Each year between May and September, a selection of advanced street trees are planted in various locations across Greater Shepparton in a bid to increase green canopy cover. Council aims to increase this to 40 per cent by 2037 across Shepparton, Mooroopna and Tatura as part of the region’s Urban Forest Strategy.
This year, trees will be planted in a number of streets across the municipality including the southern end of the Goulburn Valley Highway, The Boulevard, Regent Street and Furphy Avenue in Shepparton. The trees range in variety, including Crepe Myrtle, Chinese Pistacio, Chinese Elm, Scarlet Oak, Ornamental Pear and Native Frangipani.
Council’s Manager Parks, Sport and Recreation Tim Zak said the annual initiative was an important one for the municipality, with trees providing significant economic, social, environmental, ecological and aesthetic benefits for the region.
“A well maintained streetscape is visually appealing, however more importantly it reduces the impact of radiant heat. Having cooler, shadier streets in summer encourages people to get outside more often which is good for your physical and mental health,” he said.
Once the trees are planted, Council conducts extensive maintenance for the first two years to ensure the trees are healthy and mature into structurally sound trees.
Mr Zak said Council were on track towards their 2037 target which aims to reduce the number of vacant street tree sites to zero, improve urban forest diversity by age and useful life expectancy, and ensure best practice urban tree management is delivered across all Council programs.
“Tree planting is conducted during the cooler months of the year and the trees we choose are advanced street trees specially grown and selected to suit our local climate. We want to ensure they last and mature into healthy and sustainable trees,” he said.
“The initiative is extremely important and will make Greater Shepparton a better place to live and work.”
You can view the Urban Forest Strategy here.
