buildings-and-pathways
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The Local Arboretum: An introduction
By definition an arboretum is a specific place where trees of the world or of a specific country are collected for public viewing. Adding local seems to complicate that understanding. There is good reason for it though: the premise here is that even a single tree, looked at in-situ, can open up the same interests…
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Under the macrocarpa, Part 1
As windbreaks, macrocarpa trees are part of our landscape, the gnarled border to many paddocks. Their outstretched limbs offer shelter to sheep. … Like most New Zealanders, I have always pronounced macrocarpa with an extra ‘a’ in place of the ‘o’. Elsewhere, it’s known as Monterey cypress. For whatever reason we’ve decided here to call…
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Plant Identification: hold fire on the app
Recently I travelled to the small rural town of Cheviot in North Canterbury because I’d learnt there were many significant trees there. Some were planted in the 1870s when it was a large rural estate owned by ‘Ready Money’ Robinson. The old estate was broken up before the 1900s, and the land is now called…
The Local Arboretum: Noticeable trees and their stories 