The change in seasons is one of the benefits of living in the Tooele Valley. People often say they like living where there is change. They may enjoy winter for skiing or other cold-weather activities. Spring may mean the new beginning with bright flowers and warming temperatures. Summer is open for a huge range of activities and summer gardens are a steady source of beauty. Fall offers its own benefits. The cacophony of color that decks out the trees and shrubs this time of year are wonderful benefits. Those colors come without weeding or any other special fall care.

The mountains around our valley were colored this summer with patches of green. Now they are burnished with shades of orange, red and yellow. Trees in the valley are gradually taking on their fall hues as well.

If you love the colors of fall, plan now and plant now to create the colorful scene of your choice for upcoming years. Take a drive and look around at the various plants and see the color show they offer. Trees and shrubs are still available at nurseries and fall is an excellent time to plant them.

Choose woody plants carefully. They are long-term plantings. Put them in and care for them correctly and you won’t have to do it again soon. Instead, the colorful trees and shrubs will simply provide bigger splashes of color each year as they grow. Woody plants have great potential. Some choices give bright, colorful flowers in the spring, shade and a rich green, red, purple, or yellow-green backdrop for summer, and brilliant autumn colors. Varied bark textures or evergreen leaves add some interest to the winter landscape.

Maples provide wonderful fall color. Norway, hedge, and box elder maples show bright yellow autumn colors. Native maples like big tooth and Rocky Mountain maples will grow better in our local landscape than most other kinds. Big tooth shows a bounty of large leaves with yellow, orange and red hues. Rocky Mountain maples have smaller leaves that turn bright orange or red. Red maples develop the spectacular autumn color that their name suggests.

Oak is another hardwood tree that provides color for the fall symphony. Most of us do not plant the most dazzling varieties, but many would grow very well. Since they are slow-growing, they may well still be providing a color show for our grandchildren. Scarlet and red oak have spectacular fall color and turn orange or bright scarlet. White oaks become a purplish red, while burr oak changes to yellow. Swamp white oak shows a light yellow to red hue. The native gambel oak generally turns shades of yellow to brown and is not very bright.

Looking for red fall color? Try the American hawthorn since the European species turn assorted shades of yellow. You might get added color delights from hawthorn fruits.

Most birches become golden yellow in the fall. That yellow shade could be a little bland, but often bark color and form add other dimensions to the show. Other trees bedecked with yellow include the hornbeams, catalpas, hackberries and redbuds. Elms, locust, lindens and zelkovas all produce a beautiful yellow fall color. Cottonwoods, poplars and aspens all turn yellow too, although select aspen varieties turn lovely shades of orange and red.

Honey locusts are also a tawny yellow, but the leaves drop quickly. Gingko trees, a delightful specimen with few pest and disease problems, also paint themselves autumn gold. Autumn Gold is a selection with outstanding fall color.

Ash trees have become very popular shade trees in recent years. They too add to the fall color show. Many white ash develop beautiful purple to wine-red autumn attire. Green ash is less highly colored, but still creates a beautiful golden blush.

Liquid amber or sweetgum trees turn brilliant shades of reds, oranges and yellows. Although these trees are not widely planted, they could be and make nice accents for fall plantings.

Crabapples provide a year-long color show. Spring calls out a thick coat of bright blossoms and they are decked out with lovely green leaves during the summer. In the fall, the leaves may not be very attention-getting with some yellows and reddish tones, but many have bright red fruits that stay on the tree during the fall and winter until the birds eat them off.

Flowering plum, cherry, nectarine and peach fall color ranges from yellow to rusty yellow. In contrast, flowering pears often show forth blazing red to maroon autumn foliage, but not all are equally lovely. Choose your cultivar with an eye to fall color potential and its ability not to break in wind and under snow. Sumacs are small trees that decorate the landscape with brilliant orange to red autumn hues.

Do not overlook shrubs to brighten up landscapes closer to the ground. Burning bush gives a brilliant red burst of color and is a widely planted shrub for that reason. Barberries, cotoneasters, pyracantha, and mahonias produce bright berries in the autumn. Many cotoneaster leaves also turn red-orange. Many viburnums show beautiful reds, oranges and yellows. Serviceberry turns red and purple and spirea turns to shades of orange, red and yellow.

Look around, see what the trees and shrubs in the valley are doing and make an educated choice for your landscape.