Planting season underway

Winter has arrived, and planting season began for Wenita silviculture crews on May 24. This year we have a programme of around 1500ha, with about 500ha in the Wenita estate and approximately 1000ha of contracted planting, split between Ngai Tahu, Corisol New Zealand and Kakapo Estate. We will use a mixture of clonal and CP (control pollinated) cuttings from Edendale, Rangiora and Nga Raukau nurseries, and seedlings from Leithfield and Edendale nurseries. Soil moisture conditions are drier than normal for this time of year but have improved substantially over the last month. Survival assessments of last year’s plantings have been pleasing, so we won’t have to do much blanking. As usual, we will be emphasising seedling freshness and planting quality again this year.