Scottish Government

Scotland's Native Trees and Shrubs
A Designer's Guide to their Selection, Procurement & Use in Road Landscape

This document is also available in pdf format part 1 (1.8MB) and part 2 (1.8MB)

Contents

Minister's foreword
Introduction
Policy: The Scottish Executive policy in relation to the Selection and Use of Native Trees and Shrubs
Background
The Scottish trunk road network
CEL: LFN Government policy requirements
Scotland's landscape: historical context
Landscape and cultural identity
Safeguarding Scotland's fragile ecology
Seeds of change
The benefits of 'going native'
Further benefits of 'going native
What does and what does not constitute native status?
Origin and provenance
Is there a place for non-native trees and shrubs?
Beware of biological invasion
Biodiversity
Biodiversity: an opportunity for action
CEL: LFN and biodiversity
The Trunk Road Biodiversity Action Plan
The Caledonian Pinewoods
Selection
General
The species selection process
Use natural characteristics
Colonisation by natural seed dispersal
Criteria necessary for successful colonisation by natural seed dispersal
Encouraging colonisation by natural seed dispersal
Selecting native tree species by design
Explore alternatives
Make wise use of resources - design and delivery
Design and build
Procurement
Procurement
The problem of supply and demand
Government Departments are moving towards becoming best practice clients
Quality assurance
Making it work together
An insight into how new trees and shrubs are produced
Commercial production: from seed
Collecting seed
From cuttings
Tree growers are brokers too!
Which form of procurement is most suitable?
The fall and rise of the home-grown market
The downside of buying on the open market
Is the appointment of a plant procurement agent the answer?
Provenance and procurement
What are the hallmarks of a good nursery producing native stock?
National Plant Specification
The use of native trees and shrubs
Attitudes to the use of native species are changing
Can planting native species do more harm than good?
Using the right species is not enough
Rich assortments of species are efficient
Designs from nature
Companion, clumping or bundle planting
The future for Scotland's native trees and shrubs
Plants from the past
Scottish native seed orchards
Community woodlands
Have trunk road woodlands a commercial value?
New landscapes, new ideas
References, bibliography and appendices
References and bibliography
Information sources
Glossary of terms
Scottish Executive local provenance certificate
Provenance Certificate Plant Schedule
Quality Assurance Monitoring
Scotland's native trees and shrubs commonly used in road landscape
Acknowledgements