Giant sequoias return to Hobart's St David's Park in centenary celebrations
Significantly younger than their predecessors, giant sequoias have returned to Hobart's St David's Park.
The trees, aged between 5 and 7 years old, were planted to mark 100 years of the public park.
Dozens gathered for a garden party to celebrate the centenary and to watch one of the two new giant sequoias be planted.
The centenary celebrations included a band playing in the park's Victorian-era rotunda. (ABC News: Jake Grant)
Hobart residents Roseanna and Chris were among the crowd. They said it was sad to see the original sequoias die before they turned 100.
In the wild, giant sequoias can live for thousands of years.
"Those trees were young in their lifetime," Roseanna said.
"It's lovely to see the younger sequoias. It'd be interesting to see what else will go in here."
Hobart residents Roseanna and Chris were among the revellers. (ABC News: Jake Grant)
City of Hobart open spaces manager Sean Black said the replanting was a meaningful moment.
"My children have grown up in Hobart and have played under those trees," he said.
"To be part of replacing those trees and putting some in place for another 100 years to let other people's children enjoy them is quite special."
St David's Park was established as a burial ground in 1804.
The cemetery closed in 1872 and experienced a period of disrepair before reopening as a park in 1926.
A new spot in the park has been chosen for the replacement trees. (ABC News: Jake Grant)
Interstate visitors Anne, Phillip and Terence joined the celebrations to learn about the park's history.
"I was fascinated with the headstones in the memorial wall because we couldn't help but notice the ages of the people who had been buried here.
"It seemed very interesting that they were mostly young people, even in their 20s and 30s.
"So it must have been a very difficult time in those early days,"
Anne said.
Visitors Anne, Phillip and Terence became interested in the history of the park. (ABC News: Jake Grant)
Timber from felled trees given new life
Two 88-year-old sequoias were removed in April after vandalism, fire and other factors led to their decline.
The trees were heritage-listed and were planted in St David's Park to commemorate the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in 1937.
After the sequoias failed to respond to attempts to revive them, the council acted to remove them.
Mr Black said it was an "extremely difficult" decision for council to make.
"Unfortunately, they declined quite rapidly, so they had to be removed," he said.
The dead giant sequoia trees were removed for safety reasons. (ABC News: Dan Miller)
Following the trees' removal, Hobart City Council received more than 60 applications to repurpose the timber, including for artistic sculptures, outdoor seating, musical instruments and scientific research.
New trees considered youngsters
The new trees have been planted in a different spot, to allow more sun into the park.
"One thing we have noticed since the trees have been gone is how many people are actually using the open space there now," Mr Black said.
"We're really conscious of making sure that we could still get the trees into the park to give them space to grow because they are large trees.
"But at the same time, provide open space and natural light so people can enjoy the space."
Charles Wooley (right) with Sean Black at the tree-planting ceremony. (ABC News: Jake Grant)
Mr Black said the council's arboriculture team would be "keeping a close eye" on the young trees to ensure their success.
"They'll take 15 to 20 years to start maturing,"
he said.
"At this stage it's about protection of the trees and making sure they get established. I think they should grow quite well there."
KioskNews shows a cleaned-up reading view extracted from the publisher’s page — the original always lives on their site, not ours.