Clematis afoliata or leafless clematis is endemic to the North and South Islands, and is found in Hawkes Bay, Wairarapa and south Wellington coast in the north, and Marlborough and Canterbury in the south. It grows in lowland to montane areas from sea-level to 560m asl., in dry, rocky, open, sunny places, shrubland and scrub. It grows and forms bushy masses of long, curving, sprawling, tangled stems on dry rocky, and open ground, or climbing through shrubs, and sometime trailing down banks and cliffs. Its green or yellow-green stems that can grow up to 3m long are round in cross-section with longitudinal grooves, hairless, and cling to each other and surrounding vegetation with coiling tendrils. Small leaves can be found on the tendrils, but occasionally a few tiny, simple leaves can be found on the tips of young plants or those growing in the shade. It has attractive scented, bright greenish yellow flowers from September to November, but mostly in October, often in great profusion on both male and female plants. The female flowers are noticeably smaller, and are followed by ball-like clusters of plumed seeds from December to February, March.   Not threatened although in some regions the open rocky habitats are subject to development pressure. Competition with naturalised plants also poses a threat to regeneration of this plant in some areas.

Carmichaelia stevensonii or weeping tree broom is endemic to the South Island, and is confined to inland river valleys of South Marlborough between 450-750m asl. It is found in low scrub or sparsely vegetated sites overlying free draining colluvial or alluvial soil, rock-land, and steep mountain slopes. It is a leafless tree to 8-10 m tall with stout, sparingly branching trunk to 400 mm diameter and compact canopy of drooping, pendulous branchlets. In a garden situation it will grow to a small tree of 3-4m high and will tolerate poor soils, although it grows best in a reasonably good soil. As a young plant it can look almost like a dead stick until it starts to mature and develop a thinker trunk after 6 or 7 years. Once mature it will produce very delicate racemes of white flowers with pink radiating lines from mid December to January, and usually in profusion every second year on older plants. It is under serious threat from browsing animals such as wild goats. At some lower altitude sites little regeneration is happening due to introduced grasses which outcompete seedlings and colonise fresh disturbed ground in which seedlings would normally germinate. Field surveys suggest this species is much more threatened than had previously been believed.

 Acaena microphylla, scarlet biddy biddy, bidibid,  or piripiri is endemic to the North Island. It is found in grasslands, river-beds and herbfields up to 750m asl, in lowland to low alpine regions of the Volcanic Plateau and the Ruahine Ranges.  A prostrate and wide-spreading plant with slender to rather stout, creeping and rooting stems, it makes it an excellent groundcover or rockery plant, and also great for erosion control on banks and for retaining walls. It is one of the smaller species of Acaena, and has a very neat tidy habit, and its grayish  or bronzy green foliage is attractive all year. It has white flowers from October  to December, then scarlet-red seed heads that make an attractive display from December to February.

 Lophomyrtus obcordata, rohutu or NZ myrtle is endemic to the North and South Islands, from Ahipara southwards, but absent from much of Southland. It is local to the north of East Cape and often local elsewhere. It is found from sea-level to 1060m asl, in coastal forset and hilly forest. This easily recognised spreading forest and scrubland shrub up to 5m high has thin, often upright, clustered branches with small inversely heart-shaped leaves. It can be kept pruned and grown as a dense shrub 1.8 to 2.4m high, or well clipped and used in a hedge or for low shelter. It has a creamy-white flower from December to February followed by dark red or violet berries. In its younger stages it does not flower well, but with maturity the flowers become prolific. It prefers sun or shade in a moist but well drained soil.  It will handle exposure to wind and frost, although it can get some damage from frost when young. Coastal wind intolerant.

Coprosma acerosa, tataraheke or sand coprosma is endemic to the  North, South, Stewart and Chatham Islands. It is a coastal plant found on the landward side of sand dunes, and will grow in sun or semi-shade, dry or free draining moist conditions. It is a sprawling, bushy native plant with very narrow, sharp-pointed, yellowish or brownish leaves, and the female plants produce white or blue fruit March to April that are attractive to birds and lizards. It is Not Threatened but rapidly becoming scarce in large parts of its range, and it seems to resent dune reclaimation and competition from marran grass (Ammophila arenaria)

Pseudopanax crassifolius, horoeka or lancewood is endemic to the North, South, and Stewart Islands. It is found from sea level to about 760m asl, and is common in lowland and lower mountain forests and scrublands. It is an easily recognised species, especially in its juvenile stage that can persist from up to 10 or even 20 years, where it has long narrow downward-pointing leaves on usually a single slender stem. The adult lancewood is a round-headed tree up to 15m high with generally a straight, clean, grey-barked trunk up to 50cm in diameter. The characteristic appearance through the growth stages on this tree make it remarkable and unusual addition to any landscape. It is primarily a forest plant, but is extremely tolerant of wind and drought if planted in an open or coastal area. After flowering it produces fruit that will ripen the following year. The purplish-black fruits are an important food source for whitehead, tūī and wood pigeon/ kererū when they occur in autumn and winter. The small, greenish-yellow flowers are pollinated by insects. The wood of the lancewood is extremely hard and was sometimes used for walking sticks.
The name 'lancewood' probably derives from either the small lances evident in the wood when it is split, or from early Māori use of the juvenile tree stems to spear wood pigeons/kererū. South Island Māori pounded lancewood leaves and extracted its long 'hairs' for use in a kind of paint brush that was used to make rock paintings.

PLANTING A HEDGE

A hedgerow or hedge are a fence of living trees, shrubs or other plants and may consist of a simple row or a pyramid of plant heights. The plants can provide food and shelter for wildlife such as birds and lizards, and create more habitats than one level of vegetation. Hedgerows also will establish contour guidelines for farming and can save fields from wind erosion. Hedges are planted for a number of reasons; the most common is for privacy. Hedges add another living element to your garden and home, they are a thing of beauty. The act of trimming plants to formally create a hedge is a very ancient gardening practice. A good hedge adds value and character to your property, and best of all hedges are not that hard to grow.                                                                                        

Choosing the right plant: This is crucial. Make sure you know how high you want it, what sort of soil and conditions you have. Choosing the wrong plant can have devastating results but unfortunately it’s often the hardest part of growing a hedge. You need to make sure that the plant you choose will grow where you want to plant it.                                                   

Soil Preparation: Prepare your soil with compost and fertiliser, and water well before and after planting. Dig over your soil well, add compost and organic matter to aerate the soil. Water the soil well for a few days before planting. Add a general fertiliser to the soil before planting to give the plants a head start. Set up irrigation systems for your hedge at this stage if you plan to use one.                                      

Planting: Check what the recommended planting distance is, try to follow it. Obviously the closer you plant your hedge the quicker it will join up to make as hedge however it is not always recommended to do this.                                                                                          

Pruning: A prune once or twice a year is enough, with early spring a good time for one then late summer to autumn. But light pruning more often over the growing season can produce a soft and full hedge. Pruning helps to maintain good healthy plant growth.                            

Fertiliser: Apply a good layer of manure twice a year or alternatively apply general slow release fertiliser twice a year.                              

Mulch: Hedges love mulch, it helps reduce moisture loss and keep the weed levels down. 

Spraying: If you are religious about spraying, a good winter clean up spray of insecticide and fungicide is ideal. But if you would rather spray when a problem occurs this is quite acceptable. 

Conclusion: Growing a hedge is not as hard, many of us think “I don’t know how to, so I doubt I would be able to grow one”, but it’s easy, just make sure you choose the right plant. Seek good garden advice from our staff on what you want to achieve, what plants would be suitable in your area. Hedges can be used to divide up areas of your garden, just like walls in a house. Hedges add a different dimension to the garden that can never be matched by any type of constructed fence. It’s a living garden feature that will attract birds, change colour with the seasons and it height adjustable. I don’t know of any fence that you can cut back, and the next year you can let it grow a little taller if you like.

For an information sheet that includes a list of plants that are suitable for a hedge just pop into the nursery!

Dacrydium cupressinum, rimu or red pine is endemic to the North, South and Stewart Islands - uncommon in large parts of the eastern South Island. It is found in lowland to montane forest - occasionally ascending to subalpine scrub, from sea-level to 760m asl. It is all but extinct on Banks Peninsula, where one natural male tree is all that remains. Rimu was probably always local and uncommon on Banks Peninsula. It is a dioecious conifer that grows 35(-60) m tall with trunks bare of branches for 3/4 of length on adult plants, that can have a trunk 1.5-2 m diameter, with dark red wood, and dark brown bark that falls off in large thick flakes.  Juveniles plants have numerous, slender, pendulous branchlets, whilst adult trees few branches that are spreading, with slender, pendulous  branchlets. It has overlapping dark green, bronze-green, red-green or orange, leaves all around the branchlets. It is a very distinctive species which could not be confused with any other indigenous conifer. The very young juveniles have a superficial similarly to seedlings of silver pine (Manoao colensoi) but differ by their much finer, more numerous, dull rather than glossy red-green leaves. Flowering occurs from December to March, and male and female flowers are on different trees, rarely on the same tree. Fruits take a year or more to mature and co-occur with young female cones, they are most frequently seen between February and May. Although it prefers a sheltered site with deep, rich, moist soil (not waterlogged), it is tolerant of quite dry conditions once established. It is not threatened, although as a forest-type it has been greatly reduced through widespread logging. Very few intact examples of rimu-dominated forest remain in the North Island. The beautiful heart timber of rimu is a deep red colour, and is strong and durable, and has/and is used in house building, furniture making, panelling and for wood turning.

 Olearia avicenniifolia is endemic to the South and Stewart Islands, and is found in lowland to mountain scrubland from sea-level to 900m asl. This quite common species is a much spreading shrub to small tree that grows 2.4 -6m tall with a rather spreading habit. It has quite hairy branchlets that are angular, with green lanceolate leaves that are white, grey or buff underneath.  It flowers quite profusely with clusters of small white sweetly scented florets, occurring from November to April. It does well in a sunny position, with a rock or two at the base to give the plant a cool root run. It is a very hardy shrub that will tolerate very dry conditions.