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Civic Trees has been working with the leading producers of large trees and the benefits of these relationships are passed on to customers through quality, choice and value.

This extensive range of suppliers allows Civic Trees to source and collate a wide variety of trees, covering the most extensive enquiries.

With rare exceptions, all the trees supplied are purpose grown in specialist nurseries.

The trees are supplied either as 'rootballed' specimens or 'container grown' – it is not advisable to supply semi-mature trees 'bare root'.

Rootballed specimens are grown in the field until they are lifted for transplanting. The soil in which they were growing is left intact around the roots, and this rootball is then encased in hessian and a wire basket to keep it secure. These biodegadable materials are left on when replanting the trees.

Containerised trees are grown and supplied in containers. These trees are available for planting all year round. They are removed from their containers when they are planted.

Civic Trees can either arrange for trees to be delivered direct to site, or delivered to our nursery for holding and collection, or for delivery as part loads when required.

London Tree Centre

In the Spring of 2005 Civic Trees completed the development of its new nursery in Watford – The London Tree Centre.

Located 15 miles from Central London and just 5 minutes from Junction 5 of the M1, the site is home to an exciting range of semi-mature trees, large hedging plants and a selection of pleached and pruned plants – all ideal for landscape projects of every size.

As well as great plants, Civic Trees also sells all the sundries you need to get them planted successfully.

In addition to this extensive range of containerised plants, Civic Trees relies heavily on field grown trees from leading growers in the UK and Europe. One of the main UK sources is from a 25 acre nursery site in Cambridge through co-operation with William Garfit Trees, who has been growing top quality trees since 1970.

All these nurseries employ the latest growing techniques, and offer clients the peace of mind that the trees have been correctly handled throughout the growing and planting process.

Civic Trees also has the space to store trees in transit, allowing specimens to arrive in large, economic loads from the supplier, before being distributed to site on a more compact vehicle. This is particularly beneficial when planting in city and urban areas.

Nursery Visits

The best way to get the right tree or trees for a project is to visit a nursery and see them in person. A much better idea of what is required can be obtained dependent on personal likes and what suits the situation – and this way such a visit can highlight the amazing choice and diversity available.

Don’t wait until the last minute before viewing trees – a visit to the nursery can be an inspiration for future projects and provide much food for thought.

Choosing the right tree for the job

What size do you require?

In general large deciduous trees are sold according to their girth size; this is the circumference of the stem measured 1 metre above ground level. Evergreen trees, or those which have branches to below one metre (these are known as feathered specimens) are sold according to their height.

There are some exceptions, but there is a general correlation between the girth of a tree and its height.

Height Girth Chart



The greater the girth the greater the spread. As trees grow, the branch structure grows too as each year more leaves become shoots, shoots become twigs, twigs become branches and so on. This means that, as well as being taller, a tree with a 30/35cm girth will have a more developed and denser crown than a 18/20cm specimen.

The type of tree will have a bearing on its spread, i.e the diameter of the crown or canopy. To aid transport, trees are trimmed in the nursery to keep the spread of their branches to a reasonable size.

Trees are a great way to bring colour to your landscape, with green, red and yellow trees commonly available. Add to this an amazing array of Autumn colour choices, and you can have a living palette of changing colour from Spring through to the onset of Winter.

In the Winter months use pines, conifers and cedars to maintain form and definition and enjoy deciduous trees through their bark colour and structure.