Help a novice choose a tree or shrub which can be ornamental?

[FatMrsHoot]

Hello everyone!

I have a south facing garden which is getting absolutely blasted by the sun. This photo is my garden at noon.

I have started a planting border on the right there, as you can see. The plan is to fill it with a mix of climbers for the fence, evergreen shrubs for winter interest/structure and perennial flowers which will hopefully cover all the summer months! I'll be adding a little fence or some kind of edging to separate it from the grass.

I would also like to plant a tree or shrub approximately where the nearest hanging basket is, which would provide a nice shaded area to sit on the deck. We currently use an umbrella but...

I don't know if this is a mad idea, but I was at a party recently, friend of a friend, and they had some kind of tree/shrub which had been trained and trimmed into an umbrella shape. It was fairly small, about 5'5"? Something like that would be interesting, I think!

I don't really know what I'm doing, I tend to go to the garden centre and buy things I like the look of in the sale section so that if the plant doesn't survive it's not a huge hit.

But happy to invest in a statement piece (sorry, I hate myself for saying this too! But hopefully you know what I mean). I just don't know where to start!

Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Do you want a plant to create a canopy overhead? Or to be big enough to screen the sun and provide some shade?

A canopy, I'd like the trunk to be as unobtrusive as possible.

Some front gardens near us have magnolia or acer trees that have grown to form canopies.

There was a gardener I saw on tiktok, I think, who made a wooden frame, similar to a parsol frame, but simpler. He concreted it in a pot and grew climbers over it. I think he had done wisteria and clematis.

I'd be careful about planting a tree close to your house

I love trees, but you need to be very careful with trees in a narrow garden OP. The canopy effect you want might not be easy to maintain and could impinge on neighbours, causing irritation and resulting in a bad pruning for the tree. Plus I have bought miniature trees before and they had to come out because they were anything but. If you select a tree, research it carefully and ensure as well that it won’t damage the foundations of your house. You have trees at the end, so maybe that could be your shade area?

In a narrow garden like that, and in small gardens, the trick is to ‘break it up’ so that the garden has lots of interest to create a ‘journey’. Ours is small and has ‘zones’. Structures like an arch or pagoda with seat under, are great and you can add climbing plants. Here is a very helpful web site https://www.gardenninja.co.uk/how-to-design-a-long-thin-garden-transform-your-corridor-into-a-stunning-journey/?srsltid=AfmBOopuO2lbjsrFlm_V2ce4BNY4bIWox0orjUPm4HXxcv-TPMo29lgi

In general, for shrubs as a beginner gardener, I would choose hebe, maybe ceanothus, Berberis, Escallonia, Ribes, Spirea Japonica. These are flowering and attract bees.

You can buy parasol trained trees. They won't cause the issues of getting too big if they are kept in shape.

They are pricey though.
https://www.paramountplants.co.uk/plant/tpts/parasol-trees.html

I looks like it needs to be opposite the basket to really provide some shade ?

You can buy them too, although the price is insane! But it shows you the concept. And you could diy it. If you used clematis, jasmine or honeysuckle, it would grow faster than wisteria.
https://www.gardenplantsonline.co.uk/product/wisteria-floribunda-black-dragon-umbrella/?attribute_pa_potsizel=45&attribute_pa_color=white&srsltid=AfmBOoq8O8c9wzC8f7znVwtRF84Twuk18fSxUKYOLFv-LA8ULPRFZaFErLI

Sorry for the ugly link.

Garden is 2m away, separated by a deck.

I'd go with a large shrub which can be printed if needed for example Sambucus nigra (Elder). There are some lovely purple leaves cultivars such as 'Black Lace'. You could let it grow tall and prune if took big. You could lift the canopy by removing the lower branches.
Another large shrub or small tree is Amelanchier. There are many cultivars.

Hydrangea Paniculata Limelight Prime.

It thrives in sun and the roots pose no risk to foundations. It can be bought already trained as a standard form (with one clear trunk).
A half standard size is likely to have a clear stem of about 80-100cm plus the canopy on top. As the shrub matures the canopy will grow wider and denser.

Or you could train your own specimen from a small plant (its an easy process, it just takes longer than a ready bought one). Training your own means you could limit the shrub to two or three stems instead of a single trunk, which would enable a larger canopy.

https://gardenerspath.com/plants/ornamentals/tree-form-hydrangea/

Could be a willow? I have one in my front garden that’s transplanted onto a fixed height trunk. Very pretty in spring with catkins and attracts a lot of pollinators.