By CAMERON LUCADOU-WELLS
AN award-winning landscaper says our taste for native greenery in streets and public spaces is a turn-off for people.
Wes Fleming, director of Flemings Nurseries, helped design a public garden in the $1 billion Somerfield housing estate in Keysborough, which officially opened last week.
When complete, the 120 hectares of former market gardens and wetlands will have about 2000 houses. About 20 per cent of it is expected to be open space.
Mr Fleming took aim at the common practice of installing native-grass wetlands as open space in housing estates.
“It attracts snakes, it’s not inviting to people nor is there any connection to the landscape.”
He compares them to recently built public spaces — Lonsdale Street in Dandenong, Docklands and Federation Square — notable for their lack of canopies.
That starkness is putting our urban environment in crisis, Mr Fleming argues.
“We think of Melbourne as part of the garden state. A lot of that tree cover for Melbourne’s suburbs comes from the backyard. But our houses are getting bigger, our blocks are getting smaller. We can’t rely on the backyard for canopy cover any more.
“The future suburbs is where the future health of our canopy cover is.”
Zoo animals were found to decline in concrete enclosures, and the same applied to humans, Mr Fleming said. Suburbs weren’t providing enough space for children and their parents to “get out of the house” and play in.
Many native trees’ foliage let light through and their colours were a drab grey-green, he said. He called for more shady exotics, as planted in the leafy inner suburban streets and Dandenong Park for cooler, enclosed streets.
“Urban environments aren’t the same as native environments. There are many studies showing that well-landscaped development affects us on all levels. People come outside and talk to each other more. Crime rates get less as there’s more integration.”
Greater Dandenong engineering services director Bruce Rendell said the council was guided by legislation, its planning scheme, stakeholders and community views on the amount of open space at developments.
“In choosing tree species, the council is mostly concerned about the ‘right’ tree for the site.”
What do you think? Do our streets and parks have enough natural shade? Post a comment below, on facebook.com/greaterdandenongweekly or tweet to @DandenongWeekly.
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