Council staff (L-R) Ann Yates, Samuel Bourne, Jenny Barnes & Kane Boss were on hand to give away hundreds of free plants at Saturday’s National Tree Day event
For the fourth year in a row Whyalla Council has celebrated National Tree Day with a free plant giveaway!
This year’s event has been hailed an outstanding success, with a steady stream of people flowing into the beautiful surrounds of the Ada Ryan Gardens over the course of the three- hour event.
Hundreds of residents took advantage of Saturday’s perfect winter weather to score a free native plant for their garden, with Council staff on hand to give out the free native shrubs and to provide valuable information on the different plants and the best place to plant them.
After some uncertainty due to recent covid restrictions, the event was given the green light from SA Health and attendees were covid-aware - taking care to check in with the QR code, practising social distancing, wearing masks and using hand sanitiser.
While this was the first National Tree Day event for some, it was heartening to hear from regulars how plants that they had been given in previous years were now thriving and flourishing in their gardens.
And proving that gardening is for everyone, there was a gamut of people from young children right through to grandparents, from dog walkers to bike riders, all united in their love of the outdoors.
Council celebrates National Tree Day in a two-pronged approach, engaging the general public with Saturday’s free plant giveaway and also offering free ‘mystery boxes’ of 10 native plants to all schools and kindies in Whyalla.
Planning for National Tree Day has been underway since this time last year, with an order placed with the Arid Lands Botanic Gardens last July to ensure there would be available tube stock in the necessary quantities and of suitable size.
Wayne Grimwade & Brandon Cooper (age 7) were the first Whyalla residents to grab their free plants for National Tree Day.