Forest Floor Ltd

Our Maungatapere nursery in 1996, near Whangarei in Northland, New Zealand, growing 250,000 manuka plants (Leptospermum scoparium) for a coastal reveg job.  In the background at the top of the picture is an old shed made by GI's during World War Two, from local native timber. The wood used is puriri, Vitex lucens, which is related to teak, one of the world's top timbers.  Puriri trees produce extremely durable timber that does not need treating, and grow very quickly into huge trees.   The shed is still standing despite tropical cyclones in recent years. (Recent update: it was knocked down in cyclone Gabriel, now the wood is destined to be reused as it is still hard as nails.)  We would like to be growing 250,000 puriri for forestry: all it takes is for someone to have as much faith in puriri as the person who contracted us to grow the manuka trees above had in manuka.  

...don't they know about puriri yet?

Here is a picture of our nursery with the cool white trunk of a kahikatea planted 15 years ago. That's how long it took to get seed to be produced from that species.

This is what we are trying to fix ....overgrazed coastal land on main Chatham Island. The protective seaward wall of flax (Phormium tenax) and other low growing windhardy shrubs, that would normally protect the trees from wind, has been eaten long ago by stock grazing on the florest floor. The constant coastal wind has got in under the trees and thick forest has turned to desert, with just the skeletons of trees remaining. Stock still have unrestricted access to this land, but there is not much left for them to eat. A lot of our tree planting work is trying to establish a canopy cover to reduce erosion and prevent this  loss of topsoil in the first place. Sometimes we end up having to start again from scratch, planting into sand dunes.

 seed collecting expedition Central N.Island

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