Memorial options to honour the dearly departed. 

Common beech is a fast-growing species with attractive green wavy-edged leaves that turn a coppery-bronze in autumn. The crisp leaves stay on the plant throughout winter until they are pushed off by the new leaf growth the following spring. It works well as an evergreen hedge or as a specimen tree if you have plenty of space.

Bird Cherry is often found in wet woodland, hedgerows, streams and riverbanks. In the spring it has beautiful cherry blossom flowers that smell like almonds. The flowers turn into reddish-black, bitter cherries that can be used for making liqueur and are a vital source of food for wildlife too. Like wild cherry, the spring flowers provide an early source of nectar and pollen for bees. The cherries are eaten by birds, including the blackbird and song thrush, as well as mammals such as badger, wood mouse, yellow-necked mouse and dormouse.

A medium-sized, round-headed deciduous tree with deep blackish-purple leaves and twigs. It starts in early spring with deep pink buds from which emerge pretty single pink flowers which gently fade to white as its dark foliage appears. The deep blackish-purple leaves remain on the tree until autumn when they turn a brighter red before falling.

Traditionally a fruiting variety, it often produces small juicy dark red plums around 2 to 3cm across. Extremely tough, it is tolerant to a wide range of conditions and soils but will thrive in full sun and in soils that are well drained.

Wild Cherry is possibly the most attractive of our native trees. It has beautiful clouds of blossom in spring (sometimes referred to as cherry blossom) and its bright summer fruits bring a splash of vivid colour. Its warm autumn leaves fade to a deep crimson, giving your garden a warm glow. Wild Cherry makes a wonderful addition to any wildlife garden, the avium in the scientific name refers to birds which eat the cherries as soon as they are ripe.

Crab Apple is a wild ancestor of the cultivated apple and its wood has long been associated with love and marriage. Its sweetly-scented, pink-white blossom appears in spring and its apples ripen in later summer to autumn. You can use crab apples to make jellies and jams. The flowers are a good source of early pollen and nectar for insects, particularly bees. Birds like the fieldfare, song thrush, blackbird and redwing enjoy the fruits. Mammals, like mice, voles and badgers, are also partial to the fruit as well.

This super tree has a glorious display of rose-pink flowers which appear in late spring. The foliage emerges after the flowers and is initially copper-red in colour; over the summer period, it turns to a bronze-green, the only remnants of the red being the bright venation of the leaves. In the autumn time, the elongated red fruits emerge as the foliage turns a clear yellow.

The Crab Apple-Rudolph tree is fairly columnar as a young tree however the crown becomes rounder as it matures. This tree is extremely resistant to pests and disease, one of the reasons it is highly rated.

This pretty little crab apple is a perfect choice to introduce colour and year-round.

Known for its display of golden-yellow crab apples, Malus ‘Golden Hornet’ holds the fabulous fruits well into the winter season. In April-May, white flowers flushed with shades of pink smother the branches, covering the mid-green foliage which turns a warm, bronzed yellow in the autumn. The Malus ‘Golden Hornet’ tree is tolerant of most positions but prefers soil to be moist and well drained. Ideal for culinary use, the globular crabs are also popular with wildlife, particularly bees who take a keen interest in the nectar and pollen supply.

This charming Malus is perhaps one of the most popular due to its fruit. At the end of Spring, this Malus produces beautiful white flowers that envelope the entire canopy. These are tinged with wonderful shades of water-washed pink and subtle lilac from the still opening buds. They are popular for bees, encouraging pollination of other apple trees and plants in the area. The summer foliage is a pleasant glossy green, which mellows into buttery yellow as the summer fades.

A small, upright, deciduous tree, widening with age to 4m tall with ovate to elliptic, toothed dark green leaves. The abundant, single, ivory white flowers are produced in spring, these are followed by small dark red fruit that persist on the tree well into the winter.

Often confused with common beech, you can tell hornbeam apart by its doubly serrated leaf edges (beech has wavy edged leaves with small hairs). The catkins of hornbeam open in spring and develop into papery green winged fruits that hang in tiered clusters through autumn. Later in the year the leaves turn golden yellow and orange. Hornbeam provides structure when grown alone or can be used in hedging. A hornbeam hedge keeps its leaves all year round, providing shelter, roosting, nesting and foraging opportunities for birds and small mammals. Hornbeam is the food plant for many insects as well as finches, tits and small mammals who eat the seeds in autumn.

Paul’s Scarlet’ is a small, rounded deciduous thorny tree with lobed, glossy green leaves turning yellow and bronze in autumn. Produces masses of deep scarlet-pink, double flowers in May and attractive small red haws in the autumn.

English Oaks have been considered sacred by just about every culture that has encountered the tree, but it was held in particular esteem by the Norse and Celts because of its size, longevity, and nutritious acorns. The flower and leaf buds of English oak are the food plants of the caterpillar of purple hairstreak butterflies. In autumn, the soft fallen leaves break down to form a rich leaf mould that supports various invertebrates.

Conference pear trees are popular for their good crop of delicious dessert pears. Ready in late September, the long, slender pears have green russet skin. Its attractive white blossom is popular with pollinating wildlife. Conference is self fertile, so no other pollinator is needed to produce a good crop of fruit.

Rowan has silvery-brown bark and fern-like leaves which turn a lovely burnt red in autumn. In spring you’ll find clusters of creamy-white flowers then followed by orange-red berries in autumn. Legend has it that these trees protect against evil spirits. The leaves are eaten by caterpillars of moths, including the larger Welsh wave and autumn green carpet. Flowers provide pollen and nectar for bees and other pollinating insects, while the berries are a rich source of autumn food for birds, especially blackbird, thrushes, redstart, and redwing.

Small-leaved lime is native to England and Wales. It’s a medium-sized deciduous tree with a spreading crown which creates great shade. Its glossy, dark green, heart-shaped leaves turn yellow in autumn. In summer small fragrant pale yellow flowers emerge. Small-leaved lime has nothing in common with the citrus fruit – the name lime derives from the German word Linde. Lime leaves are eaten by the caterpillars of many moth species. They are very attractive to aphids, providing a source of food for their predators, including hoverflies, ladybirds and many species of bird.

Victoria plum is the most popular of all English plums. It is a medium size oval plum with red mottled skin and freestone yellow flesh with a sharp though sweet flavour. It produces small white blossom in March then heavy crops in most years with the added bonus of being self-fertile. Due to the risk of silver leaf in plums gages damsons and cherries always prune in early spring to midsummer. Never in the winter like apples and pears.