Cherry and Palm invasion

Cherries fruiting which cause
all the problem

One of the problems of restoring a natural area in the city is the invasion of some domestic plants. The two major ones in Mangaiti Gully are cherry trees and palms.  Their seeds are primarily distributed by birds. In Mangaiti these are getting out of control. In fact, we would go so far as to say if we, as an organisation, were not hand weeding them out they would be so invasive that cherries and palms would dominate the flora in the gully within ten years.

There are possible solutions that our Trust are starting to look at; however, none of them are simple to implement. 

Cherry seedlings coming up
through out the gully

Cherry Trees

In the meantime we do urge anyone that lives within a bird’s flying distance of the gully to remove any cherry tree that sets fruit. That is, that are not sterile. If you have the cherry to attract Tui I suggest a replacement would be either a Banksia integrifolia (available from our Trust) or a Kowhai. If it was a spring blossom you are after there are sterile varieties such as Pink Cloud, Prunus campanulate.

Palms

It is not clear if all three palm varieties that dominate our urban landscape are responsible for the invasive seedlings in the gully however, if you have palms and are able (not to high), the floret could be easily removed each spring to prevent the berries developing.