Oakville Crimson Spire — Narrow Screening Trees for WA Gardens

The Oakville Crimson Spire (Prunus cerasifera 'Oakville Crimson Spire') is one of the most useful and visually striking narrow screening trees available in WA — combining a dramatically slim, upright columnar form with beautiful white spring flowers and rich dark purple foliage that provides year-round colour and interest. An Australian-bred cultivar selected specifically for its narrow habit, it's the ideal screening tree for Perth gardens where width is limited but height, privacy, and colour are all needed.

Perth's Narrowest Purple-Leafed Screening Tree

At maturity the Oakville Crimson Spire reaches 6 metres tall but just 2 metres wide — making it one of the narrowest deciduous trees available as a screening tree in WA. Its fastigiate form, with branches growing almost parallel to the main trunk, creates a dense, upright column that delivers effective screening even in the tightest Perth garden spaces, narrow courtyard borders, and confined driveway plantings.

In spring — often before the leaves emerge — it produces profuse clusters of white to pale pink flowers along the bare vertical branches, creating a striking display that attracts bees and pollinators. Then as the flowers fade the distinctive reddish-bronze new growth emerges, maturing through the season to deep purple-green foliage with purple undersides. The very dark, almost black bark adds further year-round interest and character.

A Versatile Screening Tree for WA

The Oakville Crimson Spire is proving increasingly popular as a screening tree in WA gardens — its narrow form makes it ideal for planting in rows along fence lines, driveways, and boundary edges where a conventional broader tree would take up too much space. It also works beautifully as a standalone specimen or avenue planting where its distinctive purple foliage provides dramatic colour contrast against lighter green plants.

Key Features at a Glance

• Mature height: 6 metres

• Mature width: 2 metres

• Aspect: Full sun

• Soil: Well-drained soils; tolerates Perth's sandy and loam soils

• Deciduous: Yes — autumn colour before leaf drop

• Flowers: White to pale pink, early spring before foliage emerges

• Foliage: Reddish-bronze new growth maturing to dark purple-green

• Bark: Very dark, almost black — distinctive year-round feature

• Frost hardy: Yes

• Drought tolerant: Yes once established

• Best suited to: Narrow screening in WA, driveway planting, tight spaces, feature trees, avenue planting

Growing Oakville Crimson Spire in Perth

Plant in full sun in well-drained soil — the more sun it receives the better the foliage colour and flower display. Water regularly while establishing through Perth's dry summers, then reduce once settled in as it becomes moderately drought tolerant.

Its naturally tight columnar form requires very little pruning to maintain an effective screen — just a light prune after flowering if needed to maintain shape. It responds well to light pruning and is generally low maintenance once established in Perth conditions.

Best Suited To

• Narrow screening trees along boundary fences and driveways in WA

• Tight Perth suburban gardens where width is extremely limited

• Colour contrast plantings — dark purple foliage against green plants

• Avenue and formal planting in Perth gardens and commercial landscapes

• Anyone wanting white spring blossom and striking year-round foliage in a narrow form

Order Your Oakville Crimson Spire Online

Perth Trees Direct delivers healthy, established Oakville Crimson Spire trees direct to your door across the Perth metro area. Professional planting and installation can be added using the dropdown above. Contact us at info@perthtreesdirect.com.au if you have any questions about whether the Oakville Crimson Spire is the right screening tree for your WA garden.