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Anthony Phelps/STUFF
Addison Riley, 9, of Whitney Street School has planted vegetables before but this was the first time she has planted native seedlings.
Nine-year-old Addison Riley has planted potatoes before, but never trees. Not until last week, that is.
“It’s hard work but fun,” the young gardener said.
Addison is one of nine children that got their hands dirty, planting 150 native seedlings along an industrial-looking wall at a former sawmill that borders the Taylor River Reserve in Blenheim.
The pupils from Whitney Street School and Renwick School made the plantings to replace several ancient poplars that had to be removed, as they were in danger of falling.
Veteran planter, Steve Dower of Landscape Marlborough, showed the children how to dig deep holes for the seedlings in the hard stony ground, and gently surround them with soil.
“Soon these will be a lot bigger than you are,” he said.
Helen Braithwaite of Marlborough Forest & Bird welcomed the children, saying it was the organisation’s 100th year of looking after special birds in New Zealand.
The trees they planted today would give birds somewhere to live, as well as small creatures like insects, and trees were also good for people, beautifying the landscape while providing shade from the sun and shelter from the wind, she said.
Braithwaite said Forest & Bird was happy to be working with Marlborough District Council’s parks and open space team, Enviroschools Marlborough “and some great little diggers”, on what she hoped would be the first of many joint planting projects.
Trees That Count
Conservation charity Trees That Count provides tips on dealing with weeds when planting native trees. (First published September 19, 2022)
Forest & Bird volunteers would help keep the planting free of weeds, she said. The council would organise watering and other maintenance, as part of its programme of looking after trees in its reserve. Next year the seedlings would be mulched with rotted-down sawdust from the felled poplars, which were currently piled up alongside the planting.
Annie McDonald, the council’s education officer and Enviroschools regional coordinator, was excited that all the parties had finally got together to plant the seedlings after lots of planning. This would complement school plantings downstream of the sawmill site near Athletic Park, completed about 10 years ago, she said.
Anthony Phelps/STUFF
“Great little diggers”, 10-year-old Isla McEwen, left, and Isabel Potts of Renwick School plant a broadleaf seedling.
Originally, the council planned to plant exotic trees alongside the saw mill but was persuaded to switch to natives.
The roughly $500 cost of the seedlings from Selmes Garden Centre and Morgans Road Nursery was covered by a One Billion Trees $2000 grant to Enviroschools, McDonald said. This was being spent on native plantings in Marlborough school and kindergarten grounds and community spaces such as the Taylor River Reserve.
All of the plants were grown from eco-sourced seed, collected close to the planting site, to ensure they were suited to the site’s conditions and therefore likely to survive.
Tamara Scott who supervised the growing of edible gardens at Whitney Street School said it was good that students had a chance to grow trees. Many lived near the Taylor River Reserve and would enjoy watching seedlings they had planted grow.
In Marlborough, One Billion Trees had approved funding of 10 native plantings totalling 251 hectares, and 11 exotic plantings covering 90ha. Applications were now closed but the programme would continue until 2028 for grants that had already been approved.
Anthony Phelps/STUFF
Whitney and Renwick school students plant alongside the concrete wall of a closed timber mill.
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