It may seem counter-intuitive to plant anything as water levels remain at historical lows across part of the country.
Photo: Wikimedia commons
However, autumn still offers an opportunity to plant trees despite drought conditions, many of which are now in dormancy.
Big downpours recently haven’t replenished water around some regions, and those in the Auckland region may need to plant over the next week before water restrictions kick in.
Lynda Hallinan told Jessie Mulligan it was maybe a good idea to start thinking about the type of trees you may want in your garden.
“It’s quite a nice thing to do ceremonially, to plant a tree for a special reason. So, when people give birth, they often put the placenta under the tree, or when someone dies people went a memorial tree, so maybe people could plant coronavirus lockdown trees to remind us of the strange times we live in.”
She said the act of planting trees was investment in the future.
“When you plant a tree in winter you are usually planting it bare stick from the garden centre for $50 and you get a bag with a stick in it. But then come spring you get that lovely growth and blossoms.”
Planting according to space restrictions and the amount of shade you are happy with is important. Planting large trees away from the house to the perimeter was a clever move and if you are looking for privacy, always choice evergreen trees.
“Must of us have had more time on our hands than ever before in our lives and possibly ever again and usually what happens with trees is you go to the garden centre and you impulse buy… But because we can’t actually go into a tree nursery and garden centres, it’s a good time to maybe dig the hole and get ready for it and then actually spend some time thinking about the tree you really want, as opposed to grabbing something straight off the aisle.”
