How to maximize a small garden

Choose small trees as accents, such as this 'Sango Kaku' Japanese maple. Other low-growing maples include 'Mikawa Yatsubasa' (3 to 5 feet tall), whose green leaves turn yellow-orange in autumn; 'Butterfly'(to 7 feet tall), with small bluish green leaves edged in white; and 'Ever Red', a 7-foot-tall mound with weeping branches and finely dissected leaves that turn crimson in fall. Filtered shade is best for all.