The right time to get your hands dirty

It’s often said the key to successful planting is to put the right plant in the right place, at the right time.

When it comes to native plants, the right time is right now. Winter is here and we’ve had plenty of rain, making the soil soft and wet. Plants need time and moisture to settle in so by the time spring comes around they’ll be raring to grow.

We know many of you are already planting, which is awesome to see. Farmers are doing their annual riparian planting while community planting groups, iwi and schools have also been dusting off their spades. Anyone can get involved - if we all planted a native plant or two, what a difference that would make.  

So what is the right plant and right place? Taranaki covers a geographically diverse area so factors such as rainfall, soil, frost, wind and salt vary greatly across the region. For the purposes of planting, Taranaki is divided into five ecological districts – Egmont, Foxton, Matemateaonga, Manawatu Plains and North Taranaki. Each has a specific ‘family’ of plants, who belong together and thrive in the local conditions.  

The good news is Wild for Taranaki has put together a Restoration Planting Guide(external link) for each ecological district. Check out https://wildfortaranaki.nz/resources/(external link) to see which natives are the right ones for your location.

So what are you waiting for? Chuck on your gummies, grab your spade and go get your hands dirty. Planting is great fun for all the family and best of all, you’re leaving a legacy for the future – those seedlings will one day become trees your grandchildren will play beneath.