It’s all about trial and error

Every year we learn so much about wetland development work. Mainly through trial and error. Last year we had a big setback after trialling putting fresh wood chip around all the young natives we had planted. Turns out, that was a big error, it stripped the plants of their nitrogen and we had high losses. On top of that, we lost the battle of the weeds yet again and lost yet more natives.

So this year we have changed our approach. Firstly we have used mulch around the plants to help retain moisture and surpress weeds, and we trailing guards.

One of our golden rules here at Dayvinleigh is to consider what we can reduce / reuse / repair / recycle / repurpose / rot. So we intercepted from a neighbouring vineyard some grow guards that were destined for landfill and bamboo stakes that were heading for the burn pile and we made ourselves some plant guards. We figured both the guards and the stakes could serve the land one more time before they really did have to be disposed of.

It didn’t take much to get these made up and in the last couple of months that they have been out, they have stood up well to the rain and floods. These guards will make weed control so much easier and will protect the plants from pesky Pukekos and rabbits while they are getting themselves established.

Here’s hoping we have got it right this time.

Corporate Sponsorship for Dayvinleigh Wetland

We are stoked to have our first corporate sponsor on board to aid in the development of the Dayvinleigh Wetland.

TRC Tourism is a leading international tourism, recreation and conservation planning consultancy based in Australia and New Zealand. TRC delivers sustainable solutions for people, places and cultures and is committed to tourism that contributes positively to society.

TRC Tourism New Zealand is proud to be certified Climate Positive Business Operations (120% offset) with Ekos.

As part of their practical commitment to environmental sustainability they have chosen to contribute funding toward plants, pest and weed control at Dayvinleigh Wetland.

Several of the team from TRC Australia and New Zealand have visited or stayed at Dayvinleigh over the past 4 years as Tracy is one of the TRC team of consultants. So when TRC management were looking for initiatives to support, the Dayvinleigh Wetland came to mind.

We are thrilled to have the support of TRC Tourism through their funding along with their motivation and encouragement for our wetland restoration programme. Thank you TRC

Sanderson watch

At the point where we were becoming increasingly demoralised with losing the war on weeds in the wetland we received an email from Wendy at New Zealand Landcare Trust. Wendy had visited us a few weeks earlier, encouraging us with great advice and a suggestion that she might be able help with some volunteer labour. And boy did she come up trumps with an invitation for us to host an Outward Bound Service Watch. 'You bet' we said.

It turned into an overnight stay with a cohort of 8, ranging in age from 18-26 hailing from all parts of NZ. We offered up the barn as base camp and together we went down to the wetland with tools and wheelbarrows and showed them our task. We started off in a relatively accessible area, finding the plant (which we are proud to say they can now all identify flax, cabbage, kowhai. kahikatea and kanuka), removing the weeds from around the base then laying mulch. With the boundary line cleared rather swifty we took them into a more weed ravaged area. The weedier it got the more they embraced the challenge, until we were in parts that we had not entered for over a year. We joked, laughed and worked together sharing stories until we reached the end of that patch.

The next morning we tackled the Carex secta we had planted last September along one of the waterways. Once again the team dived in and collectively we made short work of the task all the while learning more about wetlands and growing grapes.

To wrap up their time at Dayvinleigh Wetland we invited them to each plant a Cabbage Tree that we had grown from seed sourced on the property. They chose to plant them in the shape of an O, helping one another to dig, plant, water and mulch their trees. They chose to name their site 'Sanderson 2021' their code name for their watch.

What an amazing group of young people and what an incredible adventure they were on with Outward Bound.

This service watch clocked up 92 hours of work in the wetland taking us to 1007 total volunteer hours help in Dayvinleigh Wetland. Thanks Outward Bound and the crew of Sanderson 2021!