Native Plants

Planting and Restoration

Native plants are a great way to enhance our urban areas.  They provide shade, shelter, and habitat for birds and insects.  They can also create a beautiful low-maintenance garden, given a good start and some basic care.

Parts of the following information is sourced from ARC

Planning

Oakley Creek Boardwalk Year 1

Oakley Creek Boardwalk Year 2

Oakley Creek Year 1

Oakley Creek Year 2

Oakley Creek Year 3

Images source - Friends of Oakley Creek - Te Auaunga

• Get to know your garden - the moist places, the dry places, the sunny places and the windy places. Knowing these conditions will help you select the plants most suited to your garden
• Have a planting plan in mind if you're planting a large area. Part of this plan will include thinking about the right time of year to plant and selecting the right quantity of suitable plants
• Size matters. When selecting native trees for the garden it is important to consider the ultimate size and shape of the tree. Large, spreading specimen trees are best reserved for spacious garden or lawn areas. Too often people have to remove or prune healthy trees because they've outgrown the space available. Also, check with your local council about tree protection rules, as they will affect how you manage trees as they grow larger.

Planting Tips

• Prepare the site where you want to plant. Remove weeds
• Hot, sunny or windy days can dry out small plants so avoid planting during this kind of weather
• If you plant your plants close enough together (e.g. 1m for shrubs), they can suppress weeds by shading them out
• Mulching around the plants will help to stop weeds coming back and help the soil retain moisture
• For the details on how to plant natives to ensure the best chance of survival, read the Good Start Planting Guide.

What to plant and where

Find out more about our 'Native to the West' restoration guide

When to plant

The ideal planting time is between April and June, through to July at the very latest. Planting at this time of the year gives plants a chance to get established before needing to cope with winter storms, summer heat and dry spells. Only plant outside this time if you can tend your plants regularly. If autumn has been dry, it's important to ensure that plants are well watered at planting.

Search for a plant

search for a native plant at the New Zealand Plant Conservation Network website and learn how to take care of our threatened species.

Waitakere's Restoration Best Practice Guidelines

Waitakere City Council is drafting our best practice guidelines for restoration, giving good pointers on how to undertake successful riparian restoration of native habitat on your property.

The guideline is close to completion and will be free to download from this website.

Contact us for more information or email us on greennetwork@waitakere.govt.nz

Plant Types for Stream Banks

There are many publications to help you work out how to restore your streamside and what to plant there.

The ARC has a Riparian Zone Management Technical Publication (TP148) which is free to download from the ARC website.

Environment Waikato has produced the Clean Streams Booklet  with great advice for stream management - particularly in rural areas.

Trees for Survival  is a programme for community involvement in native plant revegetation.

Ecosourcing

Ecosourcing is about using native plants in a way that encourages the maintenance of the genetic diversity within the local populations of native plants. Thus it starts with the idea of 'connecting the destination with the source' but is much more. Biodiversity includes species diversity, genetic diversity and ecosystem diversity. Thus ecosourcing is the major tool for managing the genetic diversity component when using native plants.

The code is intended for use by: nurseries, garden centres, seed collectors, liner growers, wholesale growers, landscapers, landscape architects, gardners, landowners, community groups, scientists, contract managers, local authorities and government agencies who plan, grow, plant, sell or distribute NZ native plants.

This code is a living document, expected to change and improve over time.  It is intended to sit alongside other guidelines of a good practice.

Note: You will need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer in order to view and print these documents.  For help opening PDF files or tips on copying information see Helpful Tips.

Living with nature

Note: You will need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer in order to view and print these documents.  For help opening PDF files or tips on copying information see Helpful Tips.

Oratia Planting Guide

Council has prepared a flyer specifically to help you plant your property within the Oratia catchment.

Contact us for your free copy or download the file below.

Note: You will need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer in order to view and print this document.  For help opening PDF files or tips on copying information see Helpful Tips.

Oratia Planting Guidelines (Size 145K)