Shire chief executive officer Kaylene Conrick said the move was part of an ongoing council program to comply with statewide restrictions on garden watering.

"Roses from municipal garden beds in Creswick, including beds in Victoria, Raglan, Cambridge and Albert streets have been removed," she said.

"Under the current Central Highlands Water stage four water restrictions no gardens can be watered."

Ms Conrick said that council workers planted the roses in the Cambridge/Victoria streets bed about 16 years ago "and with no watering over the past several years the plants needed to be replaced".

"Drought-tolerant species used in the replanting include grevillea, hebe and escallonia pink pixie," she said.

"With water restrictions unlikely to be lifted in the foreseeable future, the Hepburn Shire Council's parks and gardens' staff have taken a proactive approach to managing our municipal plantings to ensure our streetscapes continue to look attractive, while adapting to climate change."

Ms Conrick said the plant-replacement program began about three years ago with several new drought-tolerant plantings already established.

"Hepburn Shire Council recognises that our streetside plantings are important to the livability of our shire and maintains a team of eight qualified horticulturist and three qualified arborist staff within our parks and gardens department," she added.