Important information we learned from Mr Webb:
Where should we start on our planting project and important things:
- Start on the southern side of the back field.
- Remove the pine and the eucalyptus trees (keep the oak trees).
- Save the wood from the felled trees as this can be used for making benches etc.
- Be careful what we plant near the lizard garden and the swimming pool- not good to shade the lizards and to have leaves falling in the pool.
- We can plant in Summer if we mulch well. Tree Fellas are able to supply lots and lots of mulch free of charge. Mulch is chipped trees and shrubs; it smothers the weeds and keeps in the moisture to keep the trees alive in the Summer.
- Don't plant new trees on old tree sites - problems with roots from old trees.
- Best size to plant is PB95- This size tree is usually about 1.5-1.8m in height. The trees need 4 stakes to keep them secure. Trees should be planted about 400mm deep- we need a hole about 400 x 300mm. Plants need to have a slow release fertiliser. We can plant bigger trees but they will be more expensive and they need more mulch or a watering system.
- We need to plan for specimen trees around the field (the large, native trees that give good shade and provide food for native birds throughout the year), with companion plants planted around the specimen trees for extra protection. Some of the companion trees can get thinned out in the future. Good companion plants include kanuka, manuka and trees in the coprosma family.
- Good trees to plant include: puriri (great food for wood pigeons and tui), pohutukawa (on banks or steeper ground), taiare (on level ground) and nikau palms on the banks.
- Karaka trees are good for birds but the kernel on the seed is poisonous so we may need to avoid this tree in a school. The titoki tree also has toxic seeds.
We want to thank Mr Webb for answering all the questions we prepared in advance.
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