Releasing is most of the job
Weed competition kills more New Zealand plantings than anything else. A native seedling with rank grass at its collar is competing for light, water and nutrient with something better adapted than it is, and it usually loses.
Releasing — clearing competing growth from around each plant, by hand or by targeted spray — is the operation that determines survival rates more than any other, and it has to happen on time rather than when a schedule allows. Our spray operators hold GrowSafe certification, which matters when releasing near waterways or in sensitive receiving environments.
Browsing animals are the other half
Rabbits, hares, possums and goats will strip a new planting in a season. Pest control runs alongside releasing through the establishment period, and on sensitive sites we use trained detection dogs to find where pressure is actually coming from rather than treating a site evenly.
Through to establishment
- Releasing and targeted weed control
- Pest and browsing animal control
- Replacement and infill planting for losses
- Watering through establishment where a site needs it
- Formative pruning and staking adjustment on specimen trees
- Mulch top-up and weed mat maintenance
- Fertiliser and soil amendment where growth indicates it
- Monitoring, recording and reporting against the specified condition
We maintain through to canopy closure — the point at which the planting shades out competition and becomes self-sustaining. That is the honest end point of a planting project, and it is later than most maintenance contracts run to.
Quality assurance
Regular documented site visits, with condition recorded plant by plant on contract work rather than assessed by walking past. If something is failing we would rather find it in month four than at the final inspection.
