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Our first Trees for Survival planting day took place on Wednesday 25 May with Ponsonby Primary School.¬† The wetland plants were wonderful specimens and a credit to the school’s nursery.¬† Fortunately the wet weather held off until after the plants went in.¬† The previously grazed area was extremely hard to dig and the volunteers suggested it must have been a road redirected at some stage.¬† Thanks to Ponsonby Primary School and Trees for Survival for their wonderful efforts as well as the Leigh Harbour Valley Society volunteers.¬† This will be a wonderful show case to the many visitors to Goat Island and Pakiri Beach and we look forward to seeing an improvement in the quality of the stream water and an increase in fresh water fish/invertebrates now the cattle have been removed from this catchment area.

The muddy water around the Leigh coastline was a sign that the recent heavy rainfall had caused significant damage in the area.¬† Unfortunately our restoration project was not left unscathed.¬† Two large slips on Sir Duncan McMullin‚Äôs property buried at least 50 of the wetland plants planted last Autumn.¬† Thankfully, the planted slopes were not affected, although one slip on the unplanted side of the valley exposed a large area of greywacke so we won’t need to plant anything there! ¬† Another slip on our property took out some of the steps and a number of native trees on one of the recently formed walkways.¬† Several large slips have also occurred along the main stream.¬† We won‚Äôt be planning any clean up until the soil has settled and we have a better idea of the new course of the streams which have, in some areas, been altered by the slips.

Many thanks to Marco de Jong, Chris Ding and Niklas Erikson (three fit AGS¬† rowers ) who helped transport carpet to Sir Duncan McMullin’s property.¬†¬† After placing carpet around the trees they helped to clear and other weeds.

The plants still look very healthy.   Further weeding/mulching will be necessary.

Monday, 18 October

A break in the wet and windy weather allowed Chris to carry out spraying on Sir Duncan McMullin’s property.

The plants are looking very healthy with a 97% survival rate.  Hand weeding will be necessary around some of the wetland plants and further control of privet also needs to be carried out as soon as possible.

It is hoped we will be able to work with Trees for Survival in 2011 to plant further trees in this valley.

A glorious day.¬† Chris planted the remaining pohutukawa from Project Crimson on the eastern slopes of Sir Duncan McMullin’s property.

I discovered 18 manuka which had been inadvertently left on the slopes, camouflaged in the grass.  Fortunately they had been well watered by weeks of heavy rainfall, and looked very healthy.

All the plants are thriving but so are the weeds.  A weeding effort will be required shortly, as well as mulching to ensure the plants survive during the summer months.

Thanks to Sue and John Haigh who planted flaxes along the border of bush, on Mt Pleasant Drive and then helped with further weeding/planting at the bottom of Mt Pleasant Drive.

In the afternoon, we carried out further weed control in the QEII protected wetland area alongside Leigh Harbour.  Chris chainsawed a pine tree which fell down in a recent storm and was blocking the estuary.

Another successful planting/weed clearing day was held on Saturday 25/9/10, after weeks of dreadful weather and several cancellations.

Thanks to our team of volunteers – Trish, Arthur, Richard, Margaret, Linda and Alan, Margaret and Alistair who spent 2 1/2 hours clearing weeds at the bottom of Mt Pleasant Drive.

Quite a lot of moth plant was found and this was bagged.  More weed clearing is required in this area.

After an enjoyable lunch, the group headed off for a walk through the valley via¬† Sir Duncan McMullin’s property to check the plants, which all seem to be thriving. ¬† We were thrilled to notice that the stream is now running clear.¬† Several members, who have not seen the valley before, were amazed to discover such a magnificent walk on their doorstep.

Further weeding efforts are needed, particularly in the middle area of the valley where tradescantia is rampant.  We plan to have another major weed clearing effort in the valley within the next two months.

The volunteers had an enjoyable week at Leigh.

Many thanks to the Harrisons who kindly provided their holiday home as accommodation.   The team leader, Dawn, was thrilled to have her own en suite!

The team of¬† 5 Japanese,¬† 3 Korean and 1 Spanish volunteers helped to complete the planting funded by Rodney District Councils Natural Heritage Fund and then commenced clearing weeds and planting in the wetland area part way up the valley.¬† These plants were funded by ARC’s Environmental Initiatives Fund.¬† A lot of time was spent shifting the plants to the valley.¬† They managed to plant about 400 selected wetland plants as well as clearing tradescantia.

Another successful planting day was held on Sunday 1 August. Despite the wet weather, there was a good turnout, with 12 volunteers braving the elements (including 2 year old twins Troy and Kristin).
The main focus was planting an area of bush which has been destroyed by cattle. Nik and his friend Felix attacked the privet with the help of a chainsaw and Vigilant gel and also helped to transport plants into the valley.
Anita enjoyed clearing the creek and planting the banks. Conservation Volunteers will be working in the area from 16 – 20 August 2010 and we hope to complete stage 1 with their assistance.

Thanks to our volunteers Margaret S, Trish, Richard, Pam, Troy, Kristin, Felix, Margaret Y, Nik and Anita.