Almost 1,600 trees were planted on Council nature strips across Townsville suburbs in 2025 to green the city and cool suburban streets, all while replacing trees removed across the city for a number of reasons.
Mayor Nick Dametto said the trees were planted across the city as part of Council's Street Tree Planting program, which had its eye set on planting more than 2,000 trees on Council nature strips in 2026.
"Last year Council's Street Tree program saw 1,589 trees planted on our city's nature strips across suburbs like Burdell, Pimlico, Douglas, Currajong, Gulliver, Garbutt, Belgian Gardens, Rowes Bay, Pallarenda, Condon, Rasmussen, Kelso, and Wulguru," Cr Dametto said.
"The program is about replacing trees across the city to offset those that need removing for various reasons, while growing the city's tree coverage.
"The best part is, Council saves money by growing the vast majority of these trees in Council's own Dry Tropics Nursery"
Council's team works to identify suitable locations for street trees and inform residents with a works notification ahead of time that the Council nature strip in front of their property would be a suitable location.
If residents don't want a tree planted for any reason, they simply can just request that their property is not included via the information on the works notification.
"Council has a dedicated team that undertakes the street tree planting, when the program recommences in the dry season, the first stop will be in Wulguru, Cluden, Oonoonba and Railway Estate," Cr Dametto said.
"The team works through suburbs to carefully excavate the area with a hydro-vac to avoid any services and irrigation, then plant one of around 20 varieties of trees and then mulch the base to ensure the tree can retain moisture.
"We just ask that our community gives these trees a drink every now and then to help them along the way.
"We all know the importance of tree coverage, not just for the environment – but in cooling our suburbs – this is a great program that works to improve the liveability of our city for years to come.
"We've taken on feedback from our community which is why our team makes sure they identify the right trees for the right locations across the city, considering tree fruiting, root growth and final size of the trees."
Tree species can include, but are not limited to: Cinnamon Myrtle, Flame Tree, Ivory Curl, Leopard Tree, Dawson River Weeper, Tuckeroo, Evergreen Ash, White Oak, Tulipwood, Pink Phyllanthus, Water Gum.
