New Zealand Native Trees

What a wonderful initiative you have planned! Firstly, mark out future individual planting sites with small stakes and begin cultivating these areas immediately. Do this by applying mineral gypsum to these specific sites, and roughly dig this in to help break up the clay.

Most Pohutukawa cultivars are growing from seed and therefore it may well take up to ten years before flowering regularly. Some Pohutukawa cultivars are grown by cuttings that are taken from a mature tree.

The cold Christchurch winters will impact the success of growing a Pohutukawa tree as they are a northern North Island coastal plant.

Wonderful that you are growing a Kakabeak shrub, it is actually an endangered native plant that is now only found naturally occurring in Eastland, North Island of NZ. The cause of your leaf loss is unlikely to be from rabbits, and more likely an attack by the Clianthus Caterpillar.

The cold Christchurch winters will impact the success of growing a Pohutukawa tree, as they are a northern North Island coastal plant. But if you are determined, you will need to protect it from frost for at least the first 3-5 years of the tree’s life, until it grows above the frost line.