Saturday Working Bee

The working bee this Saturday will be meeting at the foot bridge. We will be doing follow up weeding in areas that have already been cleared. This is generally light work and only requires secateurs. Maybe a hand fork or trowel could be useful. Gumboots and gardening gloves are a must. Don’t forget to bring something for your morning tea.

Shade House

We are planning to build a shade house to house our 680 plus native plants we have in pots. One thing we are still looking for is weed mat to go on top of pit sand which will be spread on the floor. We are looking at about 10sqm. That is 5m x 2m. Second hand matting is fine. If you know of some please drop us an email or give us a ring. Thanks.

Funding for Possum traps & DOC 250

We have received funding from Waikato Regional Council for two possum cage traps, three DOC250 traps (these trap ferrets, stoats, weasels, rats and hedgehogs) and $340 worth of baits. This has only just happened so we have not got the traps yet however if any of you that live on the gully and are having trouble with possums contact us and we can supply you with a trap. The photo is of possum damage done to a lemon tree at a St James Drive property.

Walked the stream

There is some concern at the lack of fish visible in the stream. The water looks good and healthy. I walked the stream length to the Waikato River in case a culvert had a vertical fall at the outlet end preventing fishlings coming up the stream but this was not the case. In fact there was only one culvert and that was under Hukanui Road. See photo.

Earth Works Sexton Road

There are major earth works going on at the end of Sexton Road right on the gully edge. We have concerns of unwanted soil being pushed over the gully edge. This makes it difficult for us to weed and plant out and there is a danger that silt gets washed into the stream causing a major challenge to fauna. To bring awareness to the contractors that this action would be illegal we have erected two signs.

Kahikatea natural regeneration

It’s not a very good photo but this very small kahikatea seedling was spotted growing on the gully floor. The nearest seeding trees are at the back of Hukanui School which is not all that far to fly in a direct line if you were a bird. Natural regeneration is so pleasing to see because that is ultimately what restoration is all about. All we are doing early on is helping nature to do its thing.

Flax planting

We have started to work into the black berry at the base of the gully at Sexton Road. There is a natural wet patch at the base so we cleared this and planted flax with a few Mahoe planted around the top edge.