Botanic Gardens SA Plant Selector helps you find what will grow in your suburb, in support of Adelaide’s National Park City bid

Having trouble establishing a healthy garden? Botanic Garden green thumbs have created a nifty tool to recommend the perfect plants for your area – try it here.

South Australians are being encouraged to use a handy tool that takes the trouble out of choosing plants to suit local conditions such as soil type and rainfall.

Green Adelaide chairman Professor Chris Daniels wants everyone to experience the benefits of having more trees in the landscape, including cooler summers and warmer winters.

“It’s absolutely crucial we do everything we can to manage the impacts of climate change, and look after our special nature,” he said.

“That’s why we’ve called on the experts at the Botanic Gardens and State Herbarium to put together a list of some of the best trees to plant across Greater Adelaide.”

EXPLORE THE FULL PLANT SELECTOR HERE

Botanic Gardens and State Herbarium horticulturalist John Sandham said hundreds of trees, ranging in sizes and shapes were suited to the city’s soils and climate.

He identified some of the best small, medium and tall trees for each part of the city from the coast to the hills, for a table available online.

But the full Plant Selector database contains 1707 species including 548 trees, from small to large, and 1159 woody and perennial plants, consisting of ground cover, strappy plants, and low shrubs from 1.2m to large shrubs of 3.6m along with many climbers.

“You put in your postcode and that postcode unlocks a number of options of plants that could be grown in your area,” Mr Sandham said.

“So if you’re up in the hills, you wouldn’t grow the same plants as you would if you’re down at Glenelg.”

When selecting trees for front or back yards, it’s worth thinking about whether you want an evergreen tree, that keeps its leaves all year round, or a deciduous tree that loses its leaves for the winter.

“It’s also really important to consider your garden’s underground services including sewerage, irrigation, power, and gas and the proximity to the foundations of your home when choosing where and what to plant,” Mr Sandham said.

“Plant roots, especially those of trees can find their way into areas which may cause long term problems for you and your home if the right tree is not selected.

“Native trees can suit a range of applications in the urban environment and are generally hardier in a variety of conditions, depending on the species.”

Linda Thompson of Golden Grove in her garden, where she has added more than 160 native plants. Picture: Kelly Barnes

Linda Thompson of Golden Grove said the Plant Selector was very easy to use and a great resource for beginners.

She credits a 2015 native plant seminar at Tea Tree Gully Council for sparking her interest in native plants.

She has since transformed her own garden and much of the park next door.

Mrs Thompson has been nominated for the Pelzer Prize, named in honour of Adelaide’s first city gardener.

The $10,000 prize intends to celebrate individuals or groups making a difference to the environment.

“I want to create an awareness of the importance and beauty of our native plants, as well as their hardiness and adaptability to our hot and dry summers and cold and wet winters, which cannot be underestimated,” she said.

“It is vitally important that we transition to planting indigenous species so that our native flora and fauna can continue to exist and thrive.”

Dr Sheryn Pitman and her granddaughter Mahi, 3, enjoy Wittunga Botanic Garden. Picture: Mark Brake

LEADER OF NATIONAL PARK CITY BID

A deep passion for nature has propelled eco-literacy specialist Dr Sheryn Pitman into a new role where she will lead Adelaide’s bid to become the next National Park City, second only to London.

After the application is submitted to the National Park City Foundation at the end of the year, Dr Pitman will continue to engage the community in the greening, cooling and rewilding of Greater Adelaide.

“My deepest passion is the natural world and for us as humans to understand it, to know it, to appreciate that it underpins absolutely everything else we have in our society and that if we don’t care for it well, we don’t have anything,” she said.

“As humans we tend to get carried away with ourselves and our cleverness and we often forget the natural world underpins our civilisation.

“If you go back through history you will find that any civilisation that has forgotten that, tends to collapse.”

Dr Sheryn Pitman and her granddaughter Mahi, 3, help garden staff plant a golden wattle (Acacia pycnantha) near the children's play area at Wittunga Botanic Garden. Picture: Mark Brake

Creating partnerships and working collaboratively to raise awareness and increase engagement is one of her key strengths. In her current role at Inspiring South Australia, based at the SA Museum, the focus has been on science.

Previously at the Botanic Gardens of South Australia, it was sustainable landscapes and green infrastructure. She developed the Plant Selector, which Green Adelaide is now using to provide advice on the best trees and shrubs to plant, by postcode, across the state.

She led habitat restoration and revegetation projects at Greening Australia.

But her roots are in the arts, where she began work as a creative writer of nature-based children’s theatre, as well as stories and novels, plus radio and television.

Dr Pitman said she was very excited about the new role and sensed a great deal of expectation from friends and family about her capacity to fix Adelaide’s loss of trees and other vegetation through greater urban density.

Sheryn Pitman from Greening Australia with Urrbrae school student Jason Burnie and class members from the Earth Keepers Club planting trees in February 2008. Picture: Grant Nowell

“When you go to London, what strikes you is the incredible linking of lots of parks and there’s no fear of trees, whereas we do tend to, within our community, have a fear of trees,” she said.

“Part of that would be that we’ve often planted the wrong kinds of species, you know, there are species that are much better suited for urban environments.

“So when we say nature and people have to live together in harmony, we do, it doesn’t mean we go back to everything as it was before, it means we have to consider the requirements of trees and plants, alongside the requirements of people, so that we can find the ways to work best together.”

Green Adelaide chairman Chris Daniels said the board was pleased to bring Dr Pitman on to the National Parks City team.

“Sheryn brings a wealth of experience in education, engagement and team skills in areas such as ecological literacy, urban ecology and plant science,” he said.

“Coming recently from leading Inspiring SA, Sheryn will be the perfect leader to ensure our bid to be the second National Park City in the world succeeds.”

Environment Minister David Speirs said the bid to become a National Park City required rallying a focused community effort to improve metropolitan SA’s liveability, through a better connection between people and nature.

“One of the first steps to become a National Park City is demonstrating people’s support for the environment to the international National Park City Foundation,” he said.

“By claiming this title, South Australia will draw local, national and international awareness, focus and investment to become an even more liveable city.

“On top of that a National Park City is a place where everyone has a shared responsibility for the environment – across government, communities and organisations – and we work together to cool, green and wild the city on-ground.”

Originally published as Botanic Gardens SA Plant Selector helps you find what will grow in your suburb, in support of Adelaide’s National Park City bid