A MORNING WALK
These pictures are from my morning walk today.
We’re really good at chopping down trees here in Perth. No matter if they are healthy, significant trees of great age. In Victoria and NSW, and most everywhere in Europe, councils have tree registers – fairly straightforward to create with satellite and GIS – and they impose heavy fines on property owners who cut down a significant tree without permission. It’s time for our city councils to start protecting our tree canopy as well – on public and on private land.
Looking over the roofs of my neighbourhood, the tree canopy is sparse. Put simply, the more trees are felled the greater the heat in our city.
To develop a more consistent tree canopy, Perth councils encourage the planting of street trees. Leafy Perth suburbs like Mount Lawley are not only more attractive and therefore pricier, but also on average two degrees cooler in summer, thanks to their dense canopy of street trees. Check with your local council how to get one for your verge.
And how about a tree in your backyard? True, our backyards are getting very small. But even though a tree takes space, it makes the rest of the backyard very liveable. Not only does it provide physical shade, but the evaporation of water through the leaves creates a very refreshing microclimate. Surely we’d use our backyards more, if it were more pleasant outdoors than in.
I believe that there’s room in every garden for at least one tree. For advice on trees suitable for your garden, finding a good spot, reticulation, and planting, drop me a message on Facebook.