Love a street tree

The Tree Services team is increasing the city’s tree canopy.

Residents are invited to show their street trees some love as part of a new initiative to involve the community in greening the city.

Flyers will be distributed to households on streets where trees are due to be planted, advising them how they can help to care for the trees.

Residents are encouraged to help the trees become established and grow by adding water during dry periods and reporting vandalism or damage to Council.

Council will continue to water, prune, mulch and fertilise trees and spray nearby weeds.

Tree Services Team Members Garth Woest and Matt Oxford (pictured) are part of the crew that will spend the next five months planting street trees. More than 1160 street trees will be planted to cool suburbs, increase habitat for birds and insects, reduce stormwater run-off and improve the appearance of neighbourhoods.

“I’m excited to be part of a team that is creating a greener, cooler Playford,” said Garth. “We can all do our bit in taking care of street trees. Residents can help us water them in the hotter months of the year, to give them some relief from the heat.”

Trees will be planted in Elizabeth Vale, as well as various requested locations from May through to September.

City of Playford has a plan to plant 60,000 new trees by 2045 to increase the city’s tree coverage by more than 300 hectares.

Find out more about caring for your street

tree at playford.sa.gov.au/streettree

7400 plants to green trail

Work to plant more than 7400 seedlings and 160 trees to “green” a 14ha stretch along Smith Creek at Elizabeth Downs is due to start in July.

The Stage 2 improvements to the trail will see local native shrubs, groundcovers and species specific to creek lines planted as well as red and blue gum trees.

Biodiversity Management Officer, Jo Park, said: “Smith Creek Trail links to a school, sports ground and community hall, so is very popular.”

This is a City of Playford project, partfunded by a Greener Neighbourhoods Grant from Green Adelaide and supported by the Playford Greening and Landcare Group.

Stage 1 involved City of Playford planting more than 4300 shrubs and 95 trees along the trail in 2020 with funding support from Green Adelaide.

City of Playford has scoped out plans for further improvements near the creek, which are dependent on future funding.

The trail runs 3kms from Main North Road at Elizabeth Downs to Craigmore Park at Craigmore.