A Natural Garden: Hebe speciosa

A Natural Garden

This natural garden is a very large New Zealand coastal garden of native trees on the west coast of the lower North Island of New Zealand, set among extensive natural wetlands and small lakes and ponds. The property captures magnificent sea views to the west. The garden and the wetlands are now a heritage site but 23 years ago they simply comprised paddocks of pasture with no plantings other than a few pine trees. The property now has four Queen Elizabeth II National Trust covenants on it to protect the plantings and the wetlands.
Native trees planted and flourishing now include totara or podocarpus totara, pohutokawa or metrosideros excelsa, manuka or teatree, kanuka or teatree, ti kouka or cordyline australis or cabbage tree, ngaio or myoporum laetum, kowhai or sophora spp., kahikatea or dacrycarpus dacrydioides or white pine, rimu or dacrydium cuppressinum or red pine, puka or meryta sinclarii, pukatea or laurelia nova-zealandiae, kauri or agathis australis, akapuka or griselinia lucida, kapuka or griselinia littoralis, nikau or rhopalostylis sapida, ngaio or myoporum laetum, golden tainui, ponga or cyathea dealbata or silver fern, putaputaweta or marble leaf, akeake, taupata or coprosma repens or mirror plant, karo or pittosporum crassifolium, rata or metrosideros robusta, koromiko or hebe stricta, houhere or lacebark, horoeka or lancewood, hebe speciosa, carex secta, raupo or bull rush, harakeke or phormium tenax, wharariki or mountain flax, and many other types of native flax, sedges and grasses.
Birds which frequent the property or are seen around the property from time to time (and season to season) include bellbird, bittern, blackbird, black backed gull, grey teal, Californian quail, Canadian geese, chaffinch, cockatoo, cormorant, dabchick, dove, duck, duck mallard, duck paradise, fairy prion, fantail, goldfinch, greenfinch, grey warbler, hawk, herron, kereru, kingfisher, magpie, morepork, parakeet, pheasant, pied stilt, pukeko, reb-billed gull, rock pidgeon, rosella, royal spoonbill, silvereye, skylark, song thrush, sparrow, spur winged plover, starling, swan,and tui.

For viewers interested in the earlier stages of the garden's development please go to the end of the page and click on "Older Posts".

A Natural Garden

Saturday, December 9, 2006

Hebe speciosa

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A Natural Coastal Garden