Amenity

Over 1,500 species of trees and many, many shrubs grace the squares, parks, roadsides and gardens of Britain. Most can only survive in cultivation here. Yet only about 35 tree species are truly native here together with a small number of shrubs.

Tree species have been brought in from all over the world so that today the temperate climate of the British Isles hosts a huge variety of ornamental trees from all corners of the globe.

Many of the most magnificent trees have been produced in cultivation by accident or design by selecting and breeding on mutants or freaks with a particularly attractive foliage, colour or form or by crossing one wild species with another. Over the decades, plantsmen have produced new and "improved" cultivars which are then bulked up and made available to others.

Whilst the cost and availability of amenity trees has come down with mass production and the proliferation of garden centres, the actual range of plants readily available in nurseries has narrowed in recent years.

Amenity trees provide us with beauty, screening, landscaping, shade and shelter, an air filter and an oxygen producer - and enhance property values.

But life can often be harsh for street trees. Industrial pollution, car fumes, root constriction, trenching damage, liberal doses of road salt, vandalism and dogs are all part and parcel of their daily survival. Street trees do not always get the tender loving care that garden ones do.

Amenity trees also stir strong emotions, particularly when moves are afoot to fell them.

With the development of tree spades, large trees can now be moved from place to place with a high degree of success and can be used to create instant landscapes in high profile sites such as golf courses or leisure areas.

More: Click here for background on tree identification or trees and the law or visit our links page. The RFS also runs arboriculture exams.