Moss Island, October 2024June 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 RdJuly 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 mossClose-up of the milk mossA mingimingi seedling in milk mossThree 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 forestDianella nigra seedlings in milk mossa juvenile mongimingi in milk moss – with a stem of the invasive Lotus pedunculata creeping in from upper rightA kanuka seedling (centre), in milk moss, with tanekaha leaf litter from the older forestThis brown tanekaha seedling may have died, or may be among those that survived and flourished the following yearInvasive 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 BayMoss 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 2024September 2024: New leaves on Moss Island’s largest kumerahou juvenile
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.
From time to time we feel moved to describe what we are seeing in our single-handed restoration project “Gahnia Grove“, covering about half a hectare of regenerating wild kauri forest along and below the Glenfield Rd margin of Eskdale Forest.
The site has three major sections – Tanekaha Ridge, Rimu Ridge, and Gahnia Grove-the-original-2018-roadside-site, in June 2018 almost nothing but vine, shrub and tree weeds with uncontrolled kikuyu tangled in honeysuckle and blackberry,
Honeysuckle smothering native forest edge
so that area was the most urgent, and made the most difference to the survival of the forest hidden behind it – see below:
At random, then, these notes from a visit last week to “Flame Tree Bank”, visible from the roadside just uphill from the strawberry stand:
Plant species diversity beginning to increase on Flame Tree Bank
Flame Tree Bank is part of the initial 2018 Gahnia Grove restoration project. It comprises the slope around the big stand of Flame, or “Coral”, trees, from the edge of the forest canopy, uphill to the recreational mown kikuyu area bordering Glenfield Rd, nearly opposite the petrol station.
In 2018 Flame Tree Bank was completely dominated by environmental weeds. The entire tangled mess, on a steep slope above regen kauri forest margin, was (and remains) overhung by invasive Flame trees. One of two trees planted in 1999 has spread through suckering and falling branches, becoming over 30 trees, most of them now occupying space in the canopy of regenerating kauri forest.
After a request to Council for intervention when we initiated our restoration of a section of forest margin we called Gahnia Grove, these trees were expected to be controlled by arborism.
Above: Flame Tree Bank in May 2018, with Elephant’s Ear, Arum lily, Cape Honey Flower, honeysuckle and Tradescantia, and kikuyu in the foreground
Below: Jan 2019: after honeysuckle was controlled by uprooting it wherever it was easy, and rolling it up, invasive bindweed took over.
The planned arborism would have destroyed or smothered much of any regen present by that time, so we did not attempt to maintain much weed control here till 2020, when it became apparent that there would be no Flame Tree control by Council.
( On the positive side, this meant the site was not subjected to the injection of poison prescribed to accompany the arborism. And over the years since 2018, necessity being the mother of invention, we have discovered we can manually control all but the largest trees, through partial breaking of branches and ringbarking of small trunks and lower branches, both of which procedures appear to have suppressed or slowed growth in the large trees of the smaller stands, while eliminating the small trees in the forest itself).
So in 2018-19 on Flame Tree Bank we controlled only honeysuckle, bindweed, ginger, Alocasia, Arum, moth plant, extensions of Flame Tree invasion, and kikuyu, allowing the more benign weeds including Tradescantia to maintain ground cover and suppress spread of environmental weeds.
Above: The second image shows Flame Tree Bank in October 2021, after control of vine and shrub weeds, with only a few wild native plants (shrubby toatoa and karamu) emerging so far among the ground-covering weeds . (The top half of the cabbage tree on the right was knocked off by a falling Flame Tree in 2020, so it is now half the size, and has grown a new head)
During hundreds of explorations and interventions, only 12 wild native plant species were observed on this bank from 2018-2023. In addition to the wild regen, only a dozen or so 10cm H nikau seedlings were planted.
The new wild native species seen were very young seedlings released from Tradescantia in 2019
Karamu seedlings in thinned Tradescantia Ti kouka seedlings released from Tradescantia
and later dying (due to natural attrition or drought). These seedlings were ti kouka/cabbage tree, karamu, and a few kahikatea.
The forest canopy edge down the bank had been released from Tradescantia in late 2018, and the same species of seedlings were found beneath Tradescantia regrowth in 2019:
Karamu seedling and moss in thin Tradescantia regrowth on vertical bank
This week, under the shelter of the rapidly developing regen spreading from the boundary of Flame Tree Bank top with the adjacent Cape Honey Flower (CHF) Bank top, we found:
a single mapou seedling
a single Pteris tremula sporeling
2 Hebe (Veronica stricta) seedlings
Hebe seedling
and several Carex lambertiana – with more karamu seedlings, which have become common on Flame Tree Bank since 2022.
Juvenile Carex lambertiana, released Jan 2024 from Tradescantia regrowth and creeping buttercup
These 4 modest finds are all well-situated among 2-3 year-old native regen not likely to be overtaken by weed, drought or flood, and while not extraordinary or even of note in other situations, they indicate significant progress here.
A very weedy site gives enormous rewards, through the contrast of ugliness, waste and destruction with the harmony seen in emerging native plant communities, and the lush growth in sheltered soil enriched with the composting weed material.
We hope to find time to present some other views of Gahnia Grove before, during and after the ongoing restoration.
We started this business just before Christmas last year, encouraged by comments from people who have enjoyed watching the progress of Gahnia Grove, the restoration project in Eskdale Reserve which we began in 2018 for pleasure and for our own further research into the most economical way to control weeds and restore the plant communities native to this area.
Our methods of restoring or creating outdoor order and beauty are very different from what is commonly practised commercially.
For example, Phoenix palm seedlings quickly become deeply rooted. We never dig them out. The photo below shows two of them, each controlled within seconds by knotting its few leaves.
phoenix palm seedlings knotted
Learn more about what to expect, based on our experience over the year and the feedback of our customers:
Just a reminder that Spring is underway as far as the plants are concerned, and weed vines and shrubs are putting out new shoots, sneaking around garden shrubs, drinking up the lovely water and increasing sun, and finding new ground to conquer.
Big weed invasions yield the most material for paths, mulch and compost, and the first big weeding produces a massive amount of plant material to be either sent to landfill or used to benefit the soil and plants by decomposition onsite.
Once the ground dries, sun comes out, and rain is infrequent, decomposition by rotting slows down or stops altogether.
We don’t encourage storing big piles of dry woody or papery material during the fire season, so if you have a lot of woody weeds to be dealt to….that is, vines, shrubs or trees…work needs to start very soon if you want the plant material composted onsite and returned to your soil to help the remaining plants grow well and remain weed free.
After we have done weed control and mulched where needed, the Spring rush of weeds doesn’t occur for most species, and not at all if we have had time to eradicate the weed before the warm weather.
Instead, the wanted plants grow luxuriously in the moisture and sunlight of Spring, filling the space and reducing weed reinvasion.
Since we only started our business last Christmas, we don’t yet have photos of our clients’ gardens in Spring after our weed control.
Below is a photo of an area of public Reserve in January this year, hand weeded of major environmental weeds, then gradually of benign leafy weeds. This area is part of a forest margin, in which density is key to keeping the area weed-free, so native regeneration has been allowed to fill the space entirely.
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.
