The new edition of The Hillier Manual of Trees and Shrubs – a ‘bible’ for countless information desk managers – has been compiled with input from Royal Horticultural Society experts for the first time.

The fully revised and updated edition will be available at the end of March.

An additional 1,500 new plants have been added to the edition, which now describes in detail more than 12,000 plants across more than 650 genera, ensuring its place as the definitive work on hardy woody plants.

By ensuring all plant names correspond directly with those in RHS Plant Finder, the input of the RHS should result in the most user-friendly edition to date. Readers will be able to cross refer to entries in Plant Finder to help locate some scarcer plants not readily available in traditional outlets.

James Armitage, RHS principal botanist, said the RHS had drawn on its unique resources to harmonise the 10,500 entries in the previous Hillier Manual with those used in Plant Finder. “We've written over 1,500 new entries and updated information on tree heights, recent introductions of plants from the wild into gardens and plants holding the RHS Award of Garden Merit (AGM),” he said.

Andrew McIndoe, MD of Hilliers, says the Hillier manual,  published in the 150th year of Hillier Nurseries  is an important part of the nursery’s heritage. “It is wonderful to see it progress to the next stage in its history in partnership with the Royal Horticultural Society,” he added.