This young tree is going higher and higher

I’m in awe of this young tree growing in my backyard.

About 15 years ago I spotted it when it was about 8-10cm high and thought for a moment about pulling it out because it had sprouted no more than two metres from a tap.

Now I am so glad I left it alone even though in another 15 years I might regret the damage to my water pipes.

For the first eight, nine years of its life this redgum had to survive a drought, quite possibly one of the longest in this continent.

We’ve had better rainfall the past few years but it comes and goes just like the long dry periods.

But more than surviving this redgum has thrived to grow ever taller.

It must be 10 metres tall right now, yet when you inspect it the trunk is so skinny you worry it will topple over at the first sign of a gusty wind.

We tend to chop down trees too quickly, so it evens the ledger when you grow a new one like this one.

Maybe we just take for granted the fact that it’s trees that produce the oxygen we breathe.

Not all of us.

Plenty among us every year sign up to the National Tree Day – Australia’s largest community tree planting and nature care event.
This got under way 20 years ago in 1996, and since then more than 3.8 million people have planted 22.3 million trees and plants, no mean feat.

Sign up to plant a tree

This year’s Campbelltown City Council event will be held from 9am to midday on Sunday, July 31, with local planting activities at Quirk Reserve, Bradbury.

Volunteers are encouraged to bring their family, friends and colleagues along for a fun morning of planting native trees, shrubs and ground covers to help preserve the area’s flora and fauna, and learn more about council’s Bushcare volunteer program.

Participants should wear a hat, long pants and enclosed shoes, and bring along drinking water.

Gloves, tools and planting equipment will be provided, along with light refreshments.

C’mon, do your bit, click here to register.