Greendot projects range from dry land habitats with a large radius, to stream or wetland projects that are fenced off from farm animals. Scroll down to read about our planting sites over the years.
Greendot Planting 2019
Greendot Planting 2018
Greendot Planting 2017
Greendot Planting 2016
Greendot Planting 2015
Greendot Planting 2013
Greendot Planting 2012
Greendot Planting 2011
Greendot Planting 2010
Greendot Planting 2009
Greendot planting 2019
2019 was another fantastic year of growth for the Te Ara Kākāriki Greenway with continued enthusiasm for planting indigenous species from landowners and volunteers.
• A total of 19,994 native eco-sourced seedlings were planted with assistance from Te Ara Kākāriki – 14,510 were planted through two Canterbury Plantout events and five smaller community or corporate planting days with the remainder being planted through the Kids Discovery Plantout Programme.
• Planting was carried out at ten new Greendots and at nine existing Greendots
• 415 volunteers attended the seven planting days at 16 individual sites, while three landowners received a restoration plan and funding for plants and organised their own planting.
Lincoln Greendot – September 8th
On September 8th the first of the 2019 Annual Canterbury plantouts went ahead in cool drizzly weather. Despite this, volunteers wrapped up and got stuck in planting 1400 seedlings at this Lincoln Greendot.
The landowner began planting native species on his property in 2015 and this is the third year Te Ara Kakariki volunteers have joined in planting meaning the Greendot now consists of upwards of 4000 native plants. It was motivating for those taking part to see some of the previously planted seedlings nearby. The 2019 site was very muddy with large wet strips of water in between higher ground. With volunteers wearing a mix of footwear, the group worked together so that those with gumboots planted the wetter areas and those without planted the drier areas.
Volunteers took regular breaks to beat the cold and were lucky to be able to warm up around a brazier with hot drinks under shelter when needed. Te Ara Kakariki provided participants with a hearty lunch of sandwiches from the Rustic Bakery in Lincoln as well as fruit and biscuits.
About 60 people took part in the planting arriving by bus from Christchurch and surrounding suburbs. Groups from Lincoln and Canterbury universities, Rangi Ruru school took part planting 33 different species including Kahikatea, Matai, Ribbonwood, Toe Toe and Manuka.
Planting will continue at the site in 2020 with another 1000 plants ordered for Spring.
Tai Tapu Hill planting – September 8th
After planting in light rain during the morning about 35 volunteers were relieved to have clear skies for the afternoon planting at this Tai Tapu Greendot site.
Ecologist Colin Meurk along with volunteers from Lincoln University and Environment Canterbury laid out the plants at the site to reflect the natural grouping of plants that would occur in self seeded forests. Landowner Scott Amos is aiming to link nearby plantings on the Port Hills with plantings in a domain not far away, providing a stepping stone for native birds and invertebrates. It was the second year planting as part of a five year project to regenerate the area for future generations. The site is also at risk of erosion so the plants will help to stabilise the land and prevent slips.
The landowners have received funding from the Selwyn Natural Environment fund which contributes to the cost of plants. The grant is run through the Selwyn District Council and assists landowners with advice and funding to restore natural environments.
Volunteers climbed past grazing sheep and 1000 native species that were planted in 2018 to reach their planting site. On first sight it seemed unlikely they would be able to finish but soft soil and determination resulted in all the seedlings being planted with time for afternoon tea and a cheery chat at the end. Landowner Amy Amos thanked the group for their efforts saying, “we never could have done this ourselves or rather it would take it a very very long time!”
Once finished it was satisfying to look back over the neatly planted native plants and imagine the forest full of Tui, Kereru and bellbird that would live here in the future. Native species planted at the site included Totara, Carmichaelia, Kanuka, Cabbage tree and Hoheria.
Sheffield Dairy farm corporate planting day – October
It was a great turn out by about 60 staff from five local organisations for a morning planting at a Sheffield dairy farm. The planting project is being funding by Central Plains Water Environmental Management Fund and will be completed over four years.
Teams from Institute of Environmental Science and Research, Antarctica New Zealand, Aqualinc Research, Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research and My Milk spent the morning planting 1000 native seedlings along a waterway, creating a new stepping stone in the Te Ara Kākāriki Greenway. The waterway runs through a dairy farm and will be planted over four years to beautify the farm and provide habitat for birds and insects.
Ecologist Alan McDonald said as the plants grow and create shade over the stream, the water will cool leading to a healthier ecosystem. Volunteers planted a range of species including carex and fern species along the waters edge and pittosporum, New Zealand Flax and coprosmas species further up the banks.
Greendot planting 2018
Between August and October volunteers and landowners planted 14,660 native eco-sourced seedlings at properties between Tai Tapu and Springfield. Below is a summary of some of the different sites we’ve planted at this year.
Reids Pit greendot, Rolleston (1,260 plants)
The site: Reids pit is a former gravel excavation site in Rolleston which is being converted into a multi use recreational area by Selwyn District Council. On August 18th, about 50 volunteers came to plant a native ecological area on one part of the site. Once the plants are established the public will be able to enjoy a short walkway weaving throughout the plantings.
Plants: Native skinks had been found at the site in earlier surveying so plants were chosen with the lizards in mind on mounds left behind from the sites working days. The mounds provide an ideal habitat for skinks to sunbathe with plantings allowing them to take cover from predators when needed. Other seedlings were chosen for their ability to thrive in the site conditions and some were chosen specifically to attract native birds.
Maintenance and preparation: The site was mostly blanket sprayed leaving areas where native rushes and lichens were present. The ground was very compact so it was decided to pre dig holes using an auger before planting. Selwyn District Council will be spraying around plant guards and hand weeding inside the guards until plants are established.
Greendot planting 2017
In Spring, volunteers planted 8,248 native plants. They are distributed across the Selwyn District and on the Port Hills. Here are some examples of where we planted.
Vanya Alison Maw’s greendot, Broadfield (329 plants)
Plant Community: Totara/matai forest. The soil is Templeton Silt Loams 1 & 3.
27 species were suggested for this site.
Planting day: Vanya has been planting native plants on her property year after year for about two decades and now has a few thousand native trees. The 2nd of September was the first time a group of volunteers dedicated their Saturday morning to planting natives alongside her growing forest. 329 plants were put in the ground.
Maintenance: Vanya farms organically and the weeds are surpressed by putting a thick layer of mulch around the plant’s combi guard.
McKenzie’s greendot, Port Hills (794 plants)
Plant Community: Totara/matai forest. The soil is Loess and the site is 120m above sea level. 42 species were suggested for this site.
Planting day: On the 30th of September, over 60 volunteers planted 794 plants in an area where previous native areas had been burnt down by the Port Hill fires in February 2017. Many more plants will be planted in the years to come with the help of the trust and their friends. The McKenzie’s would eventually like 1/3 of their farm to be forested with native trees.
Maintenance: They will spot spray around the plants that are protected by combi guards every few months to keep the weeds down until the plants are established.
Guerney and Webb’s greendot, Hororata (520 plants)
Plant Community: Riparian for the wetland and Kahikatea/matai forest for the wetland margin. A large amount of native planting has already occurred at this property.
Planting day: On the 16th of September planting day, 520 plants were planted by volunteers.
Maintenance: They will spot spray around the plants that are protected by combi guards every few months to keep the weeds down until the plants are established.
Greendot planting 2016
Last Spring volunteers planted over 6,000 native plants. They are distributed across the Selwyn District, from Tai Tapu, all the way to Springfield. We would like to tell you a little about these new and continuing greendots.
Devine-Smith greendot, Tai Tapu (1200 plants)
Plant Community: kahikatea / matai podocarp Forest. With a total of 29 different species, from small grasses and shrubs to large trees. Species suitable for low lying swampy land.
Planting: A total of 1,020 were planted on September 3rd at the Canterbury Plantout. Since then, the landowners have acquired the last couple of plants. The family were over joyed to see all the plants go in the ground so quickly with lots of volunteers. They are also grateful for the Selwyn Natural Environment Fund that helped them purchase some of the plants and combi guards.
The site has a number of existing native plants, a small pond, organic fruit and nut trees and other organic produce growing. For this reason, the Devine-Smiths are keen to avoid the use of sprays for maintenance around their plants. They are putting a thick layer of mulch around the plant’s combi guards, and then will mow grass in between.
Aitken greendot, Tai Tapu, (1600 plants)
Plant Community: Totara / matai Forest. Moist loamy soils, more free draining than Tai Tapu soils. A total of 42 species suggested.
Planting: A total of 1,000 were planted on September 3rd at the Canterbury Plantout. Since then, the Aitken family have been putting more plants in when ever possible to get all 1600 in the ground. They are very grateful for all the support they have had from volunteers at the Canterbury Plantout, the Selwyn Natural Environment Fund, which helped them to buy some of the plants and combi guards.
Site prep and maintenance: The site was grazed down by their sheep to begin with and then spot sprayed to kill grass and roots 6 weeks before planting. They will continue to spot spray around the plants that are protected by combi guards every few months to keep the weeds down until the plants are established.
Guy Greendot, Lincoln (200 plants – to grow in coming years)
Plant Community: kahikatea / matai podocarp Forest. With a total of 32 different species suggested, from small grasses and shrubs to large trees. Species suitable for low lying swampy land.
Planting: Approximately 200 were planted on September 18th at one of our smaller planting days. The Guy family were recipients of the Selwyn Natural Environment Fund.
Patchett Greendot, Leeston / Springston (560 plants, to double next year)
Plant Community: kahikatea / matai podocarp Forest in the lower wet area, and totara / matai podocarp Forest in the higher dry area. With a total of 48 different species suggested, from small grasses and shrubs to large trees.
Planting: On September 18th, 560 plants were put in the ground by the Patchett family, friends, Lincoln University Handy Landy club and Te Ara Kakariki volunteers. They will be doubling their greendot next year.
Maintenance: The Patchett farm is organic, so they have come up with a method of maintaining the plant survival without spraying weeds. Thick mulch piles of straw were placed around the combi guards that protect the plants. Afterwards the farmers planted oats in between the plants. They will hand weed the few blades of grass that appear.
Kong Greendot, West Melton (250 plants, and more to grow in coming years)
Plant Community: Dry woodland. The soil is prone to drought. 25 species were suggested for this site.
Planting day: 15 Students from West Melton (year 7 and 8 ) were keen to gather some community hours, so they came and planted all 250 plants in one afternoon, with the support of their teacher, the TAK Coordinator, and the landowner. They were rewarded with a delicious afternoon tea.
Maintenance: The Kongs plan on putting some carpet around the plants, although they may be spraying the weeds too.
Aldersley Greendot, Springfield (1300 plants)
Read the second part of this article:
Greendot planting 2016
– Established Greendots growing in size:
Coalgate Domain – continuation (250 plants added this year, with apron 1500 in total) (see the above news article – first part)
Logan Greendot, West Melton (another 450 planted this year, with about 1200 in total)
Tim began planting in 2012, and has continued adding a variety of local native species every few years. He is passionate about native restoration and always sharing his knowledge with others. He is one of the youngest to instigate a greendot on family owned property. We are ready to support him with volunteers whenever he has more plants to get in the ground.
Edwards Greendot, Hororata – continuation. (another 700 planted this year, with about 3000 in total, with more to plant next year)
Tony Edwards began planting his hillside and gully a few years ago with the help of Te Ara Kakariki. Volunteers are always delighted to plant more at this stunning hill site. And the Edwards want us back again next year !
On September 24th, we planted 700 plants in one morning with approximately 25 volunteers. We ate a well earned lunch up at the house over looking a wide view of the Canterbury plains.
Greendot planting 2015
In September 2015 and 2016 the Canterbury Plantout was hosted at Yarrs Flat, a public site that is taken care of by the Department of Conservation and Fonterra (a partnership called Living Water), in 2015 we also planted at a nearby landowner adjacent to a drain that leads out to Te Waihora Lake Ellesmere.
The day was filled with educational opportunities for people of all ages.
People learned about the lake, how the land used to be, and how it would be in years to come once the plants grew (Harakeke, toi toi, cabbage trees, salt marsh, among others).
In 2015 we also hosted a number of additional planting days to support our greendot landowners, for example:
Tony Edwards has dedicated a large area of his farm to native restoration in Hororata. The area is fenced off to cattle. This is a project that takes a few years to complete, so we have continued to return to help plant at the Edwards.
Tim Logan’s family site in West Melton has had incredible survival rates. Tim is very dedicated to hand watering the plants, and this must have a great impact on their survival.
Greendot planting 2013
The 2013 Canterbury Plantouts, with our partner organisations were held over 4 fun filled days of planting to create corridors for native wildlife and a filtering system to our waterways. This will aid the improving health of Lake Ellesmere/Te Waihora at the bottom of the catchment and providing a greenway of food sources for native wildlife.
Planting at Gurney and Webb by Rima Herber
A total of 8000 plants were planted over 12 sites by 501 attendees. This included:
– 165 people planted in the upper Selwyn catchment on Saturday 7th September at five sites.
– 35 students and volunteers planted natives at a local farm as part of the University of Canterbury planting day on the 14th September.
– 150 students, teachers and parents from Burnham School planted natives at Coes ford on Friday the 20th September.
– 151 people planted in the lower Selwyn catchment on Saturday 21st September at six sites.
Feedback continues to be positive about the event, and as always we are using feedback from participants to create a better Canterbury Plantout for 2014.
Pencil in the 2013 Canterbury Plantout days as 6th September and 20th September, registrations open 1 August 2014.
Greendot planting 2013
child and mudfish by Rima Herber
2013 would not have been so successful without the support of our funders. Gold sponsors Whakaora Te Waihora and Ministry for Environment Community Education Fund. Silver sponsors WWF New Zealand, Canterbury Community Trust and Fonterra. Bronze sponsors Selwyn District Council, Isaac Wildlife and Conservation Trust and Environment Canterbury.
This funding also allowed Te Ara Kakariki to support 12 sites for planting in 2013.
After reviewing 18 possible sites, the GreenDot Committee used criteria to select the best sites to receive support. Landowner agreements and restoration plans have been developed for these sites.
September 2012 Canterbury Plantout:
Based on the feedback from the 2011 event, TAK modified our approach for the 2012 Canterbury Plantout focussing one saturday on the upper catchment and one saturday on the lower catchment. Again we joined forces with partner organisations to bring together the wider community for 3 fun filled days of planting to create corridors for native wildlife and a filtering system to our waterways. This will aid the improving health of Lake Ellesmere/Te Waihora at the bottom of the catchment and providing a greenway of food sources for native wildlife.
The 2012 Canterbury Plantout had a number of speakers on the buses that moved volunteers between planting sites, having resources available at meal breaks and a number of specialists on hand to answer individual questions or requests of landowners and community members. A total of 7700 plants were planted over the 3 days.
Feedback has been positive and we are using this to create a better Canterbury Plantout for 2013.
Greendot planting 2012
With funding from both the Canterbury Community Trust, the Habitat Restoration Fund of the WWF New Zealand, Community Environment Fund (Ministry For Environment) and Isaac Wildlife and Conservation Trust, Te Ara Kakariki is excited to be able to support 11 sites for planting in 2012.
After reviewing 22 possible sites, the GreenDot Committee used criteria to select the best sites to receive support. Landowner agreements and restoration plans have been developed for these 10 sites.
Greendot planting 2011
A different approach for the 2011 planting year with TAK has joined forces with other organisations working on the Canterbury Plains to bring together the wider community for a fun day of planting. Through planting these native plants we are creating corridors for native wildlife and a filtering system to our waterways. This will aid the improving health of Lake Ellesmere/Te Waihora at the bottom of the catchment and providing a greenway of food sources for native wildlife.
The planting weekend had a number of speakers on the buses that are ferrying the volunteers between planting sites, having resources available at meal breaks and by providing activities for children e.g. macroinvertebrate sampling, creating habitats for weta, insects and lizards (i.e. wood blocks and weta hotels). There was also be a number of specialists available to answer individual questions or requests of landowners and community members.
In taking a two step approach, we hope that attendees felt empowered through their active involvement in planting native plants, while enjoying a great social occasion on the Canterbury Plains.
Greendots 2011:
With funding from both the Biodiversity Advice Fund and the Habitat Restoration Fund of the World Wildlife Foundation, Te Ara Kakariki is excited to be able to support 10 sites for planting in 2011.
After reviewing 20 possible sites, the GreenDot Committee used the following criteria to select the best sites to receive support. Landowner agreements and restoration plans were developed for these 10 sites. Plants were ordered, and planting days held in September 2011.
Greendot planting 2010
In Spring 2010, nine greendot sites were planted, with the 5 inital 2009 greendot sites being added to, and 4 new sites being established at Glentunnel Golf Course, Greendale Golf Course, the property of Rae Henderson near Doyleston and a further site on the property of Janine Duckworth, near the Upper Selwyn Huts.
A number of planting days were held in October to plant the nine sites. Volunteers from the community, including the Coalgate/Glentunnel Reserve Board, Greendale Golf Club, and members of Te Ara Kākāriki joined landowners for the planting days where 1831 plants were planted across 9 sites. Plants included kanuka, kōwhai, ti kouka, mikimiki, kohuhu and totara which were supported by the use of grow tablets and combi-guard plant protectors to ensure growth and protection from weeds and pests.
Greendot planting 2009
During the spring of 2009, the Te Ara Kākāriki Charitable Trust using a donation from New Zealand Eco-Tours and in conjunction with the Copthorne Hotel, Brailsfords Ltd, Southern Woods, Waiora and Motukarara Nurseries undertook the first green dot plantings as part of the Te Ara Kākāriki Greenway Canterbury project.
Initially, 10 sites were chosen as greendots and the landowners were contacted to discuss the possibility of developing a ‘green dot’ planting on their property. From these conversations, 5 sites were established as the best initial planting sites.
Two planting days were held on the 13th of September and 7th of October respectively to plant the five sites. Volunteers from the community, including the Coalgate/Glentunnel Reserve Board, members of Te Ara Kākāriki, staff from the Copthorne Hotel and youth workers from the Te Waihora Community Max programme joined landowners for the planting days where approximately 1000 plants were planted across 5 sites. Plants included kanuka, kōwhai, ti kouka, mikimiki, kohuhu and totara which were supported by the use of grow tablets and combi-guard plant protectors to ensure growth and protection from weeds and pests.