Living in suburbia, and particularly given how much of our open space is tarmacked for parking and driving cars, our community will be more and more impacted by increasing urban heat over the coming years and decades.
To combat that, the Brisbane City Council – like most councils – is urgently trying to plant as many street trees as they can; you may have seen them popping up on the verge in your street. But these street trees are not enough, and there are a lot of other things we can do as a community to make our suburbs cooler, more walkable, and more livable.
In particular, the Council has a verge garden policy to encourage the replacement of lawn grass with native vegetation, which our councillors should be doing more to promote and celebrate.
Residents can save mowing and help green the streets with native verge gardens to support the council street trees. Following the BCC policy ensures that pedestrians are considered and sightlines are clear. Photo: Shady Lanes Project
But beyond verge gardening, Council should also be doing more in public parks, to transform them from the current paradigm of grass and a few big trees, and instead include more middle-level, native planting. That will not only cool our suburbs and support the growth of shade trees, but also provides habitat for wildlife – everything from butterflies to blue-tongues to wallabies – and opportunities for nature play and exploration for children.