For a great day and an even better future, bring your family and friends together to plant a tree on National Tree Day, Sunday 27 July.
National Tree Day is Australia's largest annual tree-planting and nature-care event.
To help you take part, the City of Onkaparinga offers tips and recommendations on choosing, planting and tending trees on your property.
If tree-planting is not on your agenda, why not consider other ways you can help make Onkaparinga even greener?
You can plant other native species, take steps to care for a regulated or significant tree on your property, adopt a tree on the verge outside your home, or create a verge garden to beautify your street.
The council has resources – including some rebates – to help you with any of these green projects.
Its newest initiative, introduced this year, is a rebate for an arborist assessment of regulated or significant trees on household properties.
Regulated and significant trees are generally larger, well-established trees of one-metre circumference or more.
The rebate is for assessments of tree health, advice on pruning and general tree management, and diagnosis of pests and disease by licensed and suitably qualified arborists.
You can claim 50 per cent of the assessment cost, up to a maximum of $150.
Around 74 per cent of land across Onkaparinga is privately owned. As a result, many regulated and significant trees are located on private property.
“These trees provide valuable benefits to the whole community – supporting local wildlife, connecting us to our history, enhancing neighbourhood character, reducing urban heat, and contributing to environmental health. Many are indigenous to their area,” says the council’s Sustainability Education Coordinator, Alexandra Lea.
“Due to their size and species, many households find these majestic trees difficult to manage and may seek to have them removed.
“Because we’re aware that residents may face challenges in caring for these trees, we’ve introduced this rebate to help them to retain the trees and keep them both safe and healthy.
“This way we keep the individual trees but also make sure we don’t lose tree canopy across the region.”
The rebate does not cover tree removal, works already started or completed, any activity such as root pruning that harms the tree, or costs associated with damage caused by the tree.
Regulated and significant trees are protected under the Planning, Development and Infrastructure Act. Approval must be sought from the council for removing, killing, lopping, ringbarking or substantially damaging trees. Fines apply for non-approved damage or removal.
Through its Community Vision 2034, the City of Onkaparinga is committed to a sustainable and liveable environment. To support this commitment, it has a raft of other greening opportunities you can take part in around National Tree Day or throughout the year.
If you are keen to plant native species such as trees, shrubs and groundcovers on your household property, the council offers a rebate for 50 per cent of the cost up to a maximum of $50 for plants purchased from a native plant nursery.
Through the council’s Adopt a Tree program, you can adopt a street tree – perhaps a fruit tree – on the verge in front of your house.
The council will plant your tree, give it informal health checks and prune it. All you have to do is water it and give it the love it deserves. The council will give you a care package to help you and your tree on your way.
To make your street even greener, you can introduce plants on your verge. The council has a verge landscaping and planting guide to help with your design and choice of plants.
You can also sign up for the council’s annual tree giveaway. Last month, the council gave away more than 1,200 trees for planting on private properties across Onkaparinga.
The City of Onkaparinga was named a Tree City of the World in January this year for its tree policy and programs, including its target to plant 100,000 trees by 2037. To date, the council has planted 63,000 trees.
IMAGE: Papan Saenkutrueang