Tree Selection for climate resilience

Henrik Sjöman is Scientific Curator at Gothenburg Botanical Garden, an Associate Professor at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and an Honorary Research Associate at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. He specializes in how trees deliver ecosystem services in urban landscapes and the practical applications of this in terms of diversifying the urban treescape. Henrik communicates his research through numerous publications and by lecturing to urban planners, landscape architects, garden designers and tree nurseries throughout the world.

Arit Anderson studied garden design at Capel Manor College and rose quickly to success at RHS Chelsea 2013 winning the Fresh Talent category followed by a Gold Medal at RHS Hampton Court in 2016 for her own show garden which highlighted the need for renewable energy. She is a presenter for BBC Gardeners' World, hosts a popular podcast 'Growing Greener' and writes for national publications all of which enable her to open up the debate about the future of gardening in a changing climate to a wide audience.

There is an increasingly positive attitude towards trees and tree planting in urban environments, not only among landscape professionals, but from those who previously did not understand the importance of the urban canopy. A new language, that originates from the latest knowledge of the ecosystem services and functions that are linked to our trees, is now available to us. It enables us to communicate and argue for the value of the trees along our streets, in parks and in our private gardens. We can prove how important trees are in creating resilience towards the future challenges of increasing extreme weather. However, in order to reach full capacity in deliverance of these benefits it is important that the trees we planting today develop into large and healthy trees which makes selection for site and climate crucial. In this presentation we want to discuss the importance factors.

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