By Jan Fryer

Well, autumn certainly hit us with a bang this month, didn’t it. Over 160mm of rain last Thursday here in Hira and then rather sharp temperatures in the last couple of days. The river looks so much better for a big flush of water through it, despite a bit of flood damage in some of our plantings. The rest of the plants all look so much happier and we can flush the toilet again at work😊 (we are on tank water here).

After a very big month of a funeral, a wedding and lots of family, we took the chance to take a break down the West Coast for a week.
Bridget, Dan, Evelyn and Emma have done an excellent job keeping FuturEcology moving along, sending guards around the country and sorting out plants after the deluge. Thankfully, the damage wasn’t too great. We spent a bit of time this week doing the old locate, shake and stake for some of the smaller plants caught in the flood line. Getting debris out of young plants after flood events is essential as it can affect the plants’ ability to photosynthesize, ultimately affecting their ability to grow. We don’t recommend standing the plants back up as that can damage their stems, but standing the guards and canes back up where possible is always a good idea for making future maintenance easier.

We thoroughly enjoyed the West Coast and recommend it as a place to go and visit. The best part for me was seeing the diversity of plants and great swathes of the “right plant in the right place”. The nikau and rata are my favourites I think, but also the incredible plant communities living on the big old rata trees. When you get up close to these, there is a whole world in a square metre.

We did the tree tops walk just south of Hokitika, which was a real highlight. It is so amazing looking down on ferns and being at eye level with the canopy. Treetops Zipline & Walkway Adventure West Coast | Hokitika Tree Walk

The zipline was a bit too scary for us, but if you are made of braver stuff, then I am sure that it would be fun. Climbing to the top of the tower was more than enough excitement for our hearts.

Robert spent many a happy hour on the beaches looking for good carving wood. The other best part for me was that we didn’t see any old mans beard, although I did pull out the odd cherry seedling and Robert killed a large wasp nest on the side of a track in Ross. That’s the trouble with being environmental advocates, sometimes you just can’t walk past things, which makes a holiday quite challenging at times 😊

There are some real gems to be found along the coast, and the plant communities reminded me again of why we do what we do.

With Easter and Anzac coming up, we are looking forward to a final camping trip before the winter and then getting back in control of our neglected vegetable garden.

Let the planting season commence.

Tree of the Month

Ngaio - Myoporum laetum

By Evelyn Nashiro

*Picture taken from New Zealand Plant Conservation Network*

A large spreading tree bearing glossy yellow-green to dark green heavily spotted oval leaves. New growth is very glossy, dark and sticky. Fruit is pink, on a stalk while flowers are white with purple spots, at the base of the petals.

Ngaio habitat is coastal to lowland forest, sometimes well inland such as in Hawke’s Bay, Rangataiki and Wairarapa. It is often uncommon over large parts of its range. They are frost tender, so that limits their range.

Information from New Zealand Plant Conservation Network

Last year, the FuturEcology team planted a lot of ngaio in the Challies Wetland Island Project, which are now thriving, as you can see in the pictures below:

Ngaio planted by FuturEcology in 2024 - Challies Island Project

Weed of the Month

Blackberry

By Emma Petch

We are lucky enough to have a contract for NCC, working in a beautiful piece of remnant bush in Delaware Bay. The forest has stunning pukatea that would be hundreds of years old. It is always a great reminder of why we do what we do. Facilitating forests!

However, like anywhere, there are a few problem weeds we are fighting. The focus species are mahonia, banana passionfruit, climbing dock and old man's beard.

However, blackberry is doing its darndest to take over disturbed areas. While battling through some particularly thick areas looking for mahonia seedlings, Elliott made the interesting comment about a theory suggesting blackberry might in fact be a carnivorous plant.

Most plants with thorns have thorns that stick outwards, in turn, pushing predators away. However, blackberry plants have thorns that stick inwards, resulting in animals getting trapped. Many a sheep has been killed this way.

While the blackberry can’t directly consume the animals, they would decompose on top of the soil, which would provide nutrients to the plant for years to come.

While many argue that the plant is not carnivorous, as they cannot directly digest the animals, there is a strong argument that the plants are semi-carnivorous or protocarnivorous, as they ultimately benefit from the decomposition of animals.

So, what do you think? Is this a great conspiracy, or is blackberry actually out to get us? We have had some days where it certainly feels like it is.

Here is an interesting video from a sheep farmer who explains his reasoning for believing the plant is in fact carnivorous https://youtu.be/RuzLXxbGc4c

Maitai River Esplanade Project – being careful with wasps

By Evelyn Nashiro

The FuturEcology team have been working on the Maitai River Esplanade Project for the last 5 years, and we love working there. The days are made easier while we are working to control weeds and hand release plants, by having a beautiful backdrop and some shade. Trees are thriving on the site, and we found ourselves looking up and admiring the tall ribbonwoods and cabbage trees, which are establishing well there.

Pictures: Dan admiring a tall ribbonwood (left) and five fingers thriving (right) in Maitai River Esplanade.

Like every summer, we have been very careful with wasps. Checking guard by guard, or moving from one place to the next one, we remind ourselves and the rest of the team to be careful with the wasps. Wasp nests have also been spotted at the top of ribbonwoods and hebes where we least expected them, so be careful and look everywhere around you during summer. Hopefully, they are starting to die back a bit now, but there are still plenty of active nests around at the moment.

We have been using leather gloves, covering our arms with arm protector cuffs and making some noise, hitting the plant guards before starting hand releasing. However, all of us have been stung by wasps at least a couple of times. Dan takes the award for the most stings so far. Not an award the rest of us want.

Carrying “Dust 2 Dust” with us is a must in every site that we worked at during the wasp season. Dan found a big German wasp nest deep in the ground (picture below), very close to a plant that he was about to hand release.

Akeake, lemonwood and kanuka are predominant at Maitai River Esplanade Project and German wasp nest, found at Maitai River Esplanade Project

"How long is a piece of string?"

By Emma Petch

That’s often the feeling when people ask how much maintenance a restoration planting really needs.

The truth is, ongoing maintenance is the most critical part of restoration success. Keeping on top of the weeds that compete with your plants can make or break a project.

So, how much maintenance is enough?

Should it look like a golf course? That depends on your goals and your budget. Realistically, most native plantings go through what we call "the messy stage", typically in their second summer. Expect to see perennial weeds like yarrow and fennel. We don’t consider these a big threat as over time, the planted natives usually outcompete them.

What matters most during this stage is hand-releasing inside and around the guard, clearing out any weeds competing for light and space, and spraying a circle around the guards. However, be cautious around monocotyledons as a little spray can do more harm than good.

While a tidy, groomed look might be appealing, it's often not financially practical. We recommend aiming for efficiency over perfection, skipping some weedeating here and there might free up resources for more planting elsewhere.

Buy EmGuard ™ now

Beautiful growth at Wakapuaka Mouri Project

By Evelyn Nashiro

I should have counted how many times we said “wow” this summer, while working and admiring the plants at Wakapuaka Mouri Project. The soil was a little bit dry in some areas, but the plants have still managed to grow well. We hope that the rain from last week helps the plants to grow a little bit more, especially before the winter kicks in.

If you are in Nelson North and decide to have a coffee at the Cable Bay Adventure Park’s Base Cafe, you can see a lot of the trees that we have been planting in this project for the last 6 years. If you go for a ride on your bike, look beside the bridge and you can see the trees and grasses that we planted last year.

Pictures from 2024 planting areas at Wakapuaka Mouri Project.

Wedding snippet

By Emma Petch

22-03-2025 - A momentous occasion!

Em and Simon tied the knot on what felt like the most beautiful day of the year and what a spectacular event it was!

The blood, sweat and quite possibly tears that went into building the venue at Robert and Jan’s property couldn’t have been more worth it.

We were lucky enough to have the lovely Sarah from Lucalia Photography capture the day, so here are a few pictures from our wonderful day.

Interesting Snippets

Recipe of the month

Hot Cross Buns!

Hot Cross Buns - It is almost Easter after all! We had the most delicious, soft and fruity hot cross buns from a bakery in Hokitika.

Easter Hot Cross Buns Recipe | Chelsea Sugar

Emma’s tip: Check the comments on this recipe. I think they would have been better if I had let them rise for longer.

Conclusion:

By Jan Fryer

Walking through real forest certainly is a balm to the soul and just what we needed after a hectic few months.

If any of you are passing through Murchison, there is a lovely small remnant of forest right beside the Riverside camp, squeezed in between the main road and the river. There are some magnificent kahikatea there, which miraculously survived the saws of old.

If you get time over the Easter holiday period, take the chance to grab a few moments of walking in real forest and really study the many layers that you find in the forest. The Japanese have a practice of forest bathing, “Shinrin-Yoko” to describe the time spent among trees, and another called “Shikan Shoyou” which means “nothing but wandering along” immersed in the moment.

Planting season can really get underway now, so if you need advice, guards or some motivation to help you along the way, do get in touch.

Happy Easter and Anzac.

If you have any projects in mind and would like to talk further, give us a call or pop in and see us.

We look forward to hearing from you!