Favourite trees

With National Tree Day coming up, we asked COSTA GEORGIADIS and the team from Gardening Australia to tell us about their favourite trees

“e best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. e second-best time is now” – Chinese proverb

Planting a tree is an act of hope, of trust and of duty for the generations that follow. We need trees and trees need us, now more than ever. I love trees for so many reasons: their individuality, their form, their presence, their resilience and, probably most of all, the history they carry in every twist, every branch and every ripple of their bark.

In Australia, we have a wonderful palette of trees local to every landscape of our island home – from the bunya pines of the tropics, to the wind-blown snow gums of our mountain peaks, the red gums of our river courses and the flame trees in the Cold Chisel song.

The more you learn about trees, the more you realise just how remarkable they are, with their ability to adapt and survive on this continent.

Our trees have character, and they are the elders of our landscape. Like lighthouses overlooking the ocean, they are beacons of natural beauty, beaming skyward. As well as offering shade and protection, trees provide habitat for our fauna, and flowers and nectar for birds and insects. They play a major role in helping our unique ecology thrive.

Every tree is a footprint from the past and an investment in the future, beyond our own time on the planet. So dig a hole and plant a tree… or two or three, if you have space. Check with your local council first, though, to make sure it’s suitable for your area. Or get involved with Landcare to look after your local environment and its trees.

We can all do our bit towards making sure there are plenty of healthy trees around for future generations. And let’s all say, “More trees, please!”