3M Stocks – Nursery upgrade to boost supply of young trees for erosion control
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A pūkeko wanders along a row of trees in the Tasman District Council nursery at Appleby, near Nelson. The nursery supplies poplar and willow poles and whips to help landowners prevent erosion and sedimentation.
A nursery that supplies young trees to help prevent erosion in the Tasman District is being expanded.
The long-running Tasman District Council nursery at Appleby last year supplied 1929 poplar and willow poles – young tree stems – to help landowners prevent erosion and sedimentation.
It also supplied 687 “whips” – smaller 1m poles – used to expand the nursery footprint along with 1782 cuttings that were “on-grown” by another nursery.
Located alongside the Waimea River, the council nursery is undergoing a two-year upgrade, worth about $60,000 in total, which is being funded by the Ministry for Primary Industries.
Council environmental information manager Rob Smith said the poles were normally about 3m long.
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Braden Fastier/Stuff
The poles are usually 3m long while narrower “whips” are about 1m.
“They have the most amazing root system that is very good at stabilising banks,” Smith said. “We use them where appropriate.”
For areas of low erosion risk, native plants such as cabbage trees were good while the poplar and willow poles were great in areas of high erosion risk along stream and river banks or to help stabilise hillsides.
The narrow 1m “whips” could be used in areas with riparian fencing “where cows can’t eat them”.
While the 3m poles were stock resistant, cattle loved to eat the whips if they could get to them, Smith said.
Braden Fastier/Stuff
As part of an upgrade of the nursery, some old plant stock has been removed and new replacement stock added.
Marlborough District Council also bought poles from the nursery. In the past, some excess stock had been purchased by apiarists, but the trees were mostly used as intended – to help prevent erosion and sedimentation.
The upgrade of the nursery included an expansion of its capacity. Most of the work to date, undertaken by Taylors Contracting, involved removing old plant stock and adding new replacement stock.
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In addition, the irrigation system had been expanded and a new water meter added. Access to the site had been improved and a review was under way to upgrade the route over the stopbank from River Rd, which had been highlighted as a health and safety issue.
Smith said the nursery’s improvement had been driven by resource scientist Dr Bernard Simmonds, who died following a mountainbike crash in September.
3M Stocks – Nursery upgrade to boost supply of young trees for erosion control
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