a thick barrier featuring dense branches and thick, bright green, heart-shaped leaves. Its foliage turns golden-yellow in fall before losing it in winter. The lowest 3 feet of Lombardy Poplar’s trunk remains naked.
Hardiness zones: 3-9
3. Skyrocket Juniper
You hardly have to prune this tree to retain its shape, but you can remove crowded, damaged, and dead branches in early spring or late winter. The Skyrocket Juniper forms a stunning privacy screen comprising scale-like, blue-green leaves.
Grow Skyrocket Junipers alongside plants with other foliage colors for a harmonious, beautiful blend. When mature, this tree tolerates drought quite well; hence, it is perfect for xeriscaping and rock gardens.
Regarding size, mature Skyrocket Junipers are 2-3 feet wide and up to 30 feet tall.
Hardiness zones: 3-9
4. Sky Tower Ginkgo
The Sky Tower, a lovely, distinct Ginkgo tree cultivar, would make a stunning addition to your landscape, especially in fall when it turns brilliant golden-yellow. This tree isn’t just captivating, it grows tall and narrow, reaching 20 feet high and 6-8 feet wide.
Sky Tower Ginkgos will grow in any well-drained soil and even tolerate urban soil conditions. In addition, this tree can handle some shade but prefers full sun. However, the Sky Tower Ginkgos isn’t ideal if you want a fast-growing plant.
Hardiness zones: 5-8
5. Taylor Juniper
Growing at an astounding rate of 3 to 5 feet yearly, the Taylor Juniper reaches its mature height of around 20 feet tall and 4 feet wide in no time. It closely resembles the Italian Cypress but is shorter and flourishes in frigid winters.
Taylor Juniper makes for a wonderful tall, skinny tree to use as a border plant for your pathways, driveways, and property line. It retains its bushy appearance throughout the year. This tree’s foliage features blue-green, scale-like leaves.
Hardiness zones: 4-9
6. Slender Silhouette Sweetgum
This remarkable tree has a vertical, tight, symmetrical form. It is only 4 feet broad but can reach 50 feet high. Despite the slim profile, this tree looks full because of its dense star-shaped foliage. The leaves are green during summer and spring and brilliant plum, crimson, copper, or gold in fall.
Small, white flowers appear in spring, scattered among the leaves, which then grow into tiny, spiky seed pods that can persist through winter. Unfortunately, the pods create a mess when they drop.
Hardiness zones: 5-9
7. Armstrong Gold Maple
In summer and spring, Armstrong Gold Maple’s foliage provides a green, lush canopy, but what makes this tree a popular ornamental plant is its fall color. The leaves are hard to miss during fall as they turn into electric gold to orange-red hues.
Armstrong Gold Maple maintains a width of around 12 feet but grows tall, reaching about 40 feet. Although it has fewer leaves compared to wide-growing maples, the Armstrong Gold is still a worthy choice for a privacy screen.
It tolerates wet conditions well but dislikes drought.
Hardiness zones: 4-8
8. Parkland Pillar Birch
Bring the birch trees’ classic look, like the captivating foliage colors and white bark, in a narrow, tall, space-saving form into your landscapes with the Parkland Pillar Birch. This tree stands tall and elegant in any area you plant it, soaring to 40 feet high and 7 feet wide, forming a narrow, dense screen.
Parkland Pillar Birch can turn the dullest landscape into a warm, radiant space as the green leaves turn golden-yellow. This tree also has the Birch characteristic papery white bark that peels to reveal creamy tan layers.
Hardiness zones: 3-7
9. Kindred Spirit Oak Tree
This hybrid tree combines the features of its parents—the Swamp White Oak and English Oak. It handles drought quite well, like the English Oak, and it tolerates poorly drained and moist soils impressively, like the Swamp White Oak.
Kindred Spirit Oak Tree shines where more traditional oak trees are too wide to fit. Its mature height is about 30-40 feet tall with a 6-8 feet spread. Unlike many oaks, this tree retains its leaves long into fall, offering prolonged beauty.
Hardiness zones: 4-9
10. Beacon Swamp White Oak
Are you looking for a tall, skinny tree that can grow in soggy conditions? Beacon Swamp White Oak is a good choice. It thrives in moist, poorly draining soil, making it suitable for areas with heavy clay soils and those prone to flooding.
Beacon Swamp White Oak grows well in dry conditions, withstanding hot summers. This tree can handle partial shade, but the best location for optimal growth gets 6 hours of sunlight or more daily. It also tolerates urban conditions, including pollution.
Hardiness zones: 4-8
11. Japanese Flagpole Cherry
From a distance, the Japanese Flagpole Cherry looks nearly ethereal and cloud-like in spring when it blossoms. This flowering tree produces soft-pink blossoms that appear in semi-double petals and densely cover the branches.
Japanese Flagpole Cherry’s dazzling flower display is admirable and inviting to pollinators and passersby. The foliage also adds to this tree’s visual interest. The rich bronze-green leaves gradually transition into a dark green color as summer progresses and then orange and red in fall.
Expect it to grow to 20-25 feet high and 4-8 feet wide.
Hardiness zones: 5-8
12. Blue Weeping Alaskan Cedar
This tree stands out for its weeping branches that give it a flowing, soft appearance. In addition to its striking form, the blue-green, scale-like leaves enhance the Blue Weeping Alaskan Cedar’s overall aesthetics.
Blue Weeping Alaskan Cedar grows tall (approximately 20-30 feet) but retains its narrow profile, making it suitable for tight corners. This tree tolerates cold conditions incredibly, handling both ice and snow. Moreover, it handles shade remarkably.
Hardiness zones: 3-7
13. DannaSpire Columnar Elm Tree
This Chinese Elm is incredibly resilient and adaptable, making it perfect for various landscapes, including dry areas and compacted soils. However, for optimal growth, plant it in full sun. DannaSpire Columnar Elm Tree is resistant to Dutch elm disease, which commonly affects elm tree species.
Aesthetically, the DannaSpire Columnar Elm Tree has beautiful features. Its leaves are small, glossy green, form a dense canopy, and turn yellow to golden brown in fall.
Moreover, it has smooth, gray-brown bark that gradually gets ridged. As for size, this tree grows to 20- 25 feet tall with a width of 3-5 feet.
Hardiness zones: 5-9
14. Swedish Aspen
Whether you live in an urban or rural setting, you won’t go wrong by adding the Swedish Aspen into your landscapes. This tree grows tall, narrow, upright branches with bright green, heart-shaped leaves that shimmer in the breeze and turn gold-yellow in fall.
Swedish Aspen produces small, inconspicuous flower clusters in early spring. You can grow this tree in cold areas since it is remarkably cold hardy. It provides a living privacy screen, creates windbreaks, and gives landscapes vertical interest.
A mature Swedish Aspen is 40-50 feet tall and 6-8 feet wide.
Hardiness zones: 2-8
15. Leyland Cypress
Closely related to the Italian Cypress but with a bigger circumference, the Leyland Cypress has dense branches and fan-like, evergreen foliage. It grows extremely fast, increasing 3-4 feet in size yearly and maturing at 60-70 feet tall and utmost 25 feet wide.
Leyland Cypress thrives in various climates, including warm weather, tolerates partial shade, grows in poor soils, and handles drought. Prune your Leyland cypress regularly, especially if you grow it as a hedge, but don’t cut into the old wood because that can prevent regrowth.
Hardiness zones: 6-10
Summary
Tall, skinny trees shine where space is limited as their growth is more concentrated on soaring high. However, this shouldn’t mean you should only stick to planting them in tight spaces and small gardens. These trees look effortlessly elegant and eye-catching anywhere they grow.
Hey there, I’m Derek Schew, a writer for Lawnholic.com, where we cover everything and anything related to lawns. As someone who’s spent countless hours tending to my own lawn, I’m passionate about sharing my knowledge and helping others achieve the perfect yard. From lawn care tips to product reviews, I’m committed to providing our readers with the most accurate and up-to-date information available. So whether you’re a seasoned lawn enthusiast or just getting started, I invite you to join our community and discover the joys of a lush, green lawn.