Common
name |
Scientific
name |
Soil
preference |
Height at
maturity
(feet) |
Propagation |
Associated
wildlife |
Productive
use |
| Alder |
Alnus glutinosa |
Damp, acid to
calcareous |
60 |
Seed |
Rich insect/bird
association |
Turnery |
| Birch |
Betula pubescens and Betula pendula |
Dry acid sites |
60 |
Seed |
Woodpecker,
chaffinch, redpoll favour seed |
Turnery |
| Dogwood |
cornus sanguinea |
Calcarous-neutral
clays and loams |
10 |
Seed |
Birds |
Skewers; winter
colour |
| Hazel |
Corylus avellana |
Neutral-slightly
acid loams; clay |
20 |
Suckers freely from
base of stool |
Mammals; birds for
nuts; insects |
Important coppice
tree for peasticks, thatching, hedging spars, cratewood, fascines,
faggots |
| Hawthorn |
Crataegus monogyna |
Calcareous-neutral
loams; clay |
20 |
Seed via birds |
Mammals; birds for
berries; many insects; wood mouse eats fruit |
Hedging |
| Spindle |
Euonymus europaeus |
calcareous -
neutral loams |
10 |
Seed |
Alternative host
for bean aphid |
Decorative
fruit |
| Alder buckthorn |
Frangula alnus |
Fenland soil; damp
peats; acid sands |
8 |
Suckers; seed |
Brimstone
butterfly birds on fruit |
Charcoal for
fuses |
| Ash |
Fraxinus excelsior |
Dry calcareous and
wet heavy loams |
70-90 |
seed |
Ash keys for small
mammals and birds |
Sports goods,
vehicle bodies, furniture, hurdles |
| Holly |
Ilex aquifolium |
Well-drained,
neutral-acid soils |
50 |
seed or cuttings |
Fruits for birds,
nesting cover, deer browse |
Turnery,
inlays |
| Privet |
Ligustrum vulgare |
calcareous loams
and clays |
5 |
Suckers; seed |
Birds for fruit;
some insects |
Game cover, but
can spread to form tangled thickets |
| Honeysuckle |
Lonicera periclymenum |
All soils |
- |
seed; rooted
layers |
Bees in flowers;
birds on insects and fruit |
|
| Gean or wild cherry |
Prunus ayium |
Calcareous loams
neutral-acid |
50-70 |
seed |
Fruits for
birds |
Furniture,
turnert, inlays |
| Blackthorn |
Prunus spinosa |
Calcareous-neutral
clay and loams |
8 |
suckers from
thickets |
Butterflies; good
nesting thicket for nightingales in south |
Sticks and
cudgels; sloe gin |
| Pendunculate and sessile oak |
Quercus robur and Quercus petracea |
Loams, clays and
neutral-acid |
80 |
seed |
Prime tree;
insects, birds, mammals, lichens |
Veneers,
furniture, rails, posts, bark for tanning |
| Dog rose |
Rosa canina |
Calcarous-neutral
clays and loams |
3 |
ramps by layers |
Birds on fruit;
insects on flowers |
Root stocks for
rose budding |
| Blackberry |
Rubus fruitcosa |
Calcarous-neutral
clays and loams |
3 |
ramps by layers |
Basic browse for
deer; birds feed and nest; insects |
Fruit |
| Eared willow |
Salix aurita |
Neutral loams |
40 |
seed; cuttings |
Liked by deer for
fraying; insects on catkins and leaves |
Shelter |
| Goat willow |
Salix caprea |
Neutral loams |
40 |
seed; cuttings |
Liked by deer for
fraying; insects on catkins and leaves |
Shelter |
| Common sallow |
Salix cinerea ssp. Oleifolia |
Neutral loams |
40 |
seed; cuttings |
Liked by deer for
fraying; insects on catkins and leaves |
Shelter |
| Elder |
Sambucus nigra |
Calcarous-neutral
clays and loams |
20 |
seed |
Birds on fruit;
insects on flowers |
Berries for wine,
cordials |
| Broom |
sarathamnus scoparius |
Neutral-acid
sands |
6 |
seed |
Insects including
butterflies |
Bedding, fixing
soil; handsome flowers |
| Rowan |
Sorbus aucuparia |
Light soils |
30-50 |
seed |
Fair insect fauna,
fruit for birds |
Turnery - fair |
| Gorse |
Ulex europaeus |
Neutral loams;
sands |
8 |
seed |
Insects ; nesting
for linnets |
Fodder |
| Western gorse |
Ulex gallii |
Acid loams;
clays |
1 |
seed |
Insects |
Fodder |
English elm/
wych elm |
Ulmus Procera/glabra |
Strong heavy
loams |
120 |
Suckers (English),
seed (wych) |
Insects - white
hairstreak, comma and large tortoiseshell butterflies; nest sites |
Planking, baulks,
furniture |
| Guelder rose |
Viburnum opulus |
Neutral-calcareous
damp clays and loams |
3 |
See via birds |
Birds; wood mouse
on fruit; insects on flowers |
|
