Trees for Survival Planting Day

 Last week thirty year 5 and 6 students attended our annual tree planting day. 

We returned, for the third year running, to McDonalds farm in Brookby. 

It was great to see how much the trees had grown over the years. 

                             

Sam, the farm manager, talked to us about how planting trees near a stream is really useful because: 

a) it stops soil eroding - and falling into the stream which would pollute it

b) the roots can absorb all the rain we keep having! 

                             

The highlights of the day were...

* playing with the farm dog 

* seeing a pīwakawaka (fantail) watching us all day long plant trees

* the yummy pulled beef for lunch

* being outdoors in nature 

* finding a huhu grub

* the challenge of planting on such a tricky, muddy slope 

   

We grew 763 native trees over the last 9 months, of these we planted 458 on our planting day. 

These were a mix of: 

- Karamū

- Mānuka

- Tī kōuka (cabbage tree) 

- Harakeke (flax) 

- Upokotangata (a sedge) 

A huge THANK YOU to our wonderful parent helpers who came along on a grey and muddy day! 

Click HERE for the full planting day report and more photos.