The Tree Council’s National Tree Week gives garden centres and nurseries an opportunity to turn the spotlight on to an often neglected plant category.

Launched in 1975 to mark the start of the tree planting season, it runs this year from 29 November to 7 December. It encourages communities to do something positive for their local treescape.

November is often considered as nature’s time to plant, due to moderate temperatures and rainfall. Plants can root and acclimatize before the harsher temperatures of winter or the onset of summer heat. It’s also a good time to plant trees before the ground gets too hard or frozen. Trees planted in the autumn will experience much less stress and will require less watering and aftercare than trees planted in spring or summer.

Broadcaster and horticulturist Christine Walkden is championing trees as the HTA’s Plant of the Month for November. “Trees to me add movement and grace to any garden situation, raising the eye into the third dimension, with stunning foliage, lovely flowers, great fruit and the ability to attract bird life and insects into the garden, “ she says. “They have a place in all gardens…We should all be planting more trees.”

Recommended RHS Award of Garden Merit tree varieties include:

Amelanchier lamarckii

Photinia fraserii ‘Red Robin’

Acer freemanii ‘Autumn Blaze’

Quercus palustris

Malus ‘Evereste’

Sorbus vilmorinii