Street Garden Guidelines
Learn more about caring for street gardens and tree squares.
Do you want to green, bring life and colour to your local neighbourhood and support biodiversity? Follow the steps on this page to find out more.
What is a street garden
A street garden is any non-edible community led planting initiative in Council managed streetscapes. These gardens are supported by Council and cared for by the community. Planting options include planting within your lawn nature strip, planting within an existing tree square located within the footpath or road reserve, or in a street garden bed. Council does not permit any planting in median strips or in tree squares in the centre of a road.
A plant voucher from local nursery VINC is available to residents that register their garden. The number of free plants is allocated on a case by case basis. Register your new or existing space using the questionnaire below.
If you have a space in your neighbourhood that’s bigger than a nature strip or tree square, that needs a refresh or is looking unkept, contact Council on 9205 5555 or [email protected] and we will investigate what’s possible.
Read the Street Garden Guidelines
Please read our Street Garden Guidelines Pamphlet [ PDF, 1.41 MB] before you begin.
• Do not plant within 30cm of the road or footpath when planting in a lawn nature strip.
• Plants must not reduce the path of travel along footpaths to below 1.5m wide.
• Street garden plants are subject to a 1m height restriction. A 50cm height restriction applies to plants in tree square or plants within 10m of intersections or pedestrian crossings.
• Only plants, soil/compost and mulch are permitted in your street garden. You are not permitted to introduce any other materials or objects into your street garden (e.g. synthetic turf, paving, decorative gravel, furniture or art).
• Do not introduce raised structures such as raised edges, planters, pots, rocks or star pickets as these can become trip hazards or impact accessibility for prams, wheelchairs and people who might need assistance with mobility.
• Space must be allocated for bin collection services.
• Access to disability parking bays and loading zones must be maintained.
• Keep utility pits clear and accessible.
• You cannot install irrigation.
• The species you select could impact biodiversity. Please refer to Yarra's 'Do Not Plant' [ PDF, 1.31 MB] and 'Recommended' [ PDF, 166.24 KB] Street Garden Species Lists. This is particularly important if your street garden is within 100m of a waterway.
• Contact Council if your street garden is close to a busy commercial area or activity centre as it is particularly important that accessibility and viewlines are not impacted in these busy streets.
• You are not permitted to plant any new trees on public land. Please reach out to Council if you would like to place a request for a new tree to be planted.
• Only use small hand tools and take care to not damage any roots when digging within the vicinity of street trees. If you uncover tree roots, do not cut, scrape or damage them. Any roots that are uncovered during the process should be reburied to keep them healthy.
• Keep the soil and mulch at existing levels below the tree canopy, extensive digging or any mounding of soil can damage tree roots. Do not mound soil, mulch or grass clippings against the tree trunk as this can cause disease. Residents can get free mulch from the Clifton Hill recycling drop-off centre.
• When planting in a tree square do not plant within 30cm of the tree trunk and keep plant heights below 50cm. Do not plant within a Greenwell (plastic ring surrounding the root ball).
• When planting around a tree in a lawn nature strip, do not plant within 50cm or 3 times the trunk diameter (whichever is greater).
• Do not water a new tree (under 2 years old) as these trees are watered as part of their establishment maintenance.
• If the health of an existing street tree is being affected by your street garden, or if the tree needs to be removed or replanted, your street garden may be removed without consultation.
Useful information to read before you begin street gardening
Your street garden is a communal, public space - you need consent from your neighbours, and/or any other affected property owner or tenants before you start gardening. Make sure you talk to your neighbours either side of where you plan to garden, if you live in a block of flats reach out to as many as you can. Document these conversations in a way that works for you.
You can use the Neighbour Support Pro forma [ PDF, 181.41 KB] to capture your conversations.
There could be important underground utilities beneath your street garden. Contact Before You Dig Australia for free information about relevant underground services.
Utility companies may need to access their infrastructure for upgrades or repairs at any time which may result in damage to or removal of your street garden without consultation or compensation.
Remember to always consider your safety and the safety of others when gardening, particularly when gardening near roads. Consider wearing hi-vis clothing when gardening near roadways, and wear garden gloves and a mask if doing a lot of digging.
Soil contamination is common across the City of Yarra. Consider testing your soil for contamination and following the EPA’s top tips for gardening safely.
Plant material must be maintained in your street garden and not become weedy, overgrown or neglected.
Council reserves the right to remove street gardens, without consultation or compensation, that are not maintained or present a risk to Council assets, to public safety or to public accessibility.
There are many existing valued, biodiverse and beautiful street gardens in Yarra. There is no expectation that these gardens be removed, even if they do not fully comply with the guidelines. However, if a specific concern is raised regarding safety, invasive weeds, accessibility or tree health, Council may be required to modify or remove gardens to ensure public safety.
Street gardens
Street gardens involve non-edible plants and are designed to enhance the streetscape's aesthetics and biodiversity. These gardens must adhere to specific guidelines to ensure they do not obstruct or pose risks to public safety.
Edible gardens
Edible plants are not permitted in street gardens because of possible soil contamination. If you are interested in planting edible species, refer to the Growing your own food pages for information on joining an existing community garden or exploring options at home. Sign up for the My Smart Garden newsletter to learn more about smart gardening.
Complete the Online Yarra Street Garden Questionnaire and Registration
To better understand Council’s guidelines for street gardening, please complete the Online Yarra Street Garden Questionnaire and Registration. This questionnaire will provide guidance on how the community can plan, plant and maintain the gardens within Yarra’s streetscapes. If you are interested in a bigger planting opportunity reach out to Council on 9205 5555 or [email protected] to see what’s possible.
More information
If you would like to know more about this project, contact us on 9205 5555 or [email protected]
Useful resources
Subscribe to the Yarra Environment eNewsletter for community planting opportunities or check out our What’s On page.