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Moss Island

Moss Island, October 2024
June 2019 – Old rubbish collected from the forest as part of the Gahnia Grove restoration project is piled beside the orange tape, marking this extension of the Gahnia Grove chemical-free weed control trial and restoration project.
The weedy grass area on the left was later cordoned to become part of “Cherry Bay”, and in late 2020 Moss island was created there.
Cherry Bay in July 2020. Moss Island was created later that year, in the area of grass behind the cordon, between the foreground and the big clump of harakeke.
Cherry Bay is the whole area behind the cordon on the right, visible from the lower right-hand corner of the upper field of Eskdale Reserve in Glenfield Rd
July 2020: The grassy area to the left is where Moss Island was later created. The lower trunk of the big cherry tree can just be seen on the far left of the photo.

In 2020 during Auckland Council’s construction of a new forest track for cyclists and pedestrians, we asked their contractor RAM Contracting if they could save a little of the beautiful moss-covered clay bank which had to be excavated to widen, pave and channel the track for its new use.

Native mosses, shrubs, creepers, fungi and tree seedlings lined the old forest path along the top of the ridge

The RAM Contracting team kindly agreed, and brought a digger load of large clay pieces out of the forest to the edge of the playing field below Glenfield Rd.

At our request they placed the pieces together in “Cherry Bay”, a damp weed-grass covered area just behind the Gahnia Grove cordon (see photos at top of page), where we could weed around it a few times a year while observing what happened to its covering of native mosses and gum-lands tree and shrub seedlings.

Below, some close-ups of Moss Island in March 2021.

Moss Island after the summer: Milk moss, with seedlings and young tangle fern, mingimingi and tanekaha, and a little invasive Creeping buttercup creeping in from the surrounding “weed sea”.
Mingimingi seedlings – and a single kanuka seedling (top right), supported by the mostiure-retentive milk moss
Close-up of the milk moss
A mingimingi seedling in milk moss
Three kanuka seedlings in milk moss with tanekaha leaf litter from the older forest
A tanekaha seedling (centre), in milk moss, with tanekaha leaf litter from the older forest
Dianella nigra seedlings in milk moss
a juvenile mongimingi in milk moss – with a stem of the invasive Lotus pedunculata creeping in from upper right
A kanuka seedling (centre), in milk moss, with tanekaha leaf litter from the older forest
This brown tanekaha seedling may have died, or may be among those that survived and flourished the following year
Invasive Creeping buttercup creeping into milk moss

The big vine and shrub weeds and most of the tree weeds had been manually controlled in Cherry Bay in 2019, and wild revegetation was progressing well, but this particular part of it had little shade overhead, and gets very wet in winter, so it fills with Creeping buttercup and grasses every autumn.

The buttercups creep into the mossy clay and are weeded out by hand, and the “sea” of weeds around the “island” of native forest, so we keep the weeds down with a heavy mulch of dead wood, cherry and harakeke prunings, pine litter from under nearby pines, and any weeds that can be easily uprooted or cut down around it.

A mulch of Harakeke prunings helps suppress weeds in Cherry Bay
Moss Island in July 2021, the area around it recently weeded and mulched with woodchips (by the cordon) and harakeke prunings (under the trees)

As expected, the larger tree seedlings growing in the clay pieces died not long after, but the native “milk moss” (Leucobryum javense) and many of the native tree and shrub seedlings are thriving, four years after translocation of their clay bed.

Moss Island in September 2024 – kumerahou left of centre

We are grateful to RAM Contracting for their understanding of and collaboration with the Gahnia Grove restoration project’s objectives, and their cheerful contribution of time and equipment in creating Moss Island.

Kumaraho (Pomaderris kumerahou, or “gumdiggers’ soap” , a seedling among the moss, now standing about 50cm high at the front of Moss Island in September 2024
September 2024: New leaves on Moss Island’s largest kumerahou juvenile

Thank you RAM Contracting!

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End-of-winter sale – Native plants half-price tomorrow on Glenfield Rd

Tomorrow, Sunday 1st September, we will be selling our remaining large Kawakawa and Carex flagellifera at half-price: $5 for the 12-15cm pots and $4 for the 10cm pots, at our native plant stand on Glenfield Rd opposite the petrol station….while stocks last.

Kawakawa fruit are a big drawcard for kereru. Male and female trees are needed for fruiting, and you can’t tell which is which until they flower at about 4 years of age, so plant half a dozen. They grow in sun or shade but do best in part shade, and need moist soil in summer. The kawakawa left of centre and on the right below are growing wild among Carex and other natives.

Carex flagellifera self-seed and multiply by division, filling a space to hold the soil and crowd out weeds . They are tolerant of dry or wet soil, in full sun or part shade. These have multiplied in a gap between harakeke on Glenfield Rd, and karamu are growing wild with them:

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

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.

In 2020 during track construction

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.

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Plant stand open Sunday 4th August

As usual, from about 10am at Gahnia Grove on Glenfield Rd opposite the petrol station.

About 20 large Carex flagellifera left, still at $8 each, with plenty of small ones now at $5 each. Only a few of the Carex lambertiana left, all small, at $5, and only 36 small kawakawa left till the next lot grow a bit more.

Kawakawa and other small trees are $3 each or 4 for $10.

ripening and unripe kawakawa overhanging Carex outside dining room window
kereru in kawakawa
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Large Carex flagellifera for $8 at our Glenfield Rd Plant Stand

The North Shore Wilds native plant stand will be open tomorrow Sunday, opposite the petrol station on Glenfield Rd, from about 10am. Our larger plants need to be well rooted in damp ground before summer drought (unless they will be watered), so the largest Carex flagellifera have been reduced from $10-12 to $8.

Carex have long hair-like roots that penetrate and stabilize clay soils. Grown close together, in full sun or shade, they form dense hardy tufts that can be occasionally walked on, preventing soil compaction and erosion in wet weather.

Their seeds are the natural habitat for tiny… and harmless… native Carex beetles, which I have seen only a few times. I was amazed that this species had survived the 20 years since I sourced and planted these in my own garden.

Like most of our other plants, these are grown from seed ecosourced from the Kaipatiki area.

The photo shows three species of wild Kaipatiki-native Carex allowed to grow as they will, spreading to cover previously bare clay under a planted kawakawa and a wild nikau, in an 80cm wide strip of soil outside a dining room window that gives a great view of kereru feeding in the kawakawa in summer. (We still have small kawakawa trees for $3 each or 4 for $10.)

Our spaces are shrinking, but we can still have wild beauty !

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Kawakawa “special” – small plants 4 for $10 today

Today at the plant stand on Glenfield Rd we have a “special” – 4 of the $3 kawakawa for $10. Kawakawa enjoy close plant communities and can be seen wild – or planted – in groups, under shade trees, and among other small trees and shrubs.

Having several of them gives you a better chance of having both a male and a female tree. Only the female trees will bear fruit.

Both male and female trees are needed for pollination of the flowers so they produce fruit. I dont know how near they need to be to each other. More info at northshorewilds.co.nz

ripe and unripe kawakawa fruit
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Restoration planting… or wild revegetation… for water absorption and soil stability

Tomorrow, Sunday, I will be taking the North Shore Wilds baby plants (still priced from $3) for their weekly outing to Eskdale Reserve:). We will as usual be near the Flame tree opposite the petrol station. I will set up there every Sunday by about 10am, and maybe some Saturdays, through the planting season (or while stocks last).

We have had a lot of discussions there with customers, Reserve visitors and passersby, lately about landslips, natural overland flows, Kaipatiki’s many named and unnamed streams (including those that only flow in winter), and how to deal with seasonal excesses of water in the garden.

Auckland Council has lots of info about “greenfields” stormwater management and the restoration of dense vegetation to absorb water and stabilize soil. Recently I read a study which found that ti kouka (Cordyline australis, cabbage tree) is particularly good at this job. Its roots grow quickly and deep, it doesn’t mind “wet feet”, and it is a fast grower.

It also attracts birds, including kereru, to its huge bunches of glossy black fruit.

You can easily raise as many ti kouka seedlings as you want, merely by refraining from spraying, mowing or disturbing unused ground, identifying everything that comes up, suppressing problematic weeds, and supporting the ti kouka seedlings with a mulch of anything around… which includes most of the weeds you have pulled out or squashed down.

See what a good job the ti kouka and karamu are doing around the plant stand in Gahnia Grove! Road runoff pours down this steep bank, but the trees are absorbing the impact of the raindrops, drawing a lot of the water down into the ground for storage till they need it in summer, and holding the soil together. The dense ground covering vegetation further softens the impact of the rain, preventing loss of surface soil.

Groundcovering plants here still include some of the remaining harmless wildflower weeds, which we maintain for this purpose until they get shaded out as the young trees become dense.

More info about chemical-free weed control and ecological restoration of your garden at northshorewilds.co.nz

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Native plants from $3 today Sunday at Gahnia Grove, Glenfield Rd

The North Shore Wilds native plant stand will be open again tomorrow (Sunday) from about 10am, at the Gahnia Grove restoration project on Glenfield Rd opposite the petrol station (where the strawberry stand is in summer).

We still have kawakawa, karamu, a few other treees and shrubs, Carex (“grasses”) and some groundcovers, small ones for $3, with the larger pots priced accordingly.

All are ecosourced from the Kaipatiki area, and grown in composting twig/leaf mulch and woodchips, without added chemicals. Many pots contain live earthworms, and all contain live soil fungi etc, so they are best suited to planting in the ground.

We also welcome enquiries about our chemical-free weed-control and general landcare. The Gahnia Grove restoration project is handy for showing examples of our weed-control methods and the resulting natural forest regrowth.

We can assess your own site, and show you how to control weeds, improve soil and produce your own locally-wild native plants for free. Or we can do it for you. For large bare areas freed from weeds, we can provide free potted plants to our landcare customers.

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Native plants for sale from $3

We will have small kawakawa and karamu, carex (native “grasses”), and a few bits and pieces for sale during planting season, starting tomorrow, at the Gahnia Grove chemical-free forest restoration site on Glenfield Rd near the petrol station.

Kawakawa tolerate sun or shade provided they have a moist absorbent soil. The leaves are used in home remedies, the berries are enjoyed by birds including kereru. Although they grow quickly, they don’t reach more than about 5m high, and are easily pruned.

We grow all our plants in composted leaf and twig mulch, which becomes full of earthworms. Having consumed the twigs and leaves, most of the worms will have left by the time the plant is available for sale, but the soil is still live with soil flora and fauna. To protect this soil life, pots should be kept cool and moist until planted.

The plants are also available free for our chemical-free landcare customers.

See more info about our garden and forest restoration services at https://northshorewilds.co.nz, or come and have a chat at our plant stand, where we can show you the results of our chemical-free weed control methods for kikuyu, tree privet, Tradescantia and others.

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