The continual berating by an eco-warrior friend, who is growing nothing but natives, has slowly chipped away at my reluctance to embrace them – and we now have a native area at the bottom of our garden.
The Partner has been sneakily planting stuff there for a while, and it’s turned into quite a showy piece of landscaping.
Wandering around down there last week, looking for the dog’s lost ball, I came across a kaka beak in flower, which filled me with joy – although, I must confess, not quite as much as the scent of my Magnolia “Bubbles” planted nearby.
The kaka beak is probably my favourite native and, unlike the pohutukawa, its flowers are wholeheartedly, enthusiastically red, as well as being extravagantly showy in a way most of our natives are not. They grow to 2-3m, and the trailing stems will form new plants when they come into contact with the soil. So, given the right conditions, a parent plant can cover quite a big area.
Kaka beaks can fix nitrogen, so they can grow in infertile soils – and are often found on open, sunny, steep sites, amongst rocks, at the bottom of slips and cliffs, and on stream edges. Ours is planted in a fairly shady spot in very fertile soil, and it’s doing just fine.
The seedpods are edible, but it’s possibly a better idea to save them and plant elsewhere – they’re still able to germinate decades after being produced, when conditions are right.
If you’re only in your twenties or thirties, you’ll easily outlive your kaka beak – they’re not long-lived plants, and might survive only 12 or 15 years, provided nothing kills them before that.
The kaka beak doesn’t lend itself particularly well to mass planting, and because of its sprawling, shapeless habit, it can be difficult to incorporate into a formal design.
A few years ago, in an attempt at horticultural correctness, I started planting a native every Waitangi Day.
Toe toe
This is New Zealand’s largest native grass, growing up to 3m tall. We called it cutty grass when we were kids because of its sharp leaves, but its soft flowers are white, feathery, arching plumes, and grow up to 6m. Toetoe likes its own company, so you can plant big clumps of it for a really dramatic look. And wherever you are in the country, there’s a toetoe for you. C. fulvida is found throughout the North Island; C. richardii in the South Island; C. splendens on sand dunes and cliff-faces north of Kawhia and the Bay of Plenty; and C. toetoe is seenin the North Island, south of Auckland. It will grow in damp or dry soils, and tolerates strong winds and salt.
Kaka beak flowers
Save the seeds
The intense colour of the kaka beak flower makes it a fantastic stand-alone plant. It’s quite tolerant, but doesn’t live long, so save the seeds and keep planting them. This tree is endangered in the wild.
Pohutukawa
Nearly everybody admires the flower of the pohutukawa – and you don’t need a large garden to grow one. There are smaller varieties available that fit well into an urban garden and flower just as profusely.
Rata tree
Rata can stretch up to 15m, but grow slowly. Expect a baby one to reach about 2m in five years. They take a while to flower, too – but bees love them.
Stella astelia
The astelia is a brilliant landscape plant. It thrives in well-drained and dry soils, and is happiest in dry shade, where it will develop its best silver colouring. Because of a dry tolerance, it’s a great container plant.
And how useful is this? It comes in a range of sizes. Astelia nivicola “Red Devil” grows to about 80cm tall and 60cm wide, and has distinctive, almost metallic, silvery-red, sword-shaped leaves. It looks amazing when spotlit at night.
The next size up is Astelia banksii, which grows to about 1m x 1m. It’s largely coastal, with narrow, silvery leaves and pink fruits.
Astelia chathamica Silver Spear is a vigorous variety with large silvery leaves. It’ll tolerate either dry shade or damp soils, and should grow to about 1.5m x 1.5m.
One way to save water
Even if we don’t have a drought this summer, chances are there will be times when water is short. One small measure you can take is to save the grey water from your washing machine. With some simple DIY plumbing, you can redirect the waste pipe into a plastic barrel, and use the runoff on the garden.
Lidded barrels will ensure nothing falls in and drowns, and will discourage mosquitoes. Swap to an eco-friendly washing powder to reduce chemicals in the soil, and you may even find it helps with pest control on your plants.
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Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
