diff --git a/modules/juce_data_structures/values/juce_ValueTree.cpp b/modules/juce_data_structures/values/juce_ValueTree.cpp
index 98041aee4d..874cf6453b 100644
--- a/modules/juce_data_structures/values/juce_ValueTree.cpp
+++ b/modules/juce_data_structures/values/juce_ValueTree.cpp
@@ -976,6 +976,12 @@ ValueTree ValueTree::fromXml (const XmlElement& xml)
     return v;
 }
 
+String ValueTree::toXmlString() const
+{
+    const ScopedPointer<XmlElement> xml (createXml());
+    return xml != nullptr ? xml->createDocument (String::empty) : String::empty;
+}
+
 //==============================================================================
 void ValueTree::writeToStream (OutputStream& output) const
 {
diff --git a/modules/juce_data_structures/values/juce_ValueTree.h b/modules/juce_data_structures/values/juce_ValueTree.h
index 6e1101a676..d8f7b47cab 100644
--- a/modules/juce_data_structures/values/juce_ValueTree.h
+++ b/modules/juce_data_structures/values/juce_ValueTree.h
@@ -334,6 +334,11 @@ public:
     */
     static ValueTree fromXml (const XmlElement& xml);
 
+    /** This returns a string containing an XML representation of the tree.
+        This is quite handy for debugging purposes, as it provides a quick way to view a tree.
+    */
+    String toXmlString() const;
+
     //==============================================================================
     /** Stores this tree (and all its children) in a binary format.