This was our first planting effort for several months and we were determined to plant the 500 trees left over from the Trees for Survival planting day which had been nurtured at the Takapuna Intermediate school nursery.   Many thanks to Keith, Richard, Arthur, Anna and Soxi (two university students from the Leigh Marine Laboratory) who assisted on Saturday pm.  Anna and Soxi were the most energetic and enthusiastic volunteers we have had to date and we were amazed at their level of fitness and  how quickly they worked.

Unfortunately a lot of time was wasted digging through the kikuya which should have been sprayed several weeks ago.  Despite the wet winter, the soil was surprisingly dry in parts.

Trish arrived on Sunday morning along with her grandson Damian and his friend Scott (two delightful young men) who worked hard and transported all the trees down to the wetland area, saving our poor aging knees.  We managed to plant all the remaining trees on Sunday afternoon and this morning thanks to Keith’s dogged determination and Chris’s assistance with the weedeater.  Our backs and knees were certainly feeling it by the time we had finished.  The next job will be releasing the previously planted trees which are being strangled by kikuya and many other varieties of weeds.

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