A Summary for the year that was, 2010.

Far more was achieved than ever expected in the three months from the first working bee on 6th October. This is a credit to all the people involved.
We put in 122 man/woman hours on the Wednesday working bees and 30 man/woman hours on the three Saturday working bees.
This amounted to a substantial clearance of Honey Suckle vine which released the existing native flora so that it will re establish under the shade and protection of the willows.
A flood proof bridge designed to float up and down again (photo top) has been built and put in place across the creek so there is now easy access to the area we are working on without going through the bog!
10 x 1.5m high Kahikatea supplied by Council were planted among the Astelia in October and all look to have established well with strong new growth evident.
287 understory (shrubs and small trees) plants were obtained from council and planted out in the damp areas in December. These were unwanted plants from the HCC Nursery. Because of the urgency of getting them into the ground some species were planted in unsuitable locations and have died or are not thriving. However, others are doing well.
From the same source we have 8 varieties totaling 153 plants that we are holding over to the autumn. These will be planted in the correct location for each species so the survival rate should be much better for the ones not suited to boggy ground.
90 Kahikatea (photo bottom) and 84 Kowhai seedlings have been potted up to grow on for planting out in two to three years time.
Members have donated for the purchase of established potted trees. The varieties selected were 4 x Swamp Maire, 3 x Puketea, 1 x Kahikatea. These are all canopy trees that thrive in swamp with potential to grow 25 to 30m. They have been purchased but yet to be collected and planted.

And that was the year that was!




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