THE city’s outdoor caretakers have had leaf blowers and rakes at the ready this month and will continue to clean up Autumnal debris late into Winter.
Mount Gambier City Council staff have been in parks and on the streets, dealing with the ‘fall-out’ from deciduous trees across town.
Council workers Peter Allen, Paul Dunn and Vansittart Park caretaker Dan Jevtic spoke to The Border Watch about seasonal maintenance ahead of the first day of Winter.
“We are flat out during Autumn,” Mr Allen said.
“There are hundreds of deciduous trees across town,” Mr Dunn added.
“Yesterday we picked up two trucks worth of leaves from the area surrounding Meals on Wheels.”
Mr Jevtic said while the golden hues of the Autumnal trees were beautiful, keeping footpaths clear was an arduous task.
“May and June are the two months we do the most cleanup,” Mr Jevtic said.
“We are still cleaning up leaves during Winter and we work in the drizzle but not during the heavier rain.
“One of the oak trees at Vansittart Park is always the last to drop, when all the fresh growth has started the leaves on that tree are still falling.”
Mr Allen said enduring the cooler Winter months was the nature of outdoor work.
“It’s freezing today, especially when you stop moving,” he said.
“It can get pretty crisp but we work outdoors right through Winter.”
Mount Gambier residents enjoyed a warmer than average Autumn, with minimum and maximum temperatures higher than average in both March and April.
The average minimum temperature during May was a brisk 6.7 degrees, 0.7 degrees below average, while the average maximum was the exact median temperature for May at 16.1 degrees.
The heaviest rainfall during Autumn was 86 mil in May, followed by 74.8 mil in March and 62.8 mil in April.
Locals can expect a drier than average Winter, with rainfall from June to August likely to be below average across South Australia.
Winter daytime temperatures are likely to be warmer than average across the state, while night-time temperatures are likely to be warmer in the South East.
