Garden services
After an initial Assessment, you can decide how many hours you would like to schedule, whether a large number over a short period to address a particular issue, or an hour or two on a regular schedule.
Garden and forest ecology assessments
In a 1.5 hour site visit, we assess the ecology of the site and its surroundings, discover and identify unrecognised native plants and weeds, advise on soil quality, hydration, erosion prevention and control, and suggest chemical-free weed control measures, demonstrating specific techniques as needed.
Optional follow-up: We email significant notes, photos, and any additional plant identifications you have asked for.
Chemical-free weed control
Whether you want to restore a weedy streambank or grassy area to native forest, control a major weed-vine invasion, or just get those troublesome garden weeds under control, our chemical-free care of water, soil and plants changes the ecology of a forest or garden so that the same work doesn’t have to be done over and over again.
We strategize weed removal to avoid dessication and new weed invasions, using the weed material as mulch, for paths, and eventually as soil-building compost.
More on native habitat restoration here
More detail on how we do it, and what to expect from our regular garden services.
Group or individual tuition
Book a one-on-one session, or get a group together to share the cost, for a question and answer session at a garden or reserve to suit you.
- Chemical-free weed control techniques for specific species (eg kikuyu grass, Tradescantia, bindweed (Convulvulus), privets, ginger, monkey-apple, Arum lily, Agapanthus, honeysuckle, pink jasmine, invasive palms, Cotoneaster … etc etc)
- General principles of plant identification for ecological restoration
- Recognising the free wild native seedlings at your feet, and watching them grow
- Recognition of specialized plant communities in the natural long-term development of North Auckland forests, wetlands and streamsides – what stage is your bush-edge at, in the 1000-year development of kauri forest?
- Stream restoration for North Shore residents and businesses (this includes habitat protection, the restoration of live groundcover to bare ground on slopes, and the restoration of taller vegetation to banks above gullies and channels that only carry water after heavy rain – these are “ephemeral” streams
- Erosion prevention by establishing permanent dense native vegetation
- Sensitive, practical and cost-effective planning advice
Reserve tours
We on the North Shore have so many wonderful native forest fragments, wetlands and streams, there is always somewhere new to explore. While many of the same plant species are common to almost all of them, most Reserve tours discover a surprise among the “old friends”.
For long-term satisfaction, nothing beats learning to recognise and unleash the “beauty” potential of the weediest, most littered and degraded areas, many of which, invisibly but irrepressibly, are struggling to regrow as the very beginnings of kauri forest.
Native tree, fern and grass seedlings can be found emerging in bare clay, unmown grass and dense weeds, pavement cracks and gutters, everywhere on the Shore. We are just as happy visiting these sites as the most perfect old kauri forest, especially if there is someone interested in starting a restoration project.
We encourage active involvement in neighbourhood ecological restoration of Reserves, and can advise on the liaison required to initiate a site-based project.
All our services are based on our experience in:
