North Shore Wilds is an independent landcare and conservation education enterprise owned and operated by Jenny Christianson. Prior to advertising the current services of North Shore Wilds to the public, as a resident she initiated and led two well-known restoration projects on land owned by the public and managed by North Shore City Council until 2009 then by Auckland Council:
1997-2002
Kaipatiki Creek Restoration Project,
Witheford Scenic Reserve and Kaipatiki Esplanade Reserve, Kaipatiki Rd, Glenfield
2018 – ongoing
Gahnia Grove Chemical-free Restoration Methodology Trial Project
Eskdale Reserve, Glenfield Rd, in the neighbourhood of Glenfield, Hillcrest and Birkenhead
Wild revegetation does not disturb existing plant roots or soil, is generally perfectly sited both in terms of its genetic adaptation to the area and the micro-site. Compared to seedlings grown in a loose potting mix, wild seedlings have diverse root structures developed to follow the micro-channnels of moisture, nutrients and sub-surface fungal networks, holding them fast to dense clay and making them resilient to drought. They are also the survivors of the battle to germinate and grow at all, often among hundreds of seeds which failed.
And the first wild regeneration is, naturally enough, largely composed of the “pioneer” species; those that are hardy, resilient and quick-growing, producing the shelter and shade, and eventually a low canopy, for longer-lived and more sensitive species.
Provided for free through handweeding, and needing no transportation or planting, wild seedlings and sporelings are the most cost-effective way to cover an area with a diverse locally-native plant community.
But where there is a large space to fill as quickly as possible, the planting of some larger specimens will definitely hasten the development of full soil coverage — ie shade and protection for wild regeneration, and habitat for critters… and reduce weed reinvasion.
In bare, ie weeded, areas where you can easily dig a trowel-depth for easy planting of a small plant, it can be well worthwhile.
As to a wider variety of suitable plants, you will find lots of suggestions from the people who sell them
Shrubby toatoa/Haloragis erecta – the busiest volunteer, and the restorationist’s friend
This modest plant was pointed out to me on the Kaipatiki Creek restoration site in 1998 by NZ native nursery pioneer Geoff Davidson : a very quick growing and self-spreading short-live perennial, extremely beneficial in restoration as it provides shelter that nurses wild or planted seedlings.
The bright green foliage is very pretty when bushy and leafy.
It gets leggy in the the first year or two, but can be kept compact with pruning if time permits. The stems are slender, becoming woody after about a year, when they can be snapped off or pruned with secateurs or shears, maintaining their leafiness if wanted, for instance in an ornamental garden border.
The tiny red flowers of toatoa are not obvious, but the bush acquires a reddish colour as the seeds mature.
toatoa seeds almost ready to drop or be collected
An unpruned toatoa bush in full sun in moist soil can grow up to 2 metres high, but they are often kept smaller by the development of surrounding vegetation, and even the well-fed specimens usually die out out after a few years, exposing the native seedlings which by that time will be up to about a metre high, large enough for pioneer species like karamu, manuka or ti kouka (cabbage tree) to look after themselves.
Once you have it in your garden or forest margin, hundreds of seedlings will arise wherever soil is undisturbed under the toatoa plant itself or between other plants, with full or partial light.
two toatoa seedlings, centre, in Tradescantiaseedlings of Haloragis erecta (shrubby toatoa)
The seedlings are easily transplanted to new areas when small.
Last week, visiting an area we had freed from honeysuckle and other weeds in 2019, we were delighted to see the first flowering of a male kawakawa.
We were surprised to see it mature so soon after we had planted it in 2020 as a 10 cm high seedling.
The same tree is pictured below, then 20-30cm high, in December 2020. Beside it are wild native Weeping grass, toatoa, and (behind, on the remnants of a harakeke shade fence) the common harmless weed “cleavers”.
Both in the wild and in our home garden, we love to see the Kawakawa flowers forming each year, the female trees promising to attract kereru once fruit have formed in early Summer.
We see two distinct forms in the flowers, because kawakawa is one of those trees that can be either male or female. Both produce long thin flower spikes – the tiny dots are flowers -but only the female produces fruit.
The flower spikes of male trees are longer, thinner and upright, like candlesticks. Below are male kawakawa in various stages of flowering:
In contrast, the flower spikes on female trees are shorter and stouter, and in Summer will gradually turn entirely orange to become a soft, juicy fruit enjoyed by blackbirds, thrushes, tui and kereru.
Below are female kawakawa trees with fruit in various stages of development:
kereru have already eaten the riper ends of some of these partially ripe fruit
This year we will try to remember to get a good photo of fully ripe fruit. Finding a whole fully ripe fruit in this tree can be difficult, since at least one kereru checks out the unripe crop each year, visiting frequently thereafter to nibble on a few unripe fruit. Once the fruit reach the partially-ripe stage pictured above, one or several kereru visit the tree many times a day, and spend a lot of time in it eating.
A native “Shaking brake” fern sporeling growing in Tradescantia
Almost every gardener knows Tradescantia ( Tradescantia fluminensis, aka Wandering Willie, etc). And many of them see it as a curse.
However, seedlings released from Tradescantia by careful handweeding usually include both natives and invasives, and they flourish in the humus created by decomposing Tradescantia.
The mahoe, toatoa, ti kouka, karamu and karo seedlings in the photos below are just a few of the thousands of native seedlings and sporelings we have found while handweeding Tradescantia in the Kaipatiki suburban area.
mahoe seedlings in Tradescantiakaramu seedlings in Tradescantiakaramu seedling in Tradescantiamahoe seedlings in Tradescantiatoatoa seedling in Tradescantiakaro seedling in Tradescantiatoatoa seedlings seedlings in Tradescantiamahoe seedling in Tradescantiamahoe? seedling in Tradescantiati kouka seedlings in Tradescantiakaramu seedling in Tradescantiakaramu and mahoe seedlingstoatoa seedlings in Tradescantiatoatoa seedlings in Tradescantiati kouka and karamu seedings in Tradescantiakaramu seedlingsin Tradescantiamahoe seedling in Tradescantiashaking brake fern sporelings in TradescantiaNative seedlings and sporelings found in Tradescantia
It is true that Tradescantia is relentless – though slow – in its growth, covering vast areas if unchecked, suppressing the natural regeneration of diverse native plants in wild habitats.
It is also true that it takes strategy and care to remove it completely and compost it to its extinction.
Above: Dense Tradescantia handgathered into piles for decomposition in place. Handweeding was begun furthest in the background, where the Tradescantia has been replaced by native regeneration 1-2 metres high.
Newly-piled Tradescantia around the cabbage tree is still green, while work has just begun on the area in the foreground.
Both before and after handweeding, Tradescantia’s leaves build up a loose humus-rich soil, and as a moisture-retaining ground cover it nurses seedlings and sporelings, which flourish if they are released to light at an appropriate time, and provided the soil is not allowed to dry out.
The humus and seedlings together provide for perfect regeneration of a native habitat if the Tradescantia is controlled methodically and carefully to its final eradication from an area, which can take a year or two as hidden stems emerge.
Below, June 2020: young toatoa (Haloragis erecta) seedlings, among the remnants and regrowth of Tradescantia after handweeding.
Many of these toatoa grew to a metre high here, helping revegetate a bank left bare by the removal of honeysuckle and dense Tradescantia.
Below, April 2021: The same bank, the toatoa on the right in foreground and midground. The young karamu, mahoe and ti kouka trees survived prolonged drought , sheltered and shaded by the shrubby toatoa that emerged spontaneously after handweeding of a major weed invasion which was followed by Tradescantia.
The image comparison below shows the same area during Tradescantia control in the foreground, as far as the tall ti kouka centre background. (The area beyond was left covered in Tradescantia for a few more years to avoid dessication and weed invasions more difficult to control, such as Creeping buttercup and Paspalum).
Drawing on our experience and photo records of handweeding for ecological restoration, we look forward to illustrating more examples as time permits.
In the meantime, you can see a description of our general methodology here.
