Hua-angarua river-side planting project starts well
Recloaking the banks of the Hua-angarua River with native species has begun with 40 volunteers turning out to put 600 plants into a 150-metre long stretch of formerly willow-infested riparian strip.
South Wairarapa Biodiversity Group teamed up with South Wairarapa District Council, Greater Wellington Regional Council and community members to plant the river bank with groupings of trees, shrubs and grasses _ the first stage of land-and-river flow control near Ponatahi Bridge.
For Biodiversity Group president Jane Lenting, this new project “is something closer to hand which is connected to the (Ruamahanga) River,” while earlier planting projects focussed mainly on the Wairarapa Moana area.
“This Hua-angarua work is on private land each side, but with the (Ponatahi) Bridge there it’s quite an accessible spot, and while you can’t simply wander around, it’s more open to the public than somewhere quite obscure.”
Both SWDC and the John’s Road landowner were keen, while Greater Wellington Regional Council wanted to tie the riparian planting in with its flood protection work, “pretty much to try and stop the Ponatahi Bridge from being flooded, including removing shingle from round the bridge area,” she said.
Ahead of the planting, GWRC cleared large, unwanted willows into piles away from the planting area for later burning. “The whole thing was funded by the regional council,” Lenting added.
The group checked with mana whenua about what groups had lived in the area _ and confirmed there had been 19th century settlements.
“So we also (then) knew we weren’t planting on top of a Pa or anything like that.”
Some 40 volunteers worked through the morning of planting _ with 600-odd plants, mainly native trees supplied from Norfolk Road Nursery, dug into the river bank in the first stage of the project.
“We chose a lot of large trees. Normally with these planting days … if you want to get things started there are certain species you put in as a kind of a base … then you rely on birds etc _ but I wanted it to look quite good reasonably soon,” Lenting told The Star.
“So for that reason we opted for lots of large native trees that will survive having wet feet and survive being dry in the summer, (as well as) frost tolerant.”
“We have a lot of grasses and sedges underneath, and we had some very hard-working plants like sedge, coprosma, flax, toi-toi, (and trees including) kahikatea, cabbage trees, ribbon woods, totara, kowhai, lemonwood, kanuka _ so all the big ones.”
“I grouped them in sets of three, five and seven plants which is a good way of making them look natural(ly) planted so they grow up as a group.
“We went to some trouble with the planting. We put in water gel _ to help get them through that first summer _ and we also used deer repellant (spray) to try and get them through the first three to six months, then I’ll have to respray.”
Each tree also had a weed mat and protection planter “so we try to really look after them properly.”
“It was really a great day. It brought together groups, it involved the community, it’s good for the environment. For me personally it’s about Wairarapa Moana and the connection with the water, the water quality and protecting the banks of the rivers and the lakes,” Lenting added.
There are hurdles ahead for the new plantings.
Parts of the area will be under water at times during wet seasons, “so at some point water is going to go through there and we can just hope they are big enough to hang on a bit. The mats help.
“The plants we put there will survive under water for a week,” she said.
While the initial planting is done, “you can’t put 600 plants in the ground and just walk away.”
The plants will likely need summer watering, weed and willow regrowth control “until we’re convinced the plants will be okay” in the riverbank environment.
“Otherwise the willow trees will just grow up and smother the area” again. “So spraying the willows is the big one, along with emerging bad weeds,” Lenting added.
The regional council has planted good-quality willow poles along the area to help river control, and “they will grow straight up _ they are quite manageable, controllable willows (unlike with) “the crack willows which were there before which grow everywhere, suck up all the water and spread” rapidly.
The day was “fantastic,” and with the number of people and plants on hand, “it was just going to be a fun day for everybody to just relax and enjoy the process _ not the drama of trying to get everything done.”
Lenting has been back to the site to undertake “a bit of quality control,” but everyone “did a good job,” she noted.
Martinborough Mitre-10 provided BBQ sustenance for the work group.
South Wairarapa Biodiversity Group email: swbg@xtra.co.nz or https://www.facebook.com/
Caption: Hard at it recloaking the Hua-angarua River bank near Martinborough.
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