planting, planting, and more planting!

Today consisted primarily of restoration projects.  Our first stop was at the Ka Putahi Creek.  Here we meet with Antony Shadbolt who has worked in conservation and gardening for 32 years.  Antony started off as a gardener but then got his bachelors and Lincoln and his graduate degree at the University of Canterbury.  The property we were at was next to the Sticks River.  With the Sticks River having mostly a rural surrounding, there was a huge push for Canterbury's environmental organization to buy land around the river, especially with it being the second most potent waterway in Christchurch, and possibly to best one in the future. The six values for land use that are guidelines to the restoration process are the following: Drainage, culture, heritage, recreation, ecology, and landscape.  Antony explained how these values are incorporated into restoration projects, such as sedimentation ponds that improve the water quality, or their protection of multiple fish species in the area so that the Maori can harvest them.  We quickly stopped at a lookout for different birds, including the paradise Shell duck and Grey Tail duck.  Interestingly enough, there are no Canadian geese in this area, due to there being no grass around the ponds.  Another cool part of the property was that instead of fully unwanted trees, they saved enough of it so that they could use it as a structure for bird nests.  They would also put a metal sheet around the tree so that possums could not climb up and harm the birds.  We then planted marble leaf, small leaf coprasma, and matai at the first site.  The soil was extremely soft, which made for a quick finish to the 89 plants planted at the site.  We then went to another spot by Sticks River, where we got right into the mud and planted some tussock grass in order to restore the wetlands. One interesting fact Antony told us was that the Magpies will come and try and take out the grass, basically because they don't like them. At our final site, we pushed on through the rain to help a local park ranger spread mulch around plants on the gated property.

Antony explaining to the group the different birds and plants around the property

Antony shows us how to property plant 

The group hard at work at the first site

Proud of our hard work planting at the first site

Pete the pinecone poses with his spade in front of his hard work

Mulching through the storm

Filling up a wheelbarrow through the rain

After we planted 238 plants at the first two sites, and over 20 wheelbarrows full of mulch moved at the third site, we made our way to C1 espresso to warm up and reward ourselves for a hard day's work. - Joe