Tree Planting and Maintenance Program

We are committed to managing and caring for the more than 16,000 trees that call Centennial Parklands home. We are also committed to protecting the historic character and features of the trees that make the Parklands unique as well, provide habitat for our wildlife as well as accommodating the ever-changing recreational needs of park users.

• Project: Tree Planting and Maintenance Program

• Location: Various locations across Centennial Parklands

• Project timing: Ongoing

• Project owner: Greater Sydney Parklands

Project description

With the majority of the original planting occurring in the sixty years between 1860s and 1920s, it is important we have a plan to manage our tree replacement and planting program and we do. Our Tree Master Plan details how we manage our aging tree population and our comprehensive tree management program.

Centennial Parklands staff care for over 16,000 trees across Moore Park, Queens Park and Centennial Park.  Our team spend a lot of time caring for our Parklands’ beautiful trees, to ensure they live for as long as they can. 

Trees plantings/maintenance works in 2022

Planting of 200 trees across Sandstone Ridge woodland - April 2022 to January 2023 (completed)

This project aimed to transtion to the native vegetation community type from the existing Pinus pinaster (Maritime Pine) woodland. The pine trees were planted throughout the 1960s but many of them are now reaching the end of their life, with the Parklands having to remove some dead trees over recent years. In 2017, the Parklands trialled interplanting amongst the pines with Angophora costata with much success. The 200 trees will aim to supplement the trail and provide a foundation for the new vegetation community.

The planting of 200 trees across the Parklands started in Autumn 2022 . The trees were planted across Sandstone Ridge woodland, which is a popular site for dog walkers, sitting between Carrington Drive and Federation Valley.

The trees are a selection of long-lived species from the ‘Sydney Sandstone Ridgetop Woodland’, one of the six main indigenous forest communities. The planting consisted of the following species:

• 100 x Angophora costata (Sydney Red Gum)
• 50 x Corymbia eximia (Yellow Boodwood)
• 50 x Eucalyptus punctata (Grey Gum)

Tree planting on Grand Drive – 12 May 2022 (completed)

8 large Tree Waratahs (Alloxylon flammeum) have been planted along the western half of Grand Drive. These flowering trees (in the same family as the Waratah, Banksia and Grevillea) have been grown specially for Centennial Park and is the first time this particular species has been planted in the Park. The trees won’t produce any flowers for a few years yet but when they do, they will produce an attractive red flower in late winter and spring. A great addition to our tree family.

Planting of 13 trees in Moore Park West (completed)

These 13 large trees (300L) will be planted this April in Moore Park West. They will make a solid statement to the area. The planting will start on 26 April 2022 and should take approximately 1 week to complete.

  
 

 

 

Completed work

 

Pruning of the large cottonwood opposite the homestead cafe - February 2022

We have kicked off works in 2022 with the protection of one of our favourite habitat trees in the Parklands – a large cottonwood (Populus deltoides) opposite the Homestead Café. The tree is home to the Powerful Owl and many other important species and our team of arborists have recently completed major pruning works to extend its life by at least another decade. Find out more about the works here. 

Trees planted in 2021

Over 200 new trees were planted in 2021. Below are some of the highlights so you can spot the new plantings were you are next in the Parklands.

• 20 new trees were planted around Tramway Oval in Moore Park on 19 November to provide additional screening and separation from the Light Rail line. 10 Butia capitata (Jelly Palms) and 10 ‘Precious flowering gums’ will also provide additional shading for this high performance field.

• Thirty three new trees, as part of the Premier’s priority Greening Sydney, in the Moore Park East (Robertson Rd) precinct. The trees are a mix of Eucalyptus, Backhousia, Buckinghamia and Angophora. These plantings will strengthen the peripheries of the park providing shade for users of the sporting facilities.

 

• Thirty six mature Port Jackson figs have been planted along Grand Drive (pictured below), in the last three years, as part of a succession planting program to ensure the historic character and features that make Centennial Parklands unique are preserved into the future. These 200L Ficus rubiginosa have been sourced from specimens grown at the University of NSW, to keep the trees as locally endemic as possible. The trees were contract grown especially for Centennial Parklands.

 

• In addition to the figs, the Parklands have also replaced Quercus ilex (Holm Oak) and Araucaria heterophylla (Norfolk Island Pine) in keeping with the themed and sequenced Grand Drive planting.
• A 1000L Angophora costata (Sydney red gum) planted in the front lawn of The Residences (pictured below);

• Five 600L Ficus macrophylla (Moreton Bay fig) planted along Anzac Parade to replace trees removed for the construction of the Sydney light rail project and fill in space between our iconic mature avenue of figs.
• Twenty five new 200 litre Eucalyptus trees as part of the South West corner restoration. 10 x Eucalyptus tereticornis and 15 x Eucalyptus propinqua have been installed to revegetate an old stockpile site.

Tree plantings coming up

The horticulture team at Centennial Parklands will plant hundreds more locally-sourced native species of trees as part of an intricately planned, large-scale woodland.

The University of NSW has another twenty 200L Ficus rubiginosa (Port Jackson figs) growing that will be ready for planting in 2023.