Uncategorized – North Shore Wilds

At last autumn rains have saturated the soil, loosening weeds and opening the soil for planting.

Tomorrow, Sunday 11th May (Mothers’ Day), we will once again hold the North Shore Wilds roadside native plant stand at Gahnia Grove, our restoration site in Eskdale Reserve, (around 230 Glenfield Rd, near the petrol station).

Small Kawakawa from $3 each or 4 for $10, Carex flagellifera from $5, larger kawakawa and Carex $8 and $10, plus Scrambling Fuchsia and a few other bits and pieces.

Also for sale will be our specially printed Gift Cards for a home garden ecology assessment, discovering hidden and unknown native ground covers, grasses and shrubs, identifying the weeds, and suggesting a strategy of natural, low-energy techniques for replacement of weeds by a diverse, healthy native plant community, with specific techniques of manual weed control. for kikuyu, Tradescantia, ginger, privets, weed vines, or whatever you have.

Conditions are now ideal for weeding, so between customers we are likely to be rolling back the kikuyu, or even hidden among the bushes as we discover this year’s new native seedlings as we weed. We keep a fairly close eye onthe stand, but if we don’t see you arrive, just call out or phone 021485994, and we will appear within seconds:)

Along the new track through the upper margin of Eskdale Forest, bare clay is turning to a variety of native plants, many of which only grow in kauri forest. These gracefully drooping young plants hanging over the edge of the track are Gahnia xanthocarpa, sometimes called “giant cutty grass”, a typical component of kauri forest where sun reaches the forest floor.

Almost impossible to propagate, they are so well-designed for the harsh environment of low-fertility kauri lands that they have sprouted up all along the exposed clay banks lining the track across the top of the ridge.

There are a few adult plants among them, their black seeds hanging from tall brittle stems.

To fully appreciate the value and beauty of this pathside vegetation, see the same bank below in November 2020 during track construction, when this section of rutted clay bank had suffered temporary loss of even more of its trees, shrubs, sedges, ferns, creepers and mosses.

Look for even greater beauty and diversity as the years pass. For example, tiny native orchids depend on the ground being undisturbed, as they only appear above ground during winter. Where old ground has remained undisturbed, they can be seen along the path on almost vertical banks, vitally protected by fallen ponga fronds and leaf litter caught in the undergrowth.

This Grass-leaved greenhood orchid (Pterostylis graminea), which we saw yesterday, has probably reached its full size at about 6cms tall.

Category: Uncategorized

Native plant sale and gift cards

Pathside vegetation flourishing along the upper Eskdale Forest track alongside Gahnia Grove