Honour for tree grown from seed

Our Tree of the Month for November has been a project of love for a group of people who called themselves The Mad Potters.

The Townsend Park residents and gardening group members - Ray, Julie, Sue, Steve, Leonie, and Dean and Jessie the dog - have been tending this tree, an SA blue gum, since it was planted as a seed almost five years ago.

It's flourished in the garden bed thanks to lots of love and attention from the gardening group.

Now it bears the Tree of the Month medallion and is being celebrated as a much-loved part of the communal gardens within the lifestyle village.

“Our gardening group grew this and 25 other natives from seed,” said Steve on behalf of the group.

“This tree has a beautiful foliage and bark, and in five years, it has grown to at least five metres tall. It provides great shade to a pathway and is a haven for native birds.”

The group was excited to adorn the tree with a Tree of the Month medallion, which will remain in place for the rest of the month.

SA blue gum trees flower in winter and spring with red flowers.

With care and maintenance, after 20 years, this tree could potentially:

• offset 1754 kilometres worth of CO2 emitted from the average petrol-powered passenger vehicles
• absorb enough stormwater to fill 144 bathtubs
• remove an amount of pollution from the air - in gaseous and particulate form - equivalent in weight to 11 smartphones

Nominate your favourite or much-loved Holdfast Bay tree via the below link.