Ornamental Garden Trees for Sale in Large, Standard Sizes

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Alder, Common - Standard Alnus glutinosa (Standard) From £79.98

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Alder, Golden - Standard Alnus incana Aurea (Standard) From £89.99

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Alder, Grey - Standard Alnus incana (Standard) From £79.98

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Alder, Italian - Standard Alnus cordata (Standard) From £79.98

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Alder, Red - Standard Alnus rubra (Standard) From £89.99

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Amelanchier, Robin Hill - Standard Amelanchier grandiflora / arborea Robin Hill From £124.98

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Amelanchier, Snowy Mespilus - Standard Amelanchier canadensis (Standard) From £124.98

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Beech, Copper / Purple - Standard Fagus sylvatica Purpurea (Standard) From £89.99

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Beech, Green - Standard Fagus sylvatica (Standard) From £79.98

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Birch, Himalayan - Standard Betula utilis jacquemontii (Standard) From £44.98

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Birch, Paper-Bark - Standard Betula papyrifera (Standard) From £79.98

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Birch, Silver - Standard Betula pendula (Standard) From £39.96

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Birch, Snow Queen Betula u. jacquemontii Snow Queen (Standard) From £89.99

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Birch, Trinity College Betula utilis jacquemontii Trinity College From £86.99

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Cherry Plum, Purple - Standard Prunus cerasifera Nigra (Standard) From £49.98

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Cherry, Accolade - Standard Prunus Accolade (Standard) From £49.98

Trees in standard sizes, meaning a well branched young tree with at least 1.8 metres of clear stem, are one of our oldest specialities!

What is so good about bareroot trees?

The majority of trees in the UK are planted bareroot, but for many new gardeners, the idea of buying a plant with no soil around its roots feels wrong: how can they survive transit without a pot?

The secret is that they are sleeping (dormant) in winter, and during their brief time out of the field we store them in chilled, humid conditions that keep them nice and moist.
Then we wrap them up well and send them to you by next day delivery.

The range below includes ornamental and flowering trees for small gardens, parkland or woodland.
Browse our fruit trees instead, or have a look at our sapling trees in the hedging section.

To add interest to a new row of trees, you cannot beat a range of garden bulbs.

All our mail order bareroot trees come with our Guarantee, so you can give them a whirl with complete confidence.
Best advice & friendly support throughout.

Grown

Grown and lifted by our specialist plant growers

Picked

Picked by our team of experts from our Somerset nursery.

Packed

We’ve been packing and sending quality plants since 1949

Delivered

Packaged by our experts and sent out by next day delivery.

Learn more

FAQs

What is a Standard Size Tree?

A full standard tree (usually just called a standard, with an unfortunate abbreviation: std) has a clear stem at least 1.8 tall before it branches.

However, unlike their younger versions listed in the Hedging & Saplings section, full standard trees are graded not by their height, but by their girth in centimetres at 1 metre above ground level.
Therefore, a 6/8cm girth standard size tree is taller than the same tree sold as, say, a 90/120cm tall sapling.

A half-standard tree (which is a popular option for fruit trees) has a clear stem 1.2m – 1.5m tall before it branches.

A quarter-standard tree has a clear stem under 1.2m tall before it branches.

A "feathered" tree (abbreviation: fth) has branches all the way down close to ground level, and is typically measured by its height.

Trees of the same grade will be roughly in proportion when planted.

Which size of standard tree should I buy?

We mostly deliver two sizes of standard:

• 6/8cm Girth = Light standards: cheaper & easier to care for, tend to establish even better.
• 8/10cm Girth = Regular standards: instant impact, good aftercare (watering) is even more important.

We generally recommend the 6/8cm girth light standards, especially for larger planting projects.

It is always vital to water new trees during their first summer, but smaller trees are better at coping with "low" maintenance.

If you need instant impact, or if you are only planting a few trees in a location where they will be well looked after, then go for the 8/10cm girth regular standards.

What is the difference between Bareroot and Pot Grown Trees?

Bareroot plants are by far the best value, the easiest to handle & plant because they weigh so little, and offer the most selection.
They are only delivered during winter and early spring, about November to March, when the plants are dormant, which is the best time of year to plant almost all woody species.

Some plants or larger sizes can only be delivered in pots, and some popular species are sold both bareroot in winter and potted the rest of the year.

There is nothing wrong with Pot Grown plants, but where you have a choice, bareroot is always even better!

What is the difference between Standard Trees, and Saplings or Hedge Plants?

Standard trees are measured by their girth 1 metre above the ground, and young saplings are measured by height.
Therefore, a 6/8cm Standard tree is much bigger than an 60/80cm sapling tree or hedge plant.

Many trees are available both as standards, and as younger saplings listed in the Hedging Plants section.

The standard trees are larger, more mature, grown and selected for the straightness of their trunk and high branch formation. They give you instant impact.

Young sapling trees from the hedging section can be trained into standard trees, given a few years and usually some pruning to ensure they have a single, straight trunk.

The named, ornamental cultivars of a given species are typically only available in standard sizes.
For example, you can buy wild Field Maple, Acer campestre, as both young saplings and large standards, but you can only buy an ornamental Maple variety, say Acer campestre 'Royal Ruby', as a standard.

When and How do I Plant Trees?

You can plant Pot Grown trees at any time of year, and Bareroot trees during winter, except when the soil is frozen.

The best time to plant trees is from late Autumn to early Spring (November to March), using bareroot stock, which is cheaper, easier to carry and plant, and tends to establish even better than their pot grown equivalents.

Watch our Tree Planting Video for instructions.
Although optional, we strongly recommend using Rootgrow.

Aftercare:

Remember: the two biggest killers of recently transplanted trees are underwatering, and being choked by weeds and grass.

Regular, thorough watering is vital during dry weather in their first spring and summer, and highly recommended the following summer, especially if there is a heat wave.
Either remove weeds and grass by hand periodically, or use some form of mulch to suppress them.

Tree Planting Accessories

Standards that are 6/8cm in girth and upwards are quite big trees, so they need a tree planting stake and a tree tie (with a buffer between the tree and the stake) during their first couple of years.

A mulch mat is will suppress weeds & grass, and preserve moisture: remember that dry soil and competition with weeds are the two biggest killers of new trees.
Even with a mat, you should remove anything that manages to grow up between the mat and the trunk in late spring and summer.

You can buy those items separately, or save money with our Tree Planting Pack.

You definitely need a tree guard if there are deer or rabbits about.
In urban areas with no wild animals, tree guards are great for protecting against mowers and strimmers.
For that purpose, you can cut one tree guard into several pieces about 20-25cm long, to act as skirting around the base of the tree.

Mycorrhizal Fungi

We cannot recommend using Rootgrow fungi enough: it makes a huge difference, especially with larger trees, which are scrambling to regrow the root systems that they lost when we dug them up, in order to support their now top-heavy growth above ground.

Mycorrhizal fungi assist the roots in accessing soil nutrients and water, and protect the roots from soil critters.
In return, the tree shares sugar with them, and the result can be over 50% more growth above ground!

Which are the Fastest Growing Trees?

The fastest growing evergreen trees are:

The fastest growing deciduous trees are:

The Willows, such as Weeping Willow
The Poplars, especially Lombardy Poplar
Most Birches, especially native Silver Birch
Sycamore
Red maple
Tulip Tree

And special mention goes to Bamboo, which isn't a tree but certainly grows like the clappers!

Do I Need Woodchips to Mulch Around My Trees?

You don't need to mulch with woodchips specifically, but they do make some of the best mulch for trees and shrubs.

Woodchips make such excellent mulch because they last for a long time, support fungi and soil life as they decay, don't tend to blow away in the wind, and look nice.

Why is mulch so important for trees?

In the broadest sense, mulch is anything that both protects the soil from the sun, and allows water to pass down through it.
This does two essential things: it stops weeds and grass from growing around your tree, and it helps to prevent the soil from completely drying out in summer.
Dry soil and/or competition with weeds are the two biggest reasons why new trees die or grow poorly, so mulch is very useful!

You could mulch with our biodegradable mulch mats for single trees, or plastic mulch fabric (typically used for hedges), organic matter like our Rocketgro Magic Mulch, or use your own homemade stuff.

Organic matter has the added bonus of slowly breaking down to feed soil life (this organic matter plus soil life is known as humus) and thus enrich the soil's fertility.

But you can mulch with so many green waste products from your garden: lawn clippings, autumn leaves, old straw (hay too, but it will have a lot more seeds in it), and if aesthetic appeal is not important, you could use old newspapers, non-glossy cardboard, cotton or wool clothes and sheets, hessian sacks - anything that rots and smothers, pretty much.

Unlike compost, which can be dug into the soil or used for potting, mulch does not need to be well rotted, or rotted at all.
The only major exception is chicken and horse manure, which can be too high in nitrogen (known as 'hot') when it's fresh.

Garden Trees