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Scotland's Native Trees and Shrubs
Is there a place for non-native trees and shrubs?
Yes, there certainly is. Notwithstanding the requirement to select native species as a first option it is important to be clear that non-native species should be used where they are demonstrably the best species for the job. Where the design requires specific shape, form, colour or ornamentation, normally in the formal or urban context, non-natives are more likely to be the right species to select. Non-native species also have a place in the countryside and in the history of an area. What would the Borders be without its green beech? Or Perthshire without its purple beech and redwoods indicating, at a glance the presence of eighteenth and nineteenth century estates and mansion houses. Even the occasional, outrageously exotic monkey-puzzle has its place.
Non-native species also have a place in functional planting such as rapid response screen planting or in complementing existing woodland character. They also have the occasional place in the evolution of design. Life and landscape would lack an essential vitality if the avenues for occasional quirky design were completely closed off. This should not of course be confused with or be an excuse for poor design. In the past, too many non-native species have, without doubt, been planted along Scottish roadsides for the wrong reasons. It is important that the environmental consequences are considered carefully before non-natives are introduced into the open countryside.
The outrageously exotic monkey puzzle has a place in the countryside - this is it!
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In winter, this sturdy sycamore is a reassuring beacon high up on the A889 roadside between Dalwhinnie and Laggan. It has been there for 100 years and, with consideration, could be there for another 100 years. | Domestic apple cultivators growing as edge species on the lee side of some rapid response planting on a private estate in East Lothian. The fruit remained firmly attached to the tree until December despite October storms that sucked most of the fruit from nearby orchard trees. Native crab apples could be used in roadside planting. A late crop of crabs can help to sustain flocks of fieldfare. |
Sycamore, for example, makes a valuable contribution to some of our more exposed landscapes but because it colonises readily it may not always be welcome near established woodlands.
It is also too easy to cast non-native species in the 'bad for nature conservation' mould. This is not always so. Commercial, non-native conifer plantations, for example, are important in some localities for the conservation of small numbers of specialised species including red squirrels, pine martens, birds of prey, firecrests and coal tits. With this in mind new woodlands, primarily of native species, can be enriched for wildlife and enhanced aesthetically by the judicious planting of limited amounts of carefully considered non-native species.
Paradoxically, non-native species planted outwith their natural range can help to conserve endangered species and biodiversity elsewhere in the world. The International Conifer Conservation Programme based at the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, for example, has identified that native genotypes of the monkey puzzle growing in Chile are in danger of extinction. They propose to collect seed from the remaining original trees growing in Chile to produce seedlings. The seedlings will be planted in relative safety in gardens or estates throughout the UK to eventually build up a seed reserve of this particular genotype for planting back in Chile many years hence.
This is not to suggest that non-native species should be planted on the trunk road estate for such a purpose. This initiative draws into focus the international dimension of co-operation sometimes needed to benefit biodiversity globally.
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