Tree Management
The Council is committed to enhancing environmental sustainability and green cover throughout the City.
This page contains information about what the Council is doing to retain and increase tree canopy cover, so that the City of Norwood Payneham & St Peters remains leafy and resilient for future generations.
Challenge
Trees in the City of Norwood Payneham & St Peters are declining due to a range of reasons such as:
- mature trees reaching their end of life
- urban infill removing trees on private property
- a trend for smaller gardens on private land
- impacts of climate change.
What Council is doing
Increasing green cover
As part of the Council’s CityPlan 2030: Shaping Our Future we have a target of planting at least 500 new trees per year in streets and other public spaces - with the goal to increase green cover by 20 percent by 2045.
This target aligns with the 30 Year Plan for Greater Adelaide (2017 update) requiring an increase of 8 percent green cover in the City of Norwood, Payneham & St Peters by 2030.
Selecting trees for a changing climate
Tree selection
To ensure our street trees continue to thrive and not just survive in a changing climate, arborists from Resilient East member councils, including the City of Norwood Payneham & St Peters, have developed the Street Tree Species Guideline.
The Guideline assists in choosing a diversity of tree species suitable to our changing climate. It lists over 100 species and considers attributes like, useful life expectancy, watering needs, and resilience to drought, pests and severe weather events. Council arborists then use their local knowledge to assess attributes to select a suitable tree.
This Guideline is used in conjunction with other resources available, including South Australian Power Networks (SAPN) lists, Botanic Gardens Plant Selector Tool and the Council’s Tree Strategy.
To download the Street Tree Species Guideline, visit: Resilient East - Resources
Tree planting
Tree planting occurs in the cooler months between April and October each year to help them establish healthy root systems and minimise heat stress.
For further information regarding Council street tree species selection, contact the Council Depot on 08 8360 9001.
Mapping tree canopy and identifying hot areas
Through a partnership between state and local governments, new information on tree cover and urban heat areas across Adelaide is now available through the Urban Heat and Tree Mapping Viewer
Mapping tree canopy and identifying the hottest parts across our urban areas will help to guide planning and policy making, tree planting and greening programs to create cooler more liveable places.
Some key findings from the mapping:
- Adelaide is losing cover generally for reasons including larger dwellings/extensions built on smaller blocks and a preference for ‘low maintenance’ living.
- tree canopy between councils ranged
- some Councils had 10 percent canopy and others nearly 50 percent while the metro median tree coverage was 23.7 percent
- City of Norwood Payneham & St Peters has 23.97 percent - just above the median.
Tree strategy
The Council's Tree Strategy provides a comprehensive strategic and operational framework for the management of trees in the City of Norwood Payneham & St Peters.
This includes identification, asset management, tree removal, planting, maintenance, succession planning, community involvement and advocacy.
The overarching vision of the Strategy is to create a greener, cooler and more liveable City to enhance Community Well-being.
To ensure that the Tree Strategy remains current, a five year implementation period has been established to enable time for the actions to be implemented and monitored before a review is undertaken.
What you can do
Trees on private property make significant contributions to our City’s urban canopy.
You can...
- plant appropriate tree species in your yard - visit: Trees on Private Land - Backyards and Gardens for resources
- look after existing trees by watering and monitoring
- talk with friends, family and neighbours about why trees in your neighbourhood are important
- use the Urban Heat and Tree Mapping Viewer to better plan your home or business.
Have questions for our arborists? Visit our FAQs and watch You Can't Arb That! videos for valuable insights into Council tree activities.
We often encounter common beliefs and challenges and Coucils are asked similar questions from our community relating to trees and their management.
So, Resilient East and Resilient South have come together to create FAQs and answers to help your curiosity! The questions are grouped under three themes (New trees, Living with trees and Tree removal) to help you find what you’re looking for.
Hear direct from arborists within Resilient East and Resilient South Councils answering questions and explaining misconceptions they often encounter. ‘You Can’t Arb That!’ series is available via YouTube or by clicking on the link below.
Cool facts
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