Garden Books & Horticulture Est. 2015 An Independent Press

A practical reference for choosing the right tree for any site. Tree selection guidance for gardeners, landscape designers and urban planners.

Cover of The Essential Tree Selection Guide — Arit Anderson & Henrik Sjoman
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Nominee · CBHL

The Essential Tree Selection Guide

for climate resilience, carbon storage, species diversity and other ecosystem benefits
By Arit Anderson & Henrik Sjoman
About the book

There has never been a better time to plant trees. As well as playing a vital role in the health of the natural world and of us humans, these essential life-giving plants also deliver a vast array of hidden benefits such as cooling shade, rainfall interception and carbon capture – but only if we plant the right tree in the right place.

At the heart of the book is a unique A-Z Tree Directory representing more than 550 trees chosen for their ecosystem benefits, resilience and a host of other criteria that will ensure their continuing contribution to our future gardens and landscapes. A further quick-reference Tree Selection Table provides key attributes for each species at a glance.

This exciting new tree selection guide marks a step change in approach that will lead to successful outcomes for trees and a better environment for future generations.

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“I've been waiting for something like The Essential Tree Selection Guide for some time. A great sense of ambition.”

— Gardens Illustrated

“Providing insight into the world of academic research without the inaccessible studies — invaluable for tree planters.”

— RHS The Garden magazine
What this book helps with

Practical answers to specific questions.

  • Choosing the right tree for the right place — for gardens, parks and streets
  • Selecting climate-resilient trees for warming, drying, urbanising sites
  • Finding small trees for tight urban spaces and compact gardens
  • Planting for carbon storage, biodiversity and ecosystem benefits
  • Quick reference: 550+ tree species with key attributes at a glance
  • Specifying trees for tough conditions — paving, compaction, drought, wind
Inside the book

Sample pages.

Press

What reviewers said.

  • It explores trees for climate change, carbon storage and species diversity amongst other benefits to the ecosystem, pushing the idea of ‘right tree, right place’ to realise these benefits. A foreword by Kevin Martin, head of tree collections at Kew, says it offers “a modern-day approach to tree selection, and one that is desperately needed at this important time, as we see how our climate is changing.

    — ProLandscaper

  • This important new tree selection guide marks a step change in approach that will lead to more trees reaching their full potential and a richer environment for future generations. And the book provides vital reference for all – whether for a homeowner making choices within their garden, contractors managing open spaces to landscape architects designing an urban landscape.

    — Landscaper magazine

  • I’ve been waiting for something like The Essential Tree Selection Guide for some time. It has a great sense of ambition… Aside from being invaluable for professionals, this book will be a useful and insightful guide for enthusiasts, amateur gardeners and people with a keen interest in understanding climate, climate change and the functioning of our ecosystems

    — Gardens Illustrated

  • This book is a hugely impressive piece of work. It will be of great assistance to tree specifiers, especially those new and recent to the trade, and those with only basic knowledge of the many tree species that might be appropriate for public planting in parks and streets.

    — HortWeek

  • The Essential Tree Selection Guide, published in collaboration with the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, highlights the latest research on the ability of trees to deliver important ecosystem services, deal with different growing environments and address flooding.

    — Landscape, the journal of the Landscape Institute

  • The Essential Tree Selection Guide is a quantum shift for trees’ portrayal in gardening literature, focusing on their “ecosystem services” – that is, their critical role in ecosystems – rather than their horticultural qualities and seasonal visual appeal.

  • Providing insight into the world of academic articles without having to dive into the vast, often inaccessible pool of studies is this book’s big advantage and I hope it will spread the message about the plethora of benefits trees provide to gardeners.

    — RHS The Garden magazine

  • It marks a significant addition to our knowledge of trees for climate resilience and species diversity and will be a valuable addition to the horticultural bookshelves of both professional and amateur gardeners and designers.

    — The Reckless Gardener podcast

  • Every now and then, a new tree book comes along which immediately grabs your attention. With the ever increasing need for a properly informed approach to tree planting, The Essential Tree Selection Guide does just that.

    — Westonbirt magazine

  • The book draws together into one volume all the elements of the various tree-themed books that we designers usually turn to for identification, research, fact, and design..

    — Garden Design Journal

  • It’s an invaluable resource for those considering adding trees to their property or who simply want to learn more about these ecological treasures.

    — The Garden Club of America

  • … answers just about every arboreal question you could possibly ask.

    — The Oldie

  • essential reading . . . an epic book and worth every penny.

    — The Forestry Journal
About the authors

Arit Anderson.

Arit Anderson

Arit Anderson came late to gardening — she spent twenty-five years in fashion before training at Capel Manor and turning up at Chelsea in 2013 with the RHS Fresh Talent prize. Three years later she took Gold at Hampton Court with a show garden built around climate change and renewable energy. The subject has shaped her work, and her writing, ever since.

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About the authors

Henrik Sjöman.

Henrik Sjöman

Henrik Sjöman is Scientific Curator at the Gothenburg Botanical Garden and a Senior Researcher in landscape architecture at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Alnarp. His research sits at the intersection of urban forestry and plant geography: which trees, drawn from which wild habitats around the world, can deliver the ecosystem services we now ask of city plantings — shade, stormwater management, biodiversity, carbon storage — under a climate that is no longer the one the textbooks were written for.

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Listening

Related audio & video.

Book details

Binding Hardback
Extent 528 pages
Dimensions 244 × 308 × 39 mm
ISBN 9781739903947
The Filbert Press Letter

A letter from the editors.

Seasonal reading, new titles, early extracts, and notes from the gardens and authors behind our books.