Private trees are an important element in the social relations of urban landscapes, contributing intensely personal and highly textured experiences of memory, place and emotion. Drawing on emerging theoretical interest in human-plant relations, we report encounters with trees in gardens, and the effects of these encounters on decision-making, from semi-structured interviews in home gardens in the Melbourne suburb of Fairfield, Australia. Trees were experienced as active participants in urban life in five main ways: as producers of wanted and unwanted products, as messengers of social information, as reference points to places and experiences, as significant others, and as members of the community. We show how, in the residential context, nuanced and highly individual experiences of trees are critical in shaping the private urban forest. The urban forest can be planned and managed in ways that acknowledge this lived experience of trees as active participants in the fabric of urban life.
Funding
Australian Research Council
History
Publication title
Urban Forestry and Urban Greening
Volume
14
Pagination
1-7
ISSN
1618-8667
Department/School
School of Geography, Planning and Spatial Sciences
Publisher
Urban und Fischer Verlag
Place of publication
Germany
Rights statement
Copyright 2014 Elsevier GmbH.
Repository Status
Restricted
Socio-economic Objectives
Other environmental management not elsewhere classified