The last tree Peter Grundy (right) planted as a council employee - an Australian flame tree in Queens Gardens - helped by Lindsay Barber. Photo: Supplied / Peter Grundy
After 40 years and a million trees and shrubs planted, a dedicated parks supervisor has retired from the job, leaving Nelson a veritable feast of flora, literally.
Peter Grundy has quietly transformed the regions parks and reserves with natives and pickable plants, meaning people can graze from apple, nut and even carob trees.
If you do the maths, he has supervised the planting of about 25,000 trees a year - or 68 a day.
Grundy said he loved trees because they changed the environment, made parks enjoyable, produced shade and in some cases provided fruit or nuts to eat.
"It's been my passion ever since I started work so planting trees and planting an environment that people can enjoy."
Peter Grundy is retiring after 40 years as a parks supervisor in Nelson. Photo: Supplied / Peter Grundy
Asked what he set out to achieve when he started the job, Grundy said at that time Nelson was a bit bereft of trees around its local parks.
"I saw an opportunity of really making those people friendly spaces, rather than a fence-line and a swing in the corner."
People were now enjoying parks a lot more, particularly during the period of Covid-19 lockdowns, he said.
"And being surprised at what it offered in the way of large trees and somewhere to go and graze, pick the plums and figs and all that type of thing.
"I think if you go to your local park and you see a fresh fig tree or a fig to pick and enjoy for your evening dessert that's what probably makes it worthwhile."
He said he had been planting low maintenance fruit trees at parks for nearly 40 years and chose low maintenance trees such as figs, feijoas and persimmons, along with trees such as walnut, almond and hazelnut trees.
"So you don't have to put a lot of input into caring for those type of trees."
Peter Grundy (left) planting a tree helped by his grandson Dylan Lester. Photo: Supplied / Peter Grundy
Now that he is retired Grundy said he and his wife Sue had a six hectare property at Cable Bay in Nelson where there was a good opportunity to plant more fruit trees, native plants and cut flowers.
He said there was a big community who wanted to be involved in their local parks.
"I mean just before I finished we had an 'adopt a spot' thing where groups of the public can come along and take a bit of ownership of their park and enjoy putting something back into that park."
Grundy said his favourite tree was in Nelson's Queen's Gardens was a metasequoia glyptostroboides, commonly known as the dawn redwood - a variety that was discovered in China in the 1940s and which has a lot of history attached to it.
"And it's a lovely tree that I recently had my photo taken under, enjoying its bark," he said.
Asked why it was his favourite, Grundy said it was called a living fossil because it was discovered in China in the 1940s.
