'Native to the West' - a guide for planting and restoring the nature of Waitakere City

Native plants provide essential food and habitat for native insects, lizards and birds, even in small city spaces.

A new edition of this popular book is available free to Waitakere City residents and ratepayers, from libraries or by contacting us.

Parts of the book are available for download at the following links.

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.

Native to the West - planting guide(Part 1) (Size 1680K)
Native to the West - planting guide(Part 2) (Size 1669K)

This book expands on the success of the original volume, which brought to our attention to the unique and special collections of native plants found in Waitakere. There are numerous different ecosystems within the city; from the wild west coast, through to the sheltered Manukau and Waitemata Harbours, up through city suburbs, to the foothills and the ranges, and each is home to a particular mix of native species.

The book encourages residents to help grow the Green Network throughout the city. Involving the community is vital to the success of conserving our distinctive native environments. By planting ecosourced natives we retain the genetic diversity of our local species. This special mix of vegetation is the basis of habitat and food sources for native insects, lizards and birds. Weed and animal pest -free habitats are essential to the long-term survival of biodiversity in our city.

By following the checklist provided in the book you will obtain a list of the native plants that would occur naturally on your site, and a good idea of where to plant them.

Native plants on streamsides reduce the effects of flooding and erosion by providing soil stability and slowing water movement. Streamside plants also provide essential shade for native insects and fish.

The Checklist includes:

• Finding your ecosystem on the map provided.
• Looking at your own site and deciding what habitats it has (e.g. boggy area, steep slope etc.)
• Looking up the appropriate ecosystem planting guide for your site.
• Selecting from a list a variety of plants suitable for the topography of your site, and checking the numbers that you should plant.
• Checking the tolerances list (e.g. for sun, shade etc).

Other topics covered in Native to the West include:

• Planting for birds
• The ABC of Restoring bush
• Trees for streets and gardens
• Natural neighbours; plants from special habitats
• The nature of Waitakere

Waitakere ecosystems - descriptions:

• Pohutukawa: Oi
  Exposed- Coast Ecosystem
• Manuka: Kahu
  Stormy Coastal Hills Ecosystem
• Kowhai: Kotare
  Harbour Coastal Ecosystem
• Puriri: Kereru
  Warm Lowlands Ecosystem
• Kiekiee: Miromiro
  High Rainfall Hills Ecosystem
• Rimu: Ruru
  Uplands Ecosystem

It may be hard to visualise how all your planting is going to look, so you might like to take the book to a native plant nursery to see what some of these species look like.