At the end of the For a More Beautiful Ljubljana campaign, we present the Tree and Avenue of the Year in Ljubljana, which were chosen by citizens through an online vote.

The title of Tree of the Year went to the ginkgo tree in Valvasor Park, while the Avenue of the Year went to the red-leaved black cherry plum on Brnčičeva ulica.

The Tree and Avenue of the Year will symbolically represent all the trees in the city and the care for them throughout the year.

Tree of the Year 2024: ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba) in Valvasor Park

The ginkgo is a tree that is »beautiful in all seasons, shining like the sun long into autumn on grey and foggy autumn days and colouring our day. Its leaves are like mini fans, which provide solid shade on hot summer days so that we can rest on nearby benches and admire the little fans swaying in the light summer breeze,« the proposers explained the nomination for the Tree of the Wear.

In addition to its leaves modified into needles, which turn golden yellow in autumn, the mighty tree in Valvasor Park also has an interesting three-pointed habit.

Avenue of the Year 2024: red-leaved black cherry plums on Brnčičeva ulica

The avenue of red-leaved black cherry plum trees, which the initiators called the flowering plum trees on Brnčičeva ulica, is a beautiful avenue that represents a lovely contrast to the industrial zone in Črnuče.

Flowering red-leaved black cherry plum trees (Prunus cerasifera 'Nigra') beautify and enliven the space, especially in spring.

The main aim of the campaign is to raise awareness of the immense importance of trees for our city. With it, we want to encourage people to observe trees and raise the awareness of citizens about their importance for the quality of life in the city. The chosen Tree and Avenue of the Year symbolically represent all the trees in the city throughout the year.

This year, we have selected the fifth Tree of the Year already and the second Avenue of the Year. We left both the selection of trees and the final decision to the citizens. This year, they sent us 23 proposals for the Tree of the Year and 7 for the Avenue of the Year. From these, an expert committee selected the finalists, from which the citizens selected the Tree and Avenue of the Year for 2024 through online voting.

Ljubljana, an internationally recognized tree city

Our efforts in the field of tree care are also confirmed by the Arbor Day Foundation and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), which, within the framework of the Tree Cities of the World program, awarded Ljubljana the title of Tree City for the sixth consecutive year. Ljubljana is thus part of an important global network that paves the way in the field of care for urban forests and city trees. In the City of Ljubljana, we are proud to have once again, for the sixth time already, received this commendation for our activities and measures with which we ensure that our city, which proudly bears the titles of European Green Capital 2016 and the European Best Green Capital (2021), is truly green.

Planting new trees

As part of regular maintenance of public green areas, we plant between 300 and 600 trees each year. Many additional trees are planted as part of the renovation of streets, roads, parking lots and when creating new areas, so in the last few years, we have planted over 1,000 new trees annually. We also take care of fruit trees in city orchards and perform tree care measures in our forests. In addition, we implement innovative approaches to tree management. The transplanting of trees from Linhartova cesta to Šmartinska Park has also proven to be a successful approach. This was also noticed by the citizens, as this avenue was one of the nominations for the Avenue of the Year.