Native Trees
Posted on 5th February 2025 at 14:03
This is the first of a short series of blogs about trees.
As a landscape architect, I have used native Trees in most of my planting schemes, where they are appropriate. There is no point in suggesting a Beech tree near to a building, for example, although Beech transplants could be part of a native hedge.
Let’s look first at what makes a native tree native to the UK? The Woodland Trust states that “Native UK trees colonised the land when the glaciers melted after the last Ice Age and before the UK was disconnected from mainland Europe”. However, The Woodland Trust’s list of native trees includes some (particularly some of the Elms) which are generally accepted as having been introduced at a later stage.
I was going to include a list of all of the trees native to the British Isles. However, there are a surprising number of them and listing them all will take up all the space of this blog. Instead, I’m going to single out some of my favourites, chosen as a landscape architect, a gardener, a child – you can guess which ones are which!
Silver Birch, (Betula pendula) this is a favourite because of the dappled shade it provides in the summer and the way the wind catches the leaves.
When I lived in France, there was a Blackthorn(Prunus spinosa) hedge at the side of the garden which seemed to suddenly burst into blossom every spring. Since then, I’ve noticed it more in the UK. I’m sure it was always there, but I didn’t notice it.
Elder (Sambucus nigra) is a great allrounder for nature, with its sweet blossom in the spring and purple/black berries in the autumn. I do have two childhood memories associated with Elder – one is the Elderflower Champagne my mum used to make and the second is the story we heard every year about my mum’s mum making elderberry jam without removing all the stalks and how bitter it tasted.
I have memories of English Elm (Ulmus procera) growing at the end of a neighbour’s garden and the devastation caused across the country due to Dutch Elm disease. I was always fascinated by the seeds of Elm, with their circular “wings” and central seed and how they hung together in bunches on the trees before whirling individually to the ground.
Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna) is another native tree, with sweet smelling blossom. We were never allowed to bring the beautiful blossom into the house as it was supposed to bring bad luck. One of the things I appreciate about Hawthorn is the number of species it supports, second only to Oak trees, I believe.
English Oak (Quercus robur) supports a very high number of species and makes a magnificent tree, in the right place. It does need a lot of space to grow to its ultimate height and spread so although they are great for biodiversity, they aren’t planted as often in landscape schemes, except as woodland or hedgerow trees.
Most Scots Pines (Pinus sylvestris) that I see are tall, with straight stems – grown for softwood timber. However, from time to time, I come across pines with beautiful bent branches which remind me of their depiction in Japanese art.
Rowan, also known as Mountain Ash (Sorbus aucuparia) is a great small tree with a lot to offer both visually and for biodiversity. In the spring they have flat heads of fluffy cream coloured flowers, followed by bunches of orange berries which delight many bird species. The berries have a high vitamin C content and have been used to combat scurvy, although we were given Rose Hip syrup for the same reason, as children. I visited some Polish friends of my son on one occasion and was treated to Rowan vodka – highly recommended!
Finally, although they are not renowned for their autumn leaf colour, they do put on a good show.
I’m not a fan of the tree, or shrub, Spindle (Euonymus europaeus) I find them rather straggly, but they have their place. However, I absolutely adore the fruit of the Spindle. They start off as a bright pink, four compartment seed casing which open to allow the bright orange, sticky seeds to fall out, slowly. The tree or shrub is often covered in these fruits which create an amazing sight , followed by fiery orange and red autumn leaf colour!
Whitebeam (Sorbus aria) is a regular sight on development plots as they make good “lollipop” trees, have pale green leaves in the spring, with white undersides, fluffy white flowers, similar to the Rowan in the same genus (Sorbus) followed by orange-red berries which are appreciated by wildlife and then a colourful display of autumn leaf colour.
Last, but not least, we come to Goat Willow (Salix caprea). In my family, we used its other names, Pussy Willow, for its soft catkins in the spring. Every year, in early spring we would go out into the countryside in search of Pussy Willow to be placed in a vase with daffodils.
I hope you enjoyed this whistlestop tour of some of the native trees we are surrounded by.
Do you have a favourite tree?
Let us know and tell us why?
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