In April we lead a tour of Brian and Robyns Swamp Road Greendot, as part of our annual Native Greendot Tour. Brian and Robyn have planted over one hectare of kahikatea mataī forest on their Springston property since 2016. Their success has not been without challenges including hares, frost and flooding and as Brian termed it ‘twitch farming’ by previous landowners.
The property was an organic farm and for the first few years the plantings were maintained using various organic methods. Recently Brian has introduced the occasional use of glyphosate to get the seedlings off to the best start. This has reduced weed competition and eased the workload which is important as their goal is to restore five hectares back to kahikatea forest. Says Brian, “in 50 years no one will care (how it happened), they’ll be in awe of the beautiful mataī”.
Although they have funded the majority of the project themselves and contributed many hours of labour Brian thanked Selwyn District Council for their contributions in recent years through the Selwyn Natural Environment fund.
It has been a project supported by many volunteers, from Te Ara Kākāriki community planting days, Environment Canterbury Youth Programmes, several staff groups and Springston School. This year we will return with Lincoln Agritech and Lincoln University Students to help Brian and Robyn plant another 750 plants. 2026 plant orders are also on their way.
A visit to Reids Pit Park near Rolleston concluded the tour. In 2018 Te Ara Kākāriki partnered with Selwyn District Council to plant a biodiversity hub with volunteers. The site is a former Gravel pit which has been partially filled, creating cycling and walking tracks and picnic areas. The area was very compacted and wet at the time of planting and an auger was brought in to help dig holes much to volunteers relief. The plants are now thriving with many reaching two meters tall.
