Trees are trending - Here are five show garden designers' favourites

Designers at major garden shows are certainly not putting trees in the shade this year - so take inspiration from the experts and style your garden with some of the most popular trees and shrubs to make it a real showstopper.

Here are five of the favourites, which were used in various show gardens at Chelsea Flower Show and are the ones to watch at more shows this summer...

1. Betula (birch)

The silver birch (Betula pendula) is a complete showstopper, with its striking white bark and diamond-shaped leaves which turn butter yellow in autumn.

It featured in five show gardens at Chelsea this year, and could well be a winner with amateur gardeners too as it grows in most soils - but it is sensitive to salt spray so it won't thrive in coastal gardens.

They are the ultimate tree for winter because of their bark in shades of white, salmon, tan and cream. They're also suited to gardens of different sizes as they have a light canopy and often a narrow spread, and look wonderful underplanted with winter-flowering heather or with bronze-leaved carex. If you have a damp area in the garden, go for B. nigra, which has pinkish orange bark and soft green leaves.

2. Mespilus germanica (medlar)

Anyone who is interested in heritage may have a go at growing the medlar, which has been cultivated in our gardens for centuries.

Featured in several gardens at Chelsea this year, it has an unusual umbrella shape with long leaves and produces small white leaves in early summer followed by plum-sized fruits in winter, which look like outsize brown rose hips and need a frost to soften them up.

It grows to 6x8m, likes a damp situation in a sunny spot and there's a bonus in autumn when the leaves turn to beautiful shades of russet and gold.

3. Crataegus (hawthorn)

It may be thorny but the hawthorn is also beautiful and wildlife-friendly, with its nectar-rich flowers and nutritious autumn haws.

Often used as hedging - it's a great burglar-deterrent thanks to its vicious, spiky thorns - it will also thrive in the most inhospitable conditions and provides valuable shelter and food for wildlife.

A cloud of white blossom appears in May and looks good underplanted with cow parsley for a naturalistic look, or studded with vibrant blue camassias. Hawthorn also acts as a perfect backdrop to late season sizzlers such as dahlias, which clash beautifully with its scarlet autumn berries.

4. Acer palmatum (Japanese maple)

These gorgeous trees are so adaptable to our gardens, whether in a pot or in the ground. They have a graceful habit with striking foliage which varies from yellow to burgundy, as well as vivid autumn colour.

Acers are also easy to grow in pots, so if you have a small garden you can make a stand-alone feature of a striking variety such as Acer palmatum var. dissectum, a dome-shaped bush of finely cut mid-green leaves which turn gold in autumn and look fabulous in pots.

Other striking varieties include A. palmatum 'Bloodgood', which is quite vigorous, growing to around 4.5m height and spread, with deep purple leaves that turn blood red in autumn.

Acers are best planted in full sun or dappled shade and if you're planting them in a pot, use a compost consisting of equal parts John Innes No. 2 compost and a soilless multipurpose compost, putting plenty of drainage material in the base of the container. You'll be able to control growth better in a container.

5. Sambucus nigra f. porphyrophylla

If you want an eye-catching contrast in leaf colour, choose what is known as black elder, which has almost black, lacy leaves and goes perfectly in a burgundy border, as well as producing delicate pink flowers in May and June and blackish-red autumn berries.

Growing to around 3x2m, their light structure makes them brilliant companions for roses, perennials and white variegated shrubs. They grow on any soil, although this variety will do best in a sunny spot and need cutting back to ground level in spring to produce the best leaf colour.