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This is a rough guide to the right ornamental tree for your garden

Trees for clay soil
Clay soil is sticky and heavy to work with when wet, it is also as hard as concrete when dry. However you will usually find that clay soil is fairly fertile and if properly managed and drained can provide an excellent home for your tree.

Trees for dry, acid soils
Many trees are well adapted to dry, acid soil which is usually easy to work and has the advantage of being quick to warm up early in the year. The Fertility of acid soils can be improved with the addition of organic matter.

Trees for shallow soil over chalk
Chalk soils are very high lime content such as the South Downs, so can be harmful to many trees, however you must not be defeated, calcium and magnesium limestone in the wild supports a very diverse range of plants. It is best not to try and fight nature, so embrace your soil conditions and go for varieties that are known to tolerate your soil and enjoy your garden.

Trees for damp sites
Trees do generally require well drained soil, however in the situation where this is not possible it is best to pick a variety which can thrive in these conditions, such as the swamp cypress (Taxodium disticham) which can survive wet for many months.

Trees for cold exposed areas
Many of us have become familiar with the wind chill factor, although down here in the South East the effects are becoming less and less however, this effects us as much as it affects the tree. Thankfully a good selection of evergreens and many deciduous trees come to our rescue.

Key
All = All varieties

Plant	Dry, acid Soils	Shallow soil over chalk	Damp sites	Trees for Clay Soil	Cold Exposed Areas
Acers (Maple)	ginnala, negundo and cultivars	campestre, negundo, plantanoides, pseudoplatanus and cutlivars		All	pseudoplatanus and cultivars
Amelanchier (June Berry)			All
Arbutus (Strawberry Tree)
Aesculus (Horse Chesnut)		All		All
Betula (Birch)	All		All	All	Most
Caragana (Pea Tree)		arborescens and cultivars
Carpinus (Hornbeam)		betulus and cultivars		All
Castanea (Sweet Chesnut)	All
Cercis (Judas Tree)	All	siliquastrum
Cornus (Dogwood)		mas and cultivars		All
Corylus (Hazel)				All
Cotinus (Smoke Tree)				All	coggygria and cultivars
Cotoneaster	All	All		All
Cratagus (Thorn)		All	All	All	monogyna and cultivars
Cytisus (Broom)				All
Eucalyptus (Gum Tree)				All
Euonymus	All
Fagus (Beech)		sylvatica and cultivars			All
Forsythia (Golden Bell Bush)		All		All
Fraxinus (Ash)		Excelsior and cultivars		All	excelsior and cultivars
Ginkgo (Maiden Hair Tree)					biloba
Gleditsia (Locust Tree)	All
Hamamelis (witch Hazel)				All
Ilex (Holly)	crenata and cultivars			All
Ilex (aquifolium and cultivars)	All
Laburnham				All	All
Larix (Larch)				All
Magnolia				All
Malus (Crab Apple)				All
Metasequoia (Redwood)			All
Paulownia (Foxglove Tree)
Pinus (pine)	All			All
Platanus				All
Populus (Poplar)	All		All	All	tremula
Prunus (Flowering Cherry)		Japanese cherries		All
Quercus (Oak)			Palustris	All	robur and cultivars
Robinia (Aciacia)	All				All
Salix (willow)	All		All	All
Sambucus (Elder)		All	All
Sorbus (Mountain Ash)		aria, hybrid and all cultivars	aucuparia and cultivars	All	aria, aucuparia and cultivars
Syringa (Lilac		All
Taxodium (Swamp Cypress)			distichum	All
Taxus (Yew)		baccata and cultivars		All	baccata and cultivars
Thuja		plicata		All
Tilia (Lime)				All	cordata and cultivars
Viburnham				All

Please note: This page is available as a PDF download.
With a PDF, you can print or save the file for offline viewing
Click here to go to Catalogue and Downloads