Planting
A lot has happened this Autumn at Silverstream, as we move from the growing to the planting season and frosty mornings!
So far we’ve already put 1,000 native plants in the ground at our new planting site at the East End of the Reserve, with help from the team at Spark and local volunteers.
There are another 1,000+ plants to go in this area and another 1600 to be planted at the West End in the coming weeks.
To encourage the success of our native plants this year, we spread living earth and mulch on the site before planting. This was done quickly with our rangers, neighbouring volunteers and Taggarts using loaders to spread the mulch, tip trucks to move the living earth to the site and hard working volunteers to wheelbarrow and rake mulch out.
A big thanks to Taggarts, Smiths Hire and our volunteers and neighbours to make this a swift job.
Planting
A lot has happened this Autumn at Silverstream, as we move from the growing to the planting season and frosty mornings!
So far we’ve already put 1,000 native plants in the ground at our new planting site at the East End of the Reserve, with help from the team at Spark and local volunteers.
There are another 1,000+ plants to go in this area and another 1600 to be planted at the West End in the coming weeks.
To encourage the success of our native plants this year, we spread living earth and mulch on the site before planting. This was done quickly with our rangers, neighbouring volunteers and Taggarts using loaders to spread the mulch, tip trucks to move the living earth to the site and hard working volunteers to wheelbarrow and rake mulch out.
A big thanks to Taggarts, Smiths Hire and our volunteers and neighbours to make this a swift job.
The Breeze Walking Tour event
We had the pleasure of guiding up to 30 people through the East End of the Reserve for the Breeze Walking Week event at Silverstream.
Participants were informed of the work done by our volunteers, and three new rangers – employed through the covid Partnering to Plant scheme. Geoff Henderson, our botanist expert talked about the native remnant wetland herbs that can be found at the reserve, as well as the remnant dryland habitat species.
Predator control
Our predator control program at the West and East End continues to run with great results. This may the East End had its largest catch count of possums, rats and mice as trap lines were extended to areas across the stream and more traps put out. A big thanks to the Waimakariri Cubs & Scouts for building more rat trap tunnels for the reserve and to the Silverstream Salmon hatchery for their donation of salmon feeding pellets to attract rats.
East End predator catches since Oct 2020:
Possums: 30
Weasels: 2
Rats: 48
Mice: 104
Hedgehogs: 15
New seats
We’ve had three new macrocarpa seats installed in the reserve to remember past volunteers and loved ones. Our volunteer Richard prepared and assembled the seats, and they were installed by our heavy lifting volunteers.
Rangers work
Our three Partnering to Plant funded rangers, Kate, Esther and Erica continue to carry out extensive weed control at both the West and East end of the reserve. This involves clearing areas for this years planting at the West End, controlling willows, hand weeding in the Fen and continually clearing blackberry, old mans beard, gorse, broom and other invasive weeds at both the West and East End.
If you enter the East End of the reserve via the Mabers Road entrance you’ll notice lots of established natives revealed where weeds have been cleared.