11 Apr, 2014
Planting season is here, so what’s City of Adelaide planning?
This month marks the beginning of City of Adelaide’s annual tree planting season where more trees are planted across the CBD and North Adelaide throughout the Streets, Squares and Park Land than any other time of the year.
Tree planting season spans April to October, the months that newly planted trees are most likely to thrive and develop.
Lord Mayor Stephen Yarwood is proud of his Council’s record when it comes to planting new trees, replacing failing trees with either the same species or an alternative tree species suited to the environment in question.
“The truth is, Council loves trees and that’s why we have such a robust tree care maintenance and succession program,” said Stephen.
“In fact, over the past three years Council has planted in excess of 10,000 trees and many more shrubs and bushes across the CBD, including in our Park Lands and Squares.”
“We are lucky enough to be the only capital city in the world that comprises Park Lands and Squares with such an abundance of trees and plants.
“Wellington Square in North Adelaide is a great example of this where we have removed five trees, but planted an additional 91 trees over the past twelve months,” he said.
General Manager of Infrastructure and Public Works, Neil Brown has recently implemented the Road Assessment & Maintenance Management (RAMM) software program which enables real time reporting of trees and street assets.
“The Road Assessment & Maintenance Management software is used successfully by all Councils in Western Australia and enables them to manage their street assets. Another advantage to the program is the data it gives us access to which is stored and can be referred to in future tree planting plans,” said Neil.
“This new system will be a great help over the coming months as we continue with our regular maintenance program, but also when we are monitoring trees that are in prime locations.
“Our larger landscaping and tree plantings scheduled over the coming months include Brougham Gardens/Tantutitingga, between King William Street and Brougham Place will be recorded on the new system and we will be able to monitor their progress easily.
“We never remove trees without a very good reason - in actual fact we have a strong tree re-planting succession plan which will be made easier with this new asset management system,” he said.
Over the coming months 44 additional trees including 24 Crab Apple and 11 Crepe Myrtle trees in a range of varieties will be planted to complement the existing trees and plants in Brougham Gardens.
This year there will be around 70 new street trees planted to replace those that have failed or to beautify bare locations when practical to do so covering the whole City.
An important element of tree management is also the removal of dead wood, particularly with mature or over mature trees to assist with the extension of the trees life expectancy.
In line with this ACC also manages the effects of Elm Leaf Beetle on the City’s Elm tree population using a rolling program of tree injections to control the pest beetle population.