Jacarandas for Newborns: North Sydney Council celebrates new arrivals with the gift of a tree.

By ANNA USHER

An urban myth about jacaranda trees on the lower north shore is about to become a reality, with North Sydney Council gifting parents a purple sapling to celebrate the birth of a baby.

“Trees for Newborns” will enable families to plant a tree on their property and watch it grow alongside their child.

The program, on trial for the next 12 months, is expected to deliver around 900 trees if every new parent in North Sydney LGA takes up the offer.

“The program is a lovely way to celebrate the arrival of a new baby, allowing parents to plant a tree in their honour,” North Sydney Mayor Zoe Baker told Mosman Collective.

“As each year goes by, families can witness the growth and use it to teach their children about the beauty and benefits of the natural environment.”

New parents can visit Council’s website to request a tree which will be delivered to their door at no cost to them.

Council says the overall tree canopy cover in North Sydney has declined by 11.7 percent since 2008 due to increased infrastructure projects and urban development.

But the most significant decline has been on private land.

The goal, Mayor Baker says, is to increase total canopy cover to 34.4 percent by 2036.

But while the jacaranda is a sentimental favourite, other native species with ecological benefits are also available.

“Council data shows that more than half of the North Sydney LGA is private land (58%), so it makes sense that we encourage people to plant trees on their properties,” Mayor Baker said.

Sydney’s first jacaranda was planted in the Royal Botanic Garden in the late 1850s or early 1860s. Many amateur gardeners tried to grow them at home, but most failed because the tree grows best from fresh seed, and Australia was far from South America.

In 1868 Michael Guilfoyle, horticulturalist and owner of Guilfoyle’s Exotic Nursery at Double Bay, worked out a complicated method of growing the tree from cuttings.

He soon began supplying the private gardens around Sydney.

While a spokesperson for Northern Sydney Local Health District confirmed no hospital sapling program existed on the north shore, it is possible some gifting occurred, inspired by the work of Sister Irene Haxton at her Jacaranda Maternity Hospital in Woolooware in the 1950s, whose sapling gifts for new parents contributed to the number of the trees in Sutherland Shire.

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