Green Triangle set to bloom

Come spring, Somerton Park’s Green Triangle will be in full bloom. But already the streets are significantly greener with the addition of hundreds more trees.

The greening project, which was undertaken by Council throughout winter and spring last year, resulted in 734 more trees being planted across the residential area which is bordered by Diagonal, Brighton and Oaklands roads.

It’s now referred as the Green Triangle, given the number of additional trees, following a motion that was proposed by Councillor William Miller in 2024. Council agreed to allocated $20,000 to fund the project, which focussed on adding trees to all viable sites in the area.

An intensive care schedule followed, with 30 rounds of watering already completed to help the newly planted trees become established.

Residents will continue to see crews maintaining the trees by topping up mulch, repairing water wells, pulling weeds, re-staking, and of course, watering, to ensure the best possible results.

A focus for Council’s arborists and Open Space team was maximising species diversity among the new plantings, which helps to build resilience into the urban forest while also enhancing visual appeal.

Some of the species planted include coastal banksias, jacarandas, drooping sheoak and other species including Chinese pistachio and Japanese pagoda trees.

Selecting the different trees for the varying spaces was guided by a right tree, right place approach while also considering seasonal colour, and stormwater impacts.

On north-facing verges, deciduous trees were chosen to allow winter sun into homes.

For all other aspects, more evergreen species were chosen to minimise autumn leaf drop and limit stormwater blockage.

The flowering behaviours of the trees was also considered to create streetscapes with interest and character.

Although not directly related to the Green Triangle project, a rain garden was also installed installed at the corner of Sullivan Street and Bishop Avenue, near two veteran river red gums.