I know this is close to blasphemy but I really think we need to open up discussion on the types of trees and shrubs we are planting locally.
Potential open ground (sunlight) where we could plant trees that produce food and products for human use are getting steadily filled up with native tree species that are great for local wildlife.
We are surrounded by forests that stretch off far into the distance from us yet we are filling our small remaining spaces with more of the same.
The land was cleared at a price and environmental cost to be sure. But the reason it was cleared is that we do need open ground. We can’t just live in the middle of a forest of gum trees.
We can’t eat gum trees. They are a fire risk (as has been found overseas where they are now regarding gum trees as an awful Australian-introduced weed and fire hazard). Gum trees weren’t even our original trees. They were what was left after thousands of years of burning practices introduced by the Aborigines when they came here.
Food security is massively on the agenda worldwide and we are filling up space with trees that produce nothing edible for us (except honey).
In many cases we are also stopping or hindering householders growing their own food by planting huge street trees that grab all the sunlight and intrude their roots deep into the soil of adjacent properties for nutrients in the soil.