Seed Preparation, Planting and Potting

Seedling Tree Nursery

At Porirua College for some years the Friends of Maara Roa have assisted the "Trees For Survival" Nursery, which was established there in 2002, and where thousands of the seedlings we plant have been grown each year since.

"Trees For Survival" is a programme for schools who can receive funding from the "World Wildlife Fund" and the "Stephen Tindall Foundation", for growing native trees and plants.  These must be planted in school grounds or handed on to community restoration groups such as the Friends of Maara Roa.

It has been of inestimable value to the environment in this area, that Neil Bellingham, then a science teacher at the College, also has been a leading light in the Maara Roa project, particularly in the planning and leadership of the re-forestation work since our inception.

"Potting-On" - Growing Native Tree Seedlings

"Potting-on" mornings are fun!!

One of the ways to help the Maara Roa restoration project is to volunteer at the "Trees For Survival" Nursery at Porirua College.  We spend a morning a week with "our hands in the soil", growing-on young native trees and plants which have been germinated from eco-sourced seed.

Currently these mornings are held at Porirua College every Thursday in school terms.  Want further details or would like to help?  Please phone Juliet on (04) 235.5501 or email info@MaaraRoa.org.nz.

The tiny new trees come in "cell-plugs" or "root trainers" and most of them are potted-on into cardboard milk cartons, to be grown for two years or more till big enough to be planted.  The milk cartons are collected by supporters from the region, and prepared for use and stored at our Storage Workshop at Glenview School.

The seedlings themselves are purchased from specialised nurseries or donated from the Greater Wellington nursery.  The work of volunteer Friends means that the "cell-plug" size plant ($1.00 each) is worth $5.00 or more when planted out - saving thousands of dollars in restoration funding simply by using our own hands in an enjoyable task.

See Picking and potting notes for "how to do it yourself" information.

Collecting Seeds for Growing

Volunteers who have some experience with our Tree Planting and Care work can seek training and permission to learn how to collect and prepare seeds for on-growing at the Nursery.  This takes some skill and we have some members who could train you once you have been involved with our work for a while.  See Picking the seeds from the bush for more details.

Who gets the Nursery's trees?

"Trees For Survival" Nurseries are required to grow native trees for school grounds or for approved community plantings, and the seedlng trees from them must be donated to such projects, not sold.

So the Maara Roa restoration project has benefitted by an average of 4,500 trees per year from the Porirua College Nursery since it was set up in 2002.

How do the seedlings get to planting sites?

Ever wondered: "How do all those nursery seedlings get onto the planting sites?"

There is no road access to the sites, and it would be impossible for volunteers to carry them all.

The answer is that Greater Wellington Parks' staff help us do it.  They collect seedlings from our nursery at Porirua College, and in some cases, from some Friends volunteer's homes.

They transport them first by one of the Park utes, with trailer well loaded with trays of seedlings, and a farm bike, with its own trays of seedlings tied on, too.  Then, on reaching the Takapu Entrance to the park, the farm bike is put down, the trailer attached to it and reloaded.

Then by a slow journey down the narrow Takapu Track, the men arrive at the main plant depot in the bush.  Friends volunteers meet them and help unload and store the trees, ready for the next planting day.

It is quite a big task!