Anne Gunning
- Feb 9
- 2 min read

Small trees with bling. Examples of trees for R2111 and R2112 with lots of decorative merit.

The modules R2111 and R2112 go well together as both require knowledge of plants and their decorative merit, planting situation and site conditions.

Focusing on trees, if the syllabus requirements are followed, there would be up to 20 examples to learn as outlined below:

R2111 learning outcomes: Name FIVE evergreen and FIVE deciduous trees (large shrubs), suitable for planting in a domestic garden. (up to 10m)

R2112 learning outcomes: Name FIVE trees grown for winter interest and FIVE grown for autumn display. NOTE: Do not include plants which have year-round interest, e.g. Evergreens. Give examples which have specific interest at the named season.

If you have researched trees you may have found it difficult to find evergreen trees that remain under 10m, I know I have!

The following plant selection table is a list of trees which have multi merit value and are worth considering as tree examples for R2111 and R2112. Some of them tick a few of the selection criteria. They are all small trees or large shrubs.

Because of the way the website works I cannot include links within the table so links are added below the table. Click on these and they will take you to the tree plant profile on the RHS website.

In the notes column are listed trees which are lime haters as students are also required to name FIVE lime hating trees or shrubs. (R2112) Remember that the term lime hater is used rather than acid lover. Acid lovers prefer acid soil but may also grow fairly well on alkaline soil (lime soil) whereas lime haters ONLY grow well in acid or neutral conditions.