Planting season helping City grow greener
“We know they’ll take pride in ‘their’ tree – watching it change through the seasons, helping to care for it, and forming memories beneath its shade.”
Stirling is set for a greener future with the success of two planting initiatives this year: the Street Tree Planting and Living Green Programs.
The City’s annual Street Tree Planting Program is nearing the finish line, which will see more than 5,000 new street trees planted before the season ends. Planting is targeting the suburbs of Mirrabooka, Nollamara, Balga, Tuart Hill, Osborne Park, Dianella, Carine, Mount Lawley and Wembley Downs this season.
In addition to contributing to a diverse urban forest, the planting program provides opportunities for residents to strengthen their connection to nature by helping with planting, tagging or naming their new street trees.
The Edwards family in Carine recruited the whole family to help plant two stunning jacarandas on their verge to give the kids a hands-on experience they won’t soon forget. Also a Carine local, Michael said the three new jacarandas on his verge would serve as a tribute to his young grandchildren.
“The trees will be the first thing our grandchildren see every time they visit. As the trees grow taller, so will their connection to them,” he said.
“We know they’ll take pride in ‘their’ tree – watching it change through the seasons, helping to care for it, and forming memories beneath its shade.”
The street trees planted this season will add to recent success increasing canopy on City-managed land, which includes verges, medians, natural areas, parks, reserves and City-managed facilities and spaces. The City plants a wide range of tree species, including natives and non-natives, matching appropriate species to the conditions to support an urban forest that is resilient and diverse. In the past three years, tree canopy on City-managed land has increased by 1 per cent. It might not sound like much, but it’s the equivalent of adding almost 24,000 medium-sized mature trees on City land.
The City’s canopy is set to grow even more over the next 15 years, with the City adopting a new target earlier this year to achieve 30 per cent tree canopy on City-managed land by 2040.
To add the trees needed to reach this target, the City’s future planting program will place a particular focus on quality of care to help trees survive to reach maturity, which includes extending the watering program for new street trees from two years to three years in 2025/26.
The City is also kicking goals with its Living Green program, which has seen an incredible 27,000 plants and trees distributed to residents, community groups and schools over the past few months.
More than 3,000 visitors attended the Henderson Environmental Centre in North Beach across six collection days between April and June, making this year’s Free Trees and Plants events the most well-attended in City history.
Uncollected plants and trees have found new homes in local schools, where children will soon be planting, watering and mulching their gardens.
This important program is a practical way for the City to support, engage and guide the community in connecting with nature and enhancing biodiversity across the City.
To learn more about the City’s sustainability initiatives, trees and the Living Green program, visit www.stirling.wa.gov.au/waste-and-environment
