CHANGING the world one tree at a time.
That is the theme of today’s gardening column.
Two horticulture experts this week called on all of us – including Mildura Rural City Council – to help improve the environment by planting more trees and creating a garden to help reduce the impacts of climate change, where extreme weather events are already becoming more prevalent.
Tom Fagan, a former state and federal government adviser on horticultural standards, and long-serving ABC TV Gardening Australia presenter Jane Edmanson have joined forces in pushing for increased shade – or tree canopy cover – across sun-drenched Sunraysia.
Mr Fagan went so far as to say that further “tree-proofing” the Mildura municipality was “make or break” for livability in the region.
“There’s a great lack of public shade in this area,” said Mr Fagan, who is also a former president of the peak landscaping body in Victoria.
“The bottom line is that council needs to plant more trees.
“We had some great horticulturists who set up this region – but unfortunately everything has a life span.
“I’m not here to bash the council, but the question is, how do we get them to realise the extent of the problem and plant more trees?”
Ms Edmanson said her biggest concern was a lack of trees in new subdivisions.
“Shade is so important, especially in a place like Mildura,” said Ms Edmanson, who was born in Mildura and still has ties to the area.
“Every new house should have at least one new tree that gives good shade, instead of relying on airconditioners.
“So many new houses are being built so close together, rather than having more space for trees.
“All these new developments need to have a greater leafy focus to help absorb the extreme heat in summer.
“We know that shade can lower the temperature by three or four degrees.”
A Victorian Government spokesman said councils were not required to have targets for tree canopy cover.
A Mildura Council spokesman said it did not know the tree canopy cover in the municipality.
“We’re still compiling the data to determine our canopy cover,” the spokesman said.
“We are currently developing a draft tree strategy which specifically refers to a goal of increased canopy cover across Mildura.
“We aim to achieve a net increase every year of at least 1000 trees across the region.
“Council already requests landscape plans from developers, in particular tree numbers that are to be planted in all new subdivisions.
“It is a requirement that the entire subdivision, including any open space, has as many trees as possible planted at the site.”
The lack of tree action by the Victorian Government is in stark contrast to NSW, where the Berejiklian Government is on track to meet its three-year goal of planting a million trees across Greater Sydney by 2022.
NSW councils, particularly in the development hot spots, are acutely aware of tree canopy cover in their suburbs.
For example, in the Parramatta CBD, the tree canopy cover is a woefully inadequate 10 per cent.
Back in Mildura, Mr Fagan said that every resident could help “change the environment for the better”.
“By simply creating a garden in your backyard you are doing more than what most people do, where they talk about it but do nothing.
“If you go out to your backyard and plant a tree, you have made a positive contribution to the reduction of carbon into the atmosphere.
“If you create a garden, even if it’s through trial and error, or assist in planting trees, you are changing the world.”
Mr Fagan said the first thing to do before starting a garden was to come up with a plan.
“You don’t need a lot of money to do this,” he said. “You can get tips from experts and people are often happy to share cuttings of their plants.
“After coming up with a plan, the canopy planting should be the first thing you consider before you get the smaller, delicate plants in.
“You need to also look at how it’s irrigated. You can have a low water-use garden where you maximise every single drop in your garden.
“I don’t use much water in mine, but it looks like a tropical oasis with incorporating organics into the soil profile, as well as worms.
“Mulching with recycled materials is also an absolute plus.
“It might all seem too hard, but I promise you that you’ll get so much satisfaction in seeing your trees and plants grow.”
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