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.
