TREE COUNCIL OF IRELAND

White flowers in late April are followed in autumn by orange-yellow fruits. The fruits are ­inedible but will nourish local bird life.

Large deep pink flowers in spring followed by exceptionally bright red-purple fruits in autumn. Glistening, rich purple leaves.

Trunk and branches are a luminous white. Glossy dark green leaves turn yellow in autumn and yellow-brown male catkins appear in early spring.

A narrow, upright tree ideal for restricted spaces. Young leaves are bronze-green, turning green in summer. The large semi-double, soft pink flowers, which are slightly fragrant, are borne in dense clusters in April or May.

Grown mainly for its spectacular autumn colour, this is perhaps one of the best of all the maples. It has an open habit, and its large, seven-lobed, bright green leaves turn brilliant scarlet in autumn and last for several weeks.

Many fingered, green leaves turn russet and gold in autumn. In late spring, the tree is covered in clusters of pink or white flowers, followed by large white berries which last well in to winter.

A dwarf growing, dense-crowned, weeping willow with stiff, pendulous branches. Grey and yellow catkins are borne in spring.

Masses of long, pendulous, lightly scented clusters of yellow flowers up to 30cm long smother the tree in late spring. Note – all plant parts are poisonous if ingested.

Leaves open salmon-pink in spring turning yellow-green by summer. Clusters of yellow-green spring flowers. The tree has a lolly-pop, spreading form.

Dark red foliage changing to deep purple on purple stems, contrasting dramatically with masses of pink flowers in March and April.

A thorny tree bearing clusters of dark pink, double flowers in May and June followed by small red (inedible) fruits in autumn.

Choose the fastigiate form. Leaves turn deep, fiery red and yellow in autumn. Sprays of white flowers cover the tree in late spring, followed by bunches of red berries in autumn.

Distinctive silvery-white, peeling bark that becomes marked with black, rugged cracks as it gets older. In spring, yellow-brown male catkins appear and in late autumn the diamond-shaped, bright green foliage turns yellow before falling. Betula pendula ‘Youngii’ is a weeping form that develops a mushroom-headed habit with branches reaching to the ground.

Trunk and branches streaked green and white and brilliant yellow autumn leaves.

Stunning white, starry flowers in springtime followed by edible, purple black fruits. Leaves turn from bronze in spring to green in summer to brilliant red and orange during autumn.

Although inconspicuous for much of the year, this small tree is very showy in autumn and early winter when the leaves turn blazing scarlet and masses of rose-red capsules split open to reveal orange seeds.

Slow growing evergreen with shredding brown bark and dark green, leathery leaves. Clusters of pinkish white, pitcher-shaped flowers and red strawberry-like fruits are borne together in late autumn and winter. Suitable for southern Ireland and coastal areas.

A very elegant tree which forms a dense mound of weeping branches. These are clothed with downy, silvery grey, willow-like leaves. White flowers in April followed by small brown fruits in autumn.

Choose the columnar or fastigiate form. Slow growing coniferous tree forming a dense, compact column.