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Trees for seasonally wet and dry soils

If your garden is waterlogged in winter and dry in summer, it’s worth choosing plants that cope with both extremes. These trees have resilience in soils that fluctuate between wet and dry. Since soils, climate and conditions are so variable, plants may tolerate these challenges, but may not always thrive. There are ways you can maximise their resilience

Practical tips

Please see our page on how to choose plants for seasonally wet and dry soils for detailed practical tips and guidance on choosing and planting, and answers to your questions on managing these challenging conditions.

Planting in these conditions is, to a greater or lesser extent, experimentation. However, getting trees off to a good start will help improve their resilience.

Incorporating organic matter – homemade garden compost, well-rotted manure or failing that, a dedicated soil improver – to a spade’s depth before planting will help with improving soil structure and moisture retention for summer.
Use mulches after planting too to conserve moisture – again, homemade garden compost is preferable
Plant trees in October so they start to establish before winter. They will need to be watered regularly during the growing seasons of their first two years
For the fruit garden, apple and pear trees should cope best with these conditions
The cultivars are not specific – other cultivars of the same species may also be suitable

Smaller trees (under 12m)

Larger trees (over 12m)

Small trees under 4m

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