THE City of Kalamunda has collaborated with Trillion Trees to gift 10,000 native trees and plants across almost 1000 households as part of the council’s 2025 plants for residents program.

The program provides free plants to Kalamunda residents in an effort to help establish natural habitat in backyards and verges across the city.

Residents were invited to submit an expression of interest, with a random lottery draw conducted to allocate free plant packs grown by community volunteers at Trillion Trees.

Trillion Trees chief executive officer Mark Hullett said the organisation was delighted to work on the community program with Kalamunda over three years.

“Programs like this help to increase urban canopy, promote biodiversity and foster a love of trees among the Kalamunda community,” he said.

“By learning more about their natural environment and how to plant native trees and plants, residents take pride in their patch and often develop a deeper love for trees.

“Each plant species was carefully selected to be locally endemic, waterwise and low maintenance, setting residents up to successfully green their patch with beautiful native plants and flowers.”

The plants for residents 2025 information page stated the packs were divided into urban forest, biodiversity, habitat and wildflower categories and were collected from Woodlupine Community Centre in Forrestfield.

The urban forest pack includes eight trees and large shrubs that provide height and shade while also designed to increase urban tree canopy and are suited for medium to large properties (more than 4000sqm).

The biodiversity pack was built with medium to large gardens in mind to increase habitat and food for wildlife in the area while adding colour to home hardens.

The habitat pack focuses on supporting native birds in particular by ensuring continuous food supply and was designed to provide food and shelter in small to medium gardens.

For small gardens, the wildflower pack helped support pollinators and also added colour to homes.

The pick-and-select option from previous years was removed to ensure all plants were distributed evenly, minimising disappointment.

Mr Hullet said protecting trees on private land in urban areas was important for maintaining existing urban canopy.

“Local councils can support this by implementing an effective tree retention policy as part of their local planning policy,” he said.

“Sadly, local governments typically have little to no control over tree protection on public land.

“The state’s policies and regulations have the greatest impact in these areas.”

City of Kalamunda Mayor Margaret Thomas said plants for residents gave the community a chance to contribute directly to urban greening by planting native species on private properties.

“As these areas fall outside of the city’s planting footprint, community involvement is essential in helping to strengthen biodiversity corridors and increase canopy cover across the broader urban landscape,” she said.

An information sheet for planting natives can be found on the plants for residents page on the City of Kalamunda website or by visiting tinyurl.com/zcak
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