Insights · 10 June 2026 · Planted
The latest Greening Our City round funds 24,000 trees and 47,000m² of biodiverse understorey, much of it in low-canopy suburbs. The trees get the photos - but the understorey is where the establishment work really is.
The latest round of the NSW Greening Our City program has put $35.1 million into projects across Greater Sydney - around 24,000 trees, and 47,000 square metres of biodiverse understorey planting transforming streets, parks and public spaces. Notably, much of the canopy work is targeted at neighbourhoods sitting on just 10–20% cover, where the shade and cooling are needed most. It’s a big, welcome commitment. It’s also a lot of planting that has to actually take.
The trees get the photos, the understorey does the work
A street tree is one plant, well-watered, easy to picture. 47,000m² of understorey is a different job entirely - hundreds of thousands of ground covers, grasses and shrubs going into public space, exposed to foot traffic, dry spells and weeds from day one. That’s where biodiverse plantings are won or lost.
What scale planting needs to succeed
- Mobilise without losing quality. High-volume planting that still gets density, spacing and species right across large areas.
- Protect and establish. Ground covers need the surface held and the weeds kept off through the establishment window, or the cover never closes.
- Plant to the brief. Council greening jobs come with species lists and outcomes attached - the planting has to meet them, at volume, on program.
The takeaway
Funding 47,000m² of understorey is the start, not the finish. Getting that much native planting established - fast, clean, and to spec - is the actual job, and it’s the one we do every year for councils, developers and civil contractors across NSW.
That’s our revegetation and civil & infrastructure planting work. Got a greening or streetscape project to deliver? Tell us about it.
