Champions Series: Gary Robinson

Millions of plants – here is where they start

With an increased spotlight on riparian, wetland, and tree planting in recent years, often little thought is given to how the plants are grown to the point of being ready for their forever home. However, irrigation is critical to getting it right.

Southern Woods nursery – located just out of Christchurch, Canterbury – was established in 1987 as a specialist producer of seedlings for fuelwood production and shelter belts. The 2000s saw a boom of native revegetation plantings and a corresponding shift in product mix. Since then it hasn’t slowed with obligations for farmers to have riparian planting and wetland planting. This, as well as the One Billion Trees Programme where the New Zealand Government has set a goal to plant a billion trees by 2028, has seen the demand for these plants further increase.

Southern Woods Business Development Manager Rico Mannall said they had noticed people being more pro-active about planting their land.

“There are more people than ever before asking specifically for riparian planting purposes.”

The nursery currently produces millions of trees per year of 500 species from varieties of shelter, forest, tree crops, native vegetation to fuelwood, hedging, and specimen trees.

The nursery is situated on the Canterbury Plains, which could be a very hot and dry climate at times, averaging 650–750mm rainfall annually. Mr Mannall said there would be no way they could grow the number of plants they do without sophisticated irrigation systems.

“Water is one of our most crucial resources, especially in the hotter summer months.”

“We can grow plants more efficiently and effectively with the same footprint thanks to targeted water use.”

Growing all these plants has relatively high labour inputs and Southern Woods currently has 40 staff.

Plant Centre Manager Chris Smith said people often ran into trouble when they did not research what works on their property before planting at a large scale.

“It’s important to find out which species grow well in your area and experiment first, not only do the plants need watering here at the

nursery, they also need adequate water when planted in the ground.” Mr Mannall said in a lot of ways the nursery was treated like a farm. “We want all the plants to be fed, watered and healthy, the health of the plants is crucial in order for them to be successful here as well as when they leave the nursery to be planted elsewhere.” He said regulation had come to the forefront in recent years and the appreciation for water as a precious and scarce resource meant the nursery had shifted to using more efficient irrigation practices. “Previous irrigation systems took a blanket approach to broadcasting water across crops, however now we are much more specific with where our water is going.” Southern Woods Plant Centre Manager Chris Smith (left) and Business Development Manager Rico Mannall. “We can grow plants more efficiently and effectively with the same footprint thanks to targeted water use.” Drip irrigation for water use and plant growth efficiency. Without irrigation it would be impossible for Southern Woods to produce plants at a large scale.