Love Our Local Trees

Trees are an important part of our suburbs. They provide us with shade, cool our neighbourhoods, provide homes for wildlife and they make us feel good.

Let’s celebrate our local trees! Big and small, old and new. Trees in people’s gardens, trees in parks and along our streets.

Share your favourites and just why they’re important to you, within the Cities of Marion and Holdfast Bay.

Simply fill in our short survey to share your favourite tree (Click HERE).

Let’s show just how many local trees we love (and why).

You may love a tree that shades you on your walk to work or the fig tree down the road. Maybe it’s the big gum next door full of birds or the tree with gumnuts the kids love to collect. A favourite climbing tree, the tree in the yard behind, which gives you shade in the summer or the tree you once spotted a tawny frogmouth in.

Nature Festival Local Tree Celebration Event:

Please fill in our short survey to nominate your favourite and share why you love that local tree.

This is a way we can appreciate trees in other people’s yards and to thank others for looking after them. You can drop them a quick LoveOurTrees_thankyou note. Download, print out, personalise and spread the love for our local trees.

Please share the Love Our Local Trees survey with others in the area.

Together let’s show just how many local trees are loved!

A few examples:

• Kinda @ Seacliff – I am nominating a large gum tree in Pine Gully. I love this tree because during spring, this tree would be covered by butterfly and bees. It is a house for couple of rosellas. It protects the houses from the wind and stands still in the face of water erosion protecting all the soil around her. Sometimes, it looks like a gentle giant protecting the Gully.
• Jo @ Warradale – I am nominating a street tree in Warradale. It is an apricot tree next to another lovely tree. I love seeing fruit trees on the streets. It’s great to have Street food to share for people without gardens, and it reminds me of fruit trees that everyone on the street harvested in Plympton when I was little.
• Jane @ Glengowrie – I am nominating a 200+ year old eucalyptus tree on Oaklands Road, Somerton Park. I love this tree because when I drive towards the beach, I always look for it as to me it’s a ‘landmark’ tree. I admire its beauty and that it’s been standing for well over 200 years. I’m grateful for the shade it provides, the oxygen it produces, and how it captures carbon dioxide from the traffic fumes. It also provides nectar for the bees and birds and shelter for when it’s raining.

A big thank you to everyone who has already shared their favourite tree(s) with us. We’ve captured many of the responses received HERE. Grab a cuppa and have a read of these beautiful stories.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Can I nominate a tree in someone else’s property? It’s great to show that the community values trees everywhere. Tree owners might not know that other people love their tree. But please don’t share the exact address or a photo if it intrudes on their privacy. You might like to also use this as an opportunity to tell them that you love their tree/s. Here’s a LoveOurTrees_thankyou note_printable. Download, print out, personalise and share the love for our local trees.
• Do I need to include a photo? Photos are great but it’s up to you. We’re happy to receive just your words, or words and a picture.
• What are you going to do with this info? Nominated trees will be added to a map for everyone to see. We’ll use the location info you provide in the survey (this could be just the suburb or the street name, depending on what you wish to share publicly). We’ll also share these stories locally online, and they will be collated and shared in a display at the October Nature Festival event.
• Do I need to know the tree type? No, just tell us what it is about the tree that you love.
• Can I nominate multiple trees? Yes, with a separate survey for each. But a maximum of 3 tree nominations per person.

About us

Love Our Local Trees is a volunteer community project by the Marion Living Smarties; local residents who care about our environment, with support from Sustainable Communities SA. Contact at livingsmartiesm@gmail.com

Why are we doing this?

We’ve all felt the loss of trees around us. Many of these trees have gone without us ever letting their owners know that we love their tree. We love trees for many different reasons. Connections to specific trees are tied to memories and experiences. This project helps us all to celebrate our love for local trees and share our tree stories within the local communities.

The broad picture for Adelaide

Adelaide is losing its significant, regulated and mature trees at an alarming rate.

The true level of harm has been difficult to capture or recognise, because it is often caused by incremental loss on private land. Despite this, there is increasing public concern at the scale and speed of change.

The evidence is clear: big trees improve our health and wellbeing, increase property values, and reduce the build up and trapping of heat. They are arguably the single best infrastructure investment to prepare our streets and suburbs for a changing climate.

While Councils and communities are working hard to plant new trees, there is not enough available space on public land to replace what we are losing from people’s backyards.

And it will take many years for a newly planted tree to provide similar benefits to one that is mature.

We need to act – and act quickly – before it’s too late.

From the Conservation Council of SA report “What’s Happening to Adelaide’s Trees” (2020). Full report available HERE 

Learn more

Want to get involved in protecting our trees? Now is the perfect time as people across Adelaide come together to speak up for our trees. Join a broad movement pushing for changes to the regulations that govern how we protect our trees. Read reports, find out more and sign up for tree campaign updates from Conservation Council SA at www.conservationsa.org.au/trees.

See what your local councils are doing when it comes to trees, including tree plantings, rebates for homeowners to care for big trees, adopt-a-tree volunteers and more:

• City of Marion – marion.sa.gov.au/services-we-offer/environment/street-trees
• City of Holdfast Bay – holdfast.sa.gov.au/development-and-infrastructure/environment/trees