Springing through August
Monday the 29th of August One might ask what happened to August? One did and no suitable answer was found, just memories of soggy days and occasional threats of morning crispness then devolving to more sogginess, but at least Spring has arrived, quite earlyish, and somewhat tempered with enough coolness to worry but not wound. One of the prime signs of Spring are the almond trees, monuments of pink fluff dragging in the bees from miles around and every morning plundered by a mob of Tui eager for a taste of spring. As the month progressed the questing notes of Bellbird ring out, Kereru call by to strip young buds, and of course the grass starts growing again.
As the header image indicates the orchids are showing down in the Kauri Pond area and doing surprisingly well considering the wet and cool. On the drier days the whole area there has been tweaked some more, mind you it is somewhat ongoing with the Eucalypt seasonal leaf drop due to start soon thus initiating my specialist function on the end of a rake. A lot of the work has been subtle, creating a balance between the natives and imports, adjusting light levels and dreaming up tweaks that enhance without overwhelming. Having escaped a tough winter the whole zone is off to a good start for the season with the tree ferns showing signs of unfurling their great feathery fronds. Around the Hammer Dome and start of the Sculpture Walk area we now have a refreshed view that promises much I feel. This a result of much work by Heather with the removal of some seriously tedious weeds and replanting giving a new cleaner look with the addition of native grasses, Astelia and similar. Elsewhere on the property there are plans for subtle clearing here and there to open up more vistas and add to the varied  selection of views available. There is a tendency over time for things to close in, creating a  “can’t see the forest for the trees”  type of situation that essentially wastes all the free scenery that’s on offer. Mind you we are lucky to even have scenery here as back in the day before gold mining and Kauri felling it would be extremely rare to find anywhere that one could see clearly more than a few 10’s of metres in any direction. So all in all not that much to report for this month and I will close with a coastal image that tends to indicate the weather theme these past weeks, followed with a glimmer of hope and finally a look at the Te Kaka stream running through the property.
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Springing through August
Monday the 29th of August One might ask what happened to August? One did and no suitable answer was found, just memories of soggy days and occasional threats of morning crispness then devolving to more sogginess, but at least Spring has arrived, quite earlyish, and somewhat tempered with enough coolness to worry but not wound. One of the prime signs of Spring are the almond trees, monuments of pink fluff dragging in the bees from miles around and every morning plundered by a mob of Tui  eager for a taste of spring. As the month progressed the questing notes of Bellbird ring out, Kereru call by to strip young buds, and of course the grass starts growing again.
As the header image indicates the orchids are showing down in the Kauri Pond area and doing surprisingly well considering the wet and cool. On the drier days the whole area there has been tweaked some more, mind you it is somewhat ongoing with the Eucalypt seasonal leaf drop due to start soon thus initiating my specialist function on the end of a rake. A lot of the work has been subtle, creating a balance between the natives and imports, adjusting light levels and dreaming up tweaks that enhance without overwhelming. Having escaped a tough winter the whole zone is off to a good start for the season with the tree ferns showing signs of unfurling their great feathery fronds. Around the Hammer Dome and start of the Sculpture Walk area we now have a refreshed view that promises much I feel. This a result of much work by Heather with the removal of some seriously tedious weeds and replanting giving a new cleaner look with the addition of native grasses, Astelia and similar. Elsewhere on the property there are plans for subtle clearing here and there to open up more vistas and add to the varied  selection of views available. There is a tendency over time for things to close in, creating a  “can’t see the forest for the trees”  type of situation that essentially wastes all the free scenery that’s on offer. Mind you we are lucky to even have scenery here as back in the day before gold mining and Kauri felling it would be extremely rare to find anywhere that one could see clearly more than a few 10’s of metres in any direction. So all in all not that much to report for this month and I will close with a coastal image that tends to indicate the weather theme these past weeks, with a glimmer of hope to followed with a glimmer of hope and finally a look at the Te Kaka  stream running through the property.