Conservation Week

To mark the beginning of Conservation Week 2023 Piwakawaka decided to get their hands dirty.  We thickened up the plantings at the St Albans gate with more hebe. It is looking really great and we are looking forward to seeing this grow up over the next few years. Hebe are great for attracting bees to our school grounds and the flowers on the hebe will make the entrance way attractive for our visitors.

  

We learnt how to plant the plants to give them the best chance of survival. First we cut away the carpet that has been laid to suppress the weeds. When planting the hole needs to be the size of the pot you are transplanting from. You don’t want it too deep, but the roots need to be at the same level as the ground. Then you loosen the soil by pressing on the side of the pot gently and turn the pot upside down to get the plant out. Put the plant in the hole you have dug and place the soil back around the plant.  Once the plant is in the soil you need to compress the top layer by gently standing close to the plant without standing on it. This helps the plant stay upright. We will need to make sure we keep the water up to them until they are established, but with all the rain we are having that should not be a problem.                                  

We also put in some Koromiko. This will add a bit of height and variety to the plantings. Awesome effort Piwakawaka.

Piwakawaka Planting

 Scratch, scratch, scratch the shovels scratched the long grass away from the soil. We are digging holes for the plants we had donated to the class, thanks Mrs Phelps. These are all native plants that included little rimu trees, lancewood, toetoe, broadleaf and mahoe.

It is nice to think that in years to come we will be able to see the results and there will be more habitat for the insects. 

To plant you need to loosen the soil around where the plant is to go in, dig a hole slightly deeper than the root  ball, place the plant in the hole and refill it with dirt. Finally you have to compact the soil around the plant root to ensure it stays straight.

We will need to make sure that the long grass is kept away from the plant so it does not get suffocated.

Sustainable Planting

 On Friday Weka and Weka Tēina planted some kōwhai seeds. 

We wanted to do some sustainable planting. This means that we could use seeds from plants that we found in our own school gardens.

We spent some time with the tamariki in Piwakawaka collecting seeds from trees around our school and then seperating them from their pods. 

First, we had to put them in boiling water for 24 hours because the shell was too hard and it needed to soften. 

In peers, we got a seedling tray and we filled each little part halfway with soil. 

Then we got 2 kōwhai seeds and put them in each part. 

Next, we put more soil over the top of the kōwhai seeds. 

We then made sure the seeds were in the sun and gave them some water.