Take a seat and remember Wollongong's Big Red

But the bench - which serves as a memorial for much-loved local Brent Peter Kelly, aka Big Red - allows people to sit and face the trees and shrubs he planted in the park.

Tagged the guerilla gardener of Wollongong, Kelly went around the city planting native saplings wherever he saw fit. Though it wasn't in secret; Kelly left a sign behind owning up to work.

"The council rang and said, because he always left his sign to say that he planted and with his telephone number, council got in contact and said, 'look, we have a problem'," mother Jennifer Kelly said of the Osborne Park plantings.

"The lawn mower gentleman can't get around all of these plants and you've actually gone a little bit too far with the planting. So we needed to come down and move them."

Kelly passed away peacefully in his sleep on September 3, 2022, while holidaying with his family in Queensland.

When there was talk of commissioning some permanent memorial for Kelly, his mother suggested a bench at Osborne Park made sense because it would allow people to sit back and reflect while looking at his work.

And of course, for a man known as Big Red, the bench could only be one colour. It's made up of a red metal frame and recycled red timber.

Though there won't be a plaque with Kelly's name on it; rather Ms Kelly reckoned those who knew her son would hear about the bench and come down.

"With people who remember him, the word will get around just down here in this part of town," she said.

"He reflected on them all the time because he always said once he knew somebody, he knew them for life. He just loved telling everybody that I love you. Not just one specific person because if he said it to one person, his idea was that other people would be jealous.

"So that's why he said it to everybody."