In the older suburbs, it is likely to be gold, russet, bronze or bright red.

In the newer suburbs, duller colours dominate.

That's because government planting policy changed about 50 years ago so native trees came more into favour, and native trees don't put on the full colourful display. They might shed bark but they don't shed leaves as the seasons change.

So the earlier ACT suburbs of inner south and inner north are the places to go to get the full show.

Tuggeranong, Weston Creek, Belconnen, and Woden are not the places for the spectacle of colour.

Before about 1965, imported types of trees like oak were the fashionable types, and the leaves of these deciduous trees turn colour in autumn and then go crisp and fall (so probably giving the name to the American word for autumn - it continued in American English but fell out of use in its original English).

"From '65 to the mid-80s, the trend was more to establish native trees, so Canberra's older suburbs have the most deciduous trees and, therefore, the most beautiful displays of autumn colour," according to Stephen Alegria, manager in the ACT government's City Presentation department which is responsible for the "urban forest".

Their tree person really is called a "branch manager".

The policy for the newest suburbs it to have a mix.

"These days we tend to plant more of a balance. We plant natives on the edge of a new suburb and the open spaces and deciduous trees as street trees," Mr Alegria said.

His favourite is a non-native type.

"I really like the Chinese pistachio because it's got a vivid, red, autumn colour and fine leaves. It presents such a stark contrast with the green around."

He reckons there are about 760,000 trees on public land in urban Canberra and about the same number in people's gardens.

Tree planting is important.

Rowena Padilla scans the city from a computer screen, identifying areas which need trees. One of the factors is the temperature. If it's too hot, the place might need a bit of shade.

Her favourite tree is the pink flowering plum (prunus cerasifera nigra) which has pink flowers in spring and leaves which turn bronze in autumn.

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There is an ACT government team which goes to the places which she identifies as potential sites. They look for pipes and power lines and the like which might rule a tree out.

Dijitha Mani is one of the inspectors of sites. "My favourite tree is liquid amber (sometimes called sweet gum). It gives pretty good shade. The shape of the leaves is very pretty."

Her colleague, Isabel Chau, favours the native eucalyptus. "If you look at them, there's a really dark bark which just looks lovely," she said.

The ACT government has a website where you can find the best places to see the most spectacular display.

Put "Canberra autumn leaves map" into the search engine and up it pops in its full colourful glory.

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