Last major clearing job

But this is a biggie with a mass of mainly Honey Suckle over the ground. It has dragged down any growing thing and covered over any old dead trees. It will be an interesting site to plant. It is not bog but it does not dry out in the heat of summer. Frost will be a problem in winter so the plants will have to be frost tolerant. We are working out a planting plan at the moment. This depends on what we have available, or access to, that suits the growing conditions. The main canopy tree will be Kahikatea with a few Pokaka. We are looking to plant a number of Hoheria sexstylosa which will suit the conditions and form a short-lived canopy which will enable us to plant an under-storey of less frost-tolerant natives at a later date. There is another advantage of planting Hoheria sexstylosa and that is it is favoured by the Puriri or Ghost Moth which, at present, uses the willows and privet in their grub stage. The gaps will be filled in with species like Manuka, Astelia and a variety of Coprosmas. The stream edge will no doubt be planted with Carex secta. The target planting date will be the autumn of 2017.