Author Steve Cox has been working with trees for over thirty years. He began his career in arboriculture at Merrist Wood College then gained degrees in forestry from Aberdeen and Oxford Universities. Steve has worked in Europe, Africa and the Pacific and was a senior tree officer in a local authority, lecturing part-time at Kingston Maurward College in Dorset. Since 2003 he has been running his own arboricultural consultancy company.

This book discusses what trees do for us, and traces the development of urban trees in Britain. Considers all aspects of the damaging impact of urban conditions on trees. Examines urban tree management with reference to basic principles, planning tools, species selection, and site evaluation and modification. Analyses the planting of trees in towns and cities, pruning methods, the establishment and maintenance of urban trees, and inspection, monitoring and assessment procedures. Covers tree management on streets and highways, parks, woods and other public locations, as well as in private places including homes, offices, factories and wildlife conservation sites. Summarizes the law in the UK as it relates to trees. Briefly outlines the impact of climate change on trees in urban areas and on arboriculture in general. This invaluable book is essential reading for all those who wish to discover why trees are present in our population centres, how urban life in Britain has engulfed them in the last 200 years, why life is so difficult for urban trees, what their role is, and how we should care for them and include them in our urban future.