Working Bee this Saturday 20th August 8.45am to 12 noon.

The monthly working Bee will meet under the walk bridge on the concrete pad which is accessible from either 56 St James Dr or 2 Grenache Pl. We have had deliveries of mulch which we will be spreading round the planted grass area to keep the spring weeds down and conserve the ground moist during the summer dry period. The mulch is very light and easy to handle. There will be lots of wheel barrows, shovels and rakes on hand. If you would like to bring your own that would be fine. The ground is not too wet so boots or gum boots should be ok.
Bring something for your morning tea.

A planting plan for next winter

We are starting to think about a planting plan for next winter. If you have anything you would like to see happen, particularly by those that live on the gully, please send through an email and we will contact you to talk through your ideas.

Before & After Photos

These photos show the before and after the removal of honey suckle under the Grey Willow canopy. This general area can be viewed by going down the steps beside the east side of the walk bridge and follow the track around to the right to the creek.

Double click on photos to enlarge.

You will be able see how the under storey is coming away now that the vines have been removed. The under storey regeneration has been assisted by additional infill planting. Next winter it is planned to further plant this area in Astelia grandis and Kahikatia.






Once the under storey is well established there will be a gradually poisoning the Grey Willows. This managed process is to help prevent a mass of weed growth that can happen when a cleared area is exposed to the sun light.

Whekei Ponga Dicksonia fibrosa

We have some good specimens of Wheki Ponga Dicksonia fibrosa at the gully base off Sexton Road. This tree fern is readily distinguished by its massive fibrous trunk and by its thick skirt of dead fronds that stay attached. They have been added to the Existing Flora page on the right hand side of the Home page.

Car boot sale

We had a small stand at the Tree Growers Associations annual plant car boot sale held at the Hamilton Gardens. The day was brilliantly fine. We had a selection of plants and flaxes that were not suitable for planting in the gully for sale. We made $77.60 after the rental for the site was deducted. We were very happy with that. That was the first deposit into our Trust bank account!

Ongoing Pest Control Trials

While we are happy with the rat trap design we are finding that mice are continually eating the peanut butter bait. This has become quite frustrating. We reviewed all the poisons available on the market. Our major concern of using poison bait was the chance of poisoning a pet puss when it ate a half dead mouse or rat that was dying of poison. Our research has come up with “Natural No Rats”, a bio gro certificated product marketed by Kiwicare. You can check out the spec by clicking on this link http://www.kiwicare.co.nz/index.cfm/1,103,0,0,html/Natural-NO-Rats
This product will be trialed over the next few months.