The data behind Palette
320+
Species
12
UK Regions
2050-2090
Climate Scenarios
15
Traits & constraints filters
Who it's for
Council tree officers & Urban Foresters
Landscape Architecture Practices
Engineering & Environmental Consultancies
Reduce risk, support procurement and create evidence-led planting strategies.
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Population Audit flags at-risk stock before it fails
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Defensible evidence, grounded in Kew science, for committee reports
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Discounted Council Practitioner rate for .gov.uk teams
Design climate-resilient schemes and justify decisions to clients and regulators.
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Project › Site › Scheme structure mirrors your engagements
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Revision history and approvals before anything leaves the firm
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Client share links and branded PDF deliverables
Create scientifically defensible planting recommendations with built-in review, approval and audit trails.
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Role-based permissions
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Full audit log of edits, approvals and external shares
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SSO, SCIM and DPA via the Enterprise add-on
Key Capabilities
1 / Site Assessment
Enter a location and Palette analyses local climate conditions, future climate projections and urban heat island impacts.
2 / Function-led species selection
Identify species based on the environmental and ecosystem services you need them to provide.
3 / Defensible planting schemes
Build evidence-based planting schemes tailored to site conditions, soil profiles and project objectives.
4 / Review, approve and share
Collaborate with colleagues, clients and stakeholders through structured approvals, audit trails and client-ready deliverables.
Expanding the science behind palette
Palette begins with climate-resilient tree selection, but our ambition is much broader.
We are creating a platform to help practitioners plan landscapes around the ecosystem services they need to deliver, from urban cooling and biodiversity enhancement to sustainable drainage and climate adaptation.
As new research programmes are integrated, Palette will expand the range of species, ecosystem services and landscape outcomes it can support.
Available now
Climate Tree Study:
Build climate-resilient tree planting schemes using species assessments informed by future climate projections and environmental suitability.
Coming next
Pollinator Planting Study:
Identify species that support pollinators while remaining appropriate for future site conditions and planting objectives.
Planned
SuDS Species Selection:
Support sustainable drainage schemes with species selected for both performance and resilience.
Why teams trust us
Kew science
Recommendations grounded in botanical research and scientific evidence from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Pricing
Get started with Palette and the Climate Tree Study for free. As your projects and team grow, choose from four plans designed to support everything from individual practitioners to enterprise organisations. Every plan includes the full Climate Tree Study, and external reviewers and clients are always free.
FAQs
What are the best trees to plant in the UK right now, given climate change? There is no single answer, because the right tree depends on your site, your soil and which UK climate region you are in. Under 2090 climate scenarios, the species we rate as “high suitability” across the broadest range of UK regions include London Plane, Holm Oak, Hungarian Oak, Honey Locust and European Hop Hornbeam for medium to large urban sites, and Field Maple, Carriere’s Hawthorn and Midland Hawthorn for residential and smaller streetscapes. To narrow the list to your location, run a regional assessment on our 320-species database and let the climate envelope and urban heat island adjustment do the work.
Which trees are most climate-resilient in the UK? Climate resilience is a composite of drought tolerance, heat tolerance, biosecurity risk and ecosystem services delivered. Species that consistently score in the top band under our 2090 SSP3-7.0 assessment include Holm Oak (Quercus ilex), Hungarian Oak (Quercus frainetto), European Nettle Tree (Celtis australis) and Honey Locust (Gleditsia triacanthos). What makes them resilient is not just heat tolerance, it is the combination of low turgor loss point, appropriate wood density and a climate envelope that matches the UK’s projected analogue regions (Mediterranean Basin, Northern Spain, Eastern USA). Filter by suitability band and region in our species explorer to see the full top-tier list for your postcode.
What are the best street trees for UK cities? A defensible street tree must combine four things: high climate suitability through to 2090, pollution and compacted-soil tolerance, predictable root and crown behaviour around highways and utilities, and acceptable litter and allergen profile. London Plane remains the proven default for large avenues; Holm Oak adds evergreen canopy and exceptional drought tolerance; Honey Locust offers a light dappled canopy ideal alongside terraced housing; New Horizon Elm restores the classic elm form with Dutch elm disease resistance; Field Maple suits narrow residential streets. We publish our full ranked list with the methodology behind each ranking.
What is the urban heat island effect and which trees help most? The urban heat island effect is the measurable temperature differential between built-up urban areas and surrounding countryside, driven by impervious surfaces, low albedo materials, anthropogenic heat and reduced evapotranspiration. UK cities can run 4 to 7°C warmer than rural baselines on summer nights. Trees mitigate it through three mechanisms: shading of hard surfaces, evapotranspirational cooling and reduction of reradiated long-wave heat. The species delivering the highest cooling impact in our database are large-canopy deciduous species (London Plane, Oriental Plane, Hungarian Oak) and dense evergreens (Holm Oak) where year-round cooling matters. Our regional assessment applies a UHI adjustment to suitability scores so the trees you choose are matched to the warmer microclimate the canopy will actually experience.
Are non-native trees acceptable in the UK now? Yes, with caveats. The Forestry Commission, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew and most UK urban forestry bodies now accept that climate change has fundamentally shifted what “appropriate” means: a species that establishes well, supports biodiversity and survives 2090 conditions is more ecologically valuable than a native that fails. The key tests are: does it occupy a similar ecological niche, does it support UK pollinators and wildlife, and is it free of biosecurity risk. Species such as Holm Oak, Honey Locust and European Nettle Tree pass all three. We publish the climate analogue region for every non-native in the database so you can defend the choice in a committee paper or a planning condition.
Which UK native trees will still thrive in 2050 and beyond? Several familiar natives are under pressure under SSP3-7.0 scenarios, with English Oak, Common Ash and Rowan moving into low or vulnerable suitability bands in southern England by 2090. The UK natives that hold up best are Field Maple (Acer campestre), Common Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna), Midland Hawthorn (Crataegus laevigata), Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa) and Wild Service Tree (Sorbus torminalis). If you can extend the palette to naturalised non-natives, Holm Oak (Quercus ilex) adds genuine drought resilience, though it is a Mediterranean introduction rather than a true native and is locally invasive in parts of southern England. For specifications that must use natives, our species explorer lets you filter by “UK Native” and by 2090 suitability band simultaneously, so you can build a defensible native-led palette.
Which trees should I avoid planting in the UK now? We urge caution with three groups. First, species on the UK Plant Health Risk Register watch list, where active pest or pathogen pressure exists: Turkey Oak (host for oak processionary moth), Horse Chestnut (leaf miner and bleeding canker) and Sweet Chestnut (chestnut blight). Second, invasive species such as Sycamore in sensitive habitats. Third, species whose climate envelope falls outside projected UK conditions by 2090, including some traditional natives in southern England. Each species page in our database carries a biosecurity risk score and assessment notes that flag these issues explicitly.
How do I choose the right tree for my postcode in the UK? The honest answer is that postcode alone is not enough; you need postcode plus soil type, planting context (street, garden, SuDS), space envelope and a 2050 or 2090 horizon. Our species explorer takes the first step by letting you pick one of twelve UK regions and a target horizon, then ranking all 320 species against the regional climate and urban heat island adjustment. Start with the region selector at trees.kewreach.com/species, then refine with the trait filters. For professional schemes, our Palette platform extends this to scheme-level assembly, revision history and review workflow.
When is the best time to plant a tree in the UK? The planting window for bare-root and rootballed stock is November to March, with the optimum sweet spot late November to early February when the tree is fully dormant and the soil is workable but not waterlogged. Container-grown stock can technically go in year-round, but establishment success drops sharply for summer plantings without extensive aftercare watering. The bigger lever than planting date is species selection: a well-chosen species planted in March will outperform a poorly-chosen species planted in optimum November conditions across a 30-year horizon. Use our species explorer to get the species choice right before you procure stock.
What is the difference between the Kew Reach species database and other UK tree lists? Three things. First, every species assessment is grounded in the scientific authority of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, not scraped from general nursery catalogues. Second, our suitability scores use the Martin/Sjöman composite methodology combining GBIF-derived climate envelopes with measured physiological traits (turgor loss point, wood density, leaf dry matter content). Third, every recommendation is location-specific: 2050 and 2090 scenarios, twelve UK regions, urban heat island adjustment and four suitability bands. The free species explorer at trees.kewreach.com/species opens this to anyone; the full Palette platform adds scheme-level workflow and audit trail for professional teams.