What's News?

- new planting season
- new manager
- new website
- new workshop
- new seminar
- new services
- new lease of life
- new award
- new baby

New Planting Season

The rain and mild weather bring ideal conditions for planting.
Our stock is looking great.
Those who plant now will maximise the season's growth.

New Manager

We are delighted to announce that we now have a new manager, Wes Bycroft, who joined us after Easter. Wes has a background in teaching and computers (including a stint as chief examiner in School Certificate horticulture). He and his wife Barb, our fern specialist, have for many years grown ferns from their home just up the road from the nursery.

Wes is already proving his worth and we are confident he will be able to help us provide the best possible service for all our customers.

New Website

We recently launched a new and improved website. We still have our unique search facility, which suggests a plant appropriate to your conditions, but everything has been redesigned to make the information you need easier to find and faster to access.

The biggest change is that now you can contribute to the website content as well. If you've got a great photo of a native plant, why not share it for everyone to see and admire. Other users can leave comments for you, or swap tips on the best way to grow something.

As an added incentive, we're providing a $60 plant voucher to anyone whose photo we feature on the site's front page. If you haven't seen them yet, check out the winners here - they really are spectacular!

If you registered under the old website, then your account will have been transferred to the new site. For security reasons, we couldn't transfer your password. That's no problem though - just put your email address into this page and we'll send you a new one. Then you'll be able to log in as usual.

• Tip: The website is linked directly to our nursery database, so quotes requested online can be processed a lot faster than by fax or email. If you've got a large order you'd like us to quote on, why not submit it through the website?

New Workshop

John Lyall will be joining us on Saturday, 17 May from 2 - 4 pm for another Bonsai Workshop. For both new and experienced bonsai growers, this workshop will give participants the opportunity to work on their own trees and take them home.
Click here for more details.

New Seminar

Our first seminar of the year will take place on Tuesday, 20 May at 4 pm.
Our goal will be to introduce you to the range of possibilities we offer, both in types of plants and in services. Feedback from last year's seminar participants made us realise how many were unaware of the extent of our current operation, saying they needed to return to discover what they had been missing. This seminar should provide something for everyone - the home gardener, landscaper, developer, lifestyle block owner, or public body. Click here for more details.

Last year's seminars focussed on:
- ferns
- wetland plants
- hedging and screening plants
- lesser-known treasures

For those who have asked about repeat seminars, while none are currently planned, information sheets prepared for previous seminars are available, and our staff are always available to show you the plants in your area of interest.

The wetland, for example has just undergone a thorough end-of-season revamp, and our new season's stock is looking great. Do come and check it out.

New Services

Based on the value of last year's seminars, several groups are now discussing ways they can gain from our expertise by having us provide presentations based more specifically on the needs, interests, and current knowledge-levels of the participants.

Oratia Native Plant Nursery is based on a philosophy of encouraging people to learn about our natural heritage, and we are delighted to be able to help in this way. Please contact Wes if you would like to consider such options.

In response to increasing numbers of requests, another service we are providing is consultancy and advice on planned plantings. With over 30 years of experience in both general planting and large-scale conservation projects, we are able to advise on all aspects of your planting. Our close association with leading botanists and ecologists enables us to bring to your project a broader understanding of what is required than merely listing species which should grow well. We have sometimes surprised clients by suggesting they do not buy our plants, but simply provide the conditions for nature to work for them!

Again, contact Wes for information on this service. Our rates are reasonable and may be partially offset by the purchase of plants.

New Lease of Life

Save a plant.
Give an old plant a new lease of life.
Focussing on our new revegetation nursery site has meant our remaining large trees at the home site have been treated with benign neglect.
Many of these proven survivors would thrive if given a new home and a little TLC. We have a range of species in large sizes up to wool bales which may be purchased very reasonably on an ‘as-is, where-is' basis.
If you are interested in large trees for a revegetation project where initial appearances are less important than long-term value, call Wes to arrange inspection.

New award

Congratulations to Waitakere City Council for the Gold Award received recently for their "green roof". Renee Davies, Service Manager of Parks Planning was presented with the Sustainability Award of Excellence at the recent conference of the NZ Institute of Landscape Architects. We are proud to have supplied both advice and plants for this project which was cited as showing "laudable vision" and providing a "catalyst for future research and development in this technology both locally and nationally."

New Baby

One of our long-serving staff-members, Jo Watt, has just left us to take maternity leave. If she produces babies as well as she produces plants, young Seth should arrive this week in good time and with plenty of vigour. We wish Jo well and look forward to seeing her back with us sometime in the future.