Support TSO
IDS Trees and Shrubs Online (TSO) is an online encyclopaedia of cultivated temperate woody plants, produced for public benefit as part of the International Dendrology Society’s charitable activities. It is free to access, and free of advertising, being supported entirely by charitable donations and grants. We are extremely grateful to everyone and the trusts and foundations that have supported our work so far.
Our aim over the next five years is to complete this enormous task.
We want to cover every genus of cultivated woody plant with an account of monographic quality, copiously illustrated with reliable images. Our scope covers the cultivated garden flora of most of North America, northern Europe and Britain and Ireland, with relevance also for temperate parts of the Far East, Australasia and South America. We provide botanical and horticultural information about each species we cover, enabling accurate identification and giving guidance on cultivation requirements, essential for making intelligent decisions as climate change affects all our lives and planting choices. All our entries are thoroughly researched by real people using real intelligence, and together they already form the largest ever single horticultural literary resource. The work is done by a small team of staff authors and editors, with commissioned specialist authors from all over the world producing new text. All material is thoroughly reviewed and edited before publication.
We need to keep TSO growing. We’ve made great progress, but there are hundreds of genera with old text to revise and hundreds more that have no text at all – our gardens are incredibly rich in woody plants. There is a dearth of reliable information about these plants, whether in published literature or online, and it’s this gap that TSO aims to fill.
To do this we need to expand our editorial team and pool of authors to ensure that more text can be produced more rapidly.
In 2026 we are launching a major fundraising campaign, starting with our May Appeal for support from our users. This will be followed by a capital campaign to raise larger sums. To achieve our aim of completing the work in the next five years we estimate that we need £500,000 per year, and we are also aiming to establish an endowment fund that will ensure that the work of IDS Trees and Shrubs Online will continue indefinitely. The very nature of the site means that it is endlessly evolving as new information comes to light.
Please consider how you can help us.
Support is possible in many different ways:
- Donate to the online campaign, with a one-time or recurrent donation
- Sponsor the writing of text for a genus or family
- Become a major donor in our capital campaign
- Leave a legacy to the IDS dedicated to the support of Trees and Shrubs Online
- Join the International Dendrology Society
- Use the site
- Tell people about IDSTrees and Shrubs Online
To discuss supporting this project, please contact us:
The International Dendrology Society is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation registered in England and Wales number 1178252. Tax deductible donations from the USA may be made through Chapel & York: please contact us for information on how to do this.
International Dendrology Society
Hergest Estate Office
Kington
Herefordshire
HR5 3EG
United Kingdom