THE CULTIVATION OF NATIVE PLANTS by Rev. Father C. J. Callaghan, S.M.

Forest and Bird, Issue 148, 1 May 1963, Page 20

THE CULTIVATION OF NATIVE PLANTS by Rev. Father C. J. Callaghan, S.M.

This talk was given to the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society, Hastings-Havelock North Section by Rev. Father C. J. Callaghan, S.M., on 12 July, 1962. Why grow native plants? Why grow anything? For the pleasure of it. And it is a noble pleasure, exclusively human. The pleasure we take in' contemplating beauty is an aesthetic one, and it is the more satisfying if our efforts have contributed to it. Animals do not adorn the surroundings of their lairs; and it is a saddening sight when human beings neglect the grounds, large or small, of their homes. So we have our beds or borders of flowers and shrubs. But it is not just gardening that I wish to tell you about. For one thing, I am not a gardening expert, but my hobby is the study of our native plants. I have found it helps and enriches the pleasure of that hobby to identify the plants, and it helps far more to cultivate them. God prepared the earth as our home, and He planted it with a great variety of gardens. These are the flora of the different lands. To make our gardens we borrow from His. We domesticate and improve the wild species. The plants in our nurseries and our gardens are drawn from all over the world. I think it is a pity that quite often there is little or nothing from our own flora. By contrast, my own interest is narrow. I grow only native plants. It is an expression of my love for our own land, its flora in particular. Kipling tells us: God gave all men all earth to love, but since our hearts are small, Ordained one land should prove beloved over all.

What to Grow Some of the trees, if there is room. But there is no need to plan as if they were to remain there for ever, or to come to full maturity. The stage of our trees up to early maturity is often the most ornamental. A tree fully justifies itself if it gives pleasure to a generation or two. Besides, some may be topped or pruned to advantage—red beech, for instance; it may then be pruned regularly for decoration purposes. Many native trees, till

mature, are economical of space: kauri, rewarewa, hinau, lacebarks, above all, lancewood. How to Grow Them Even if nursery plants, they may require partial shade and shelter. Most will do well in company, in a plantation (the bush plants) ; but nurseries can provide good specimen trees. Some are plants of the open: coprosmas, lacebarks, kowhai, karaka, akeake, pittosporums, manuka, kumarahou, myrtles, rangiora, olearias, senecios, brooms. If plants are taken from the wild state they need a period in a home nursery (a) to acclimatise, (b) to develop a root system. They would probably do best if grown for a period in pots. It is no advantage to take soil with small plants (Cockayne). Many can be grown from cuttings: most shrubs, some trees. Seeds are to be had in abundance in season; worth trying. My own object was simply to make a collection, as large as possible. I have found that most grow readily (some with shade and frost protection) if not allowed to dry out before becoming well rooted.

List of plants to select from: (H., hardy; V.H., very hardy; H.H., half hardy). TREES : Kauri H. ; Putaputaweta V.H.; Titoki H. ; Rimu V.H.; Dacrydium kirkii (monoao) H.H. ; Dracophyllum H.H. ; Kowhai V.H. ; Fuchsia (ex cor tic ata, procumbens, colensoi) V.H.; Hoheria (sexstylosa, popMlnea) V.H. ; Gaya lyallii (mountain ribbonwood) V.H. ; Broadleaf (Griselinea littoralis and lucida) V.H. ;. Pigeonwood (Hedycarya arborea) H.; Kumarahou (Pomaderris elliptica) H.H.; Tawari (Ixerba brexioides) . H.; Wharangi \Melicope ternata) H.H.; Melicytus lanceolatus, V.H.; Manuka species (nicholsii) V.H.; Kaikawaka or Pahautea (Libocedrus spp.) V.H.; Rata trees (robusta H.H., lucida V.H., excelsa H.H.) ; Beech (red, silver, black) V.H.; Five-finger V.H. ; Neopanax edgerleyi (raukawa) V.H.; Maire (black, white, mountain) H.H.; Celery pine (Phyllo cladus'), tanekaha H.H.; Toatoa H.H.; Mountain Toatoa V.H.; Pittosporum (kohuhu V.H., tarata V.H., dallii V.H.) ; Pseudopanax (lancewood V.H. ; lessonii H.H., trifoliatum H.H., discolor Hi); Quintinia acutifolia V.H.; Nikau H.H.; Puriri H.H. ; Pukatea H.H. ; Ascarina lucida H. ; Tawa H.H.; Taraire H.H. ; Karaka H.H. ; Kohekohe H.H.; Hinau V.H.; Pokaka V.H.; Rewarewa H.H.; Mangeao (Litsea calicaris) H.H. ; Puka (Meryta sinclairii) H.H.; Ngaio H. ; Neopanax laetum H.H.; Kaikomako V.H.; Per so onia torn H.; Plagianthus betulinus V.H. ; M sine australis (hapau) V.FL ; Toro H.H.; Pate (Schefflera digitata) H. ; Akeake (2) (Dodonaea viscosa, purpurea) H. ; Rangiora (bronze) H.H. ; Broom (Carmichaelia odorata, australis, repens, acerosa) H.H. ; Corokia (buddleioides H.H., cotoneaster V.H.) ; Cyathodes acerosa eioides H.H., cotoneaster V.H.) ; Cyathodes acerosa drupes white, red) V.H.

NEW ZEALAND BIRDS AND FLOWERS; a selection of colour plates 32 pp., 49 plates and coloured cover ; 9U x 7U inches; price 7s. 6d. Wellington A. H. & A. W. Reed. ■ This is an excellent production, a great credit to both publishers and printers. It fills a gap in the many books on our birds and flowers by providing a representative selection at a price within everyone’s reach. A noteworthy feature of the book is that the birds photographed are not stuffed specimens from a museum but real live birds. Scientific names of birds and plants as well as popular ones are given. Each plate is accompanied by a few lines of descriptive text. Some will say that in one or two places the colour is not true to nature, but the only place where there is a noticeable deviation is in the colour of the kaka. Perhaps a justifiable criticism the only one of any consequence— that a reader not familiar with the relative sizes of the birds will not know, for. instance, whether the kiwi is bigger or smaller than the tui, or whether the flowers of the hoheria are bigger than those of the clematis. As there is certain to be a second printing of this book perhaps the publishers will be able to indicate sizes and also to tidy up the register in those very few-places where slight mis-register detracts from the beauty of the plates.

THE JUNIOR SECTION AND THE J. R. McKenzie trust The Junior Section is largely financed by an annual grant of £l5O made by the J. R. McKenzie Trust Board. Readers of these pages will be interested to learn that the total distribution to date by the Trust is £326,900. The income of the Trust is mainly derived from shares in McKenzies (NZ) Ltd., 30 per cent, of the profits of McKenzie stores going back to the community through the generous trusts established by the late Sir John McKenzie. !