Nursery - Photo Gallery

2013

August 2013 - Nursery is bigger!

The Nursery is bigger! Once a wilderness, the lower terrace area of the Nursery at Aotea College has been well cleared, garden plots built, and now it's serving its intended function - an area to store the trees and plants ready to be planted this year. Some of these plants are for the Maara Roa project and some are for the Aotea College grounds.

Bigger!

While clearing up the area around an old shed, a good concrete path to it was unearthed from under the weeds and debris.

Path

Andrew, our botanist now in charge of planting plans, discusses which trees to get delivered to the planting areas for this winter's plantings.

Plantings

Andy, Neil and Juliet discuss the merits of some plastic plant pots we are trying out.

Plastic pot

Some of the plants for this year are really fine big ones. Andy shows a mountain flax that is longing to get into our bush!

Flax

Handsome kawakawa.

Kawakawa

Coprosma propinqua (mingimingi or mikimiki) is a hardy shrub which helps keep weeds and grass down. It has berries, too, for the birds.

Mingimingi

A group of big seedlings ready to be planted, mainly lancewoods.

Big seedlings

A close up of the lancewood foliage.

Lancewood


May 2013 - Potting-on New Seedlings

First, potting mix is brought to the worktable in big [red] bins.

Potting mix

The tiny seedlings are to be transplanted into 'root trainers'.

Root trainers

Then the 'root trainer' containers are filled with potting mix. Narrow trowels are used, as the individual cells are quite small. A tray placed underneath the 'root trainer' will catch any spillages.

Filled

The trowel handle, or a dibber (or dibble), is used to tamp down the soil to the bottom of each trainer cell.

Trowel

Now the tiny plants are carefully lifted, with the trowels, and eased into place, one in each trainer cell, with more soil gently added around them.

Tiny plants

It's fiddly, delicate work!

Fiddly!

Success! 4 dozen of the tiniest plants are now in root trainers.

Success!

Here are some of the GEOH group (Anne, Jenny & Derek, with Rae on the right), happy with what's they've achieved today!

GEOH group


2012

May 2012 - Tree Nursery shifted to Aotea College, Porirua

New facilities

May 2012: A general view of the new Nursery site at Aotea College. The main shed and shade house is in the background, and in the foreground is the area where the school has some garden beds it wants to retain. The area has good access, is well fenced, sunny, and sheltered from the prevailing winds by large pine trees. This is just ideal for the 'Trees for Survival' native tree nursery.

General view

We now have this really BIG storage shed, with some built-in shelves and benches to work on. Great!

Storage shed

In the middle of shifting, everything is everywhere, and yet to find their final 'home'!

Everything!

The whole team have a break together : L to R, Des, Trevor, Tony, Leigh, Dawn, Neil, Juliet, and Rae. Good on you all.

Team teabreak

Dawn hard at work 'potting on' tiny ferns which have just germinated, into root trainers, the next stage of growing.

Tiny ferns

Leigh hard at work 'potting on'.

Potting on


Making plant pots

Dawn checking the markers on the trays. Note how the cardboard milk cartons are used for growing - we always need lots more of these to be saved for this use.

Dawn

Making a plant pot by recycling a cardboard 1 litre milk carton. Cut the 'fold' part off the top. Snip the bottom corners to make drainage holes.

Cardboard pots

Snip the bottom corners to make drainage holes.

Cut corners

Showing the drainage holes.

Drainage

Store the new pots until needed.

Ready to use


Ready to plant

In preparation for 2012's planting, hundreds of seedlings have been carted up to the restoration area and stored safely in a 'plant depot' under the protection of the big kohekohe and tawa trees on the edge of the natural bush remnant.

Plant depot

Milk crates of seedlings ready to be planted out.

Crates


Seedlings

All the tree seedlings big enough to plant out had been taken up to the restoration area and left in a safe and shady place till planting starts. The remaining plants and trays of seedlings were brought in two stages to the Aotea College site, and immediately placed in the shade house. We needed to get started with potting-on immediately - about 2500 seedlings are here needing attention.

Shade house

Seedlings.

Seedlings

Seedlings.

Seedlings

Seedlings.

Seedlings

Seedlings.

Seedlings

A new species is tried: chianachloa, a small toetoe.

Seedlings

Seedlings.

Seedlings

Seedlings.

Seedlings

Seedlings.

Seedlings

Seedlings.

Seedlings

Seedlings.

Seedlings

Seedlings.

Seedlings

Seedlings.

Seedlings


August 2012 - Growing Unit re-assembled

Growing Unit: Mounting the shade curtain onto the frame.

Shade curtain

Growing Unit: metal frame, table, shade curtains and plastic roof.

Table

Growing Unit: A strong black plastic weed mat floor has been laid over the earth to prevent weeds underneath and to make it easier for volunteers working at the table.

Weed mat floor

Growing Unit - working bee members: [Left to right] At the back: John Hodges, Paul Guiniven. Middle Row: Sef Truyens, Andrew Jinks, John Gibbs. In Front: Juliet Bellingham, Adrienne Gibbs, Keith Nicoll and Neil Bellingham. Absent: Malcolm McEwan and John Hornblow.

Assembly team