Northland Regional Council has poplars and willows for sale again

Nursery co-ordinator Matthew Mabbitt admiring the poplar and willow tree crop. Photo / NRC

Northland Regional Council is again selling poplars and willows to help stop erosion on properties.

Cr Rick Stolwerk said poplars and willows are the seldom-recognised heroes of Northland's hill country properties, delivering a host of benefits including stabilising land and helping hold fertile soil in place instead of polluting waterways as it washes into estuaries.

They also increased water storage, improved water quality, benefited stock and enhanced the farm environment.

Keeping fertile soils on the land was in the interests of all Northlanders, and without the protection afforded by poplars and other trees, hills simply washed away in severe rain storms, he said.

Few people realised that while a natural phenomenon, eroded sediment was Northland's biggest natural pollutant, research showing the Bay of Islands alone had lost an average of 500,000 tonnes annually for the past century.

Preventing erosion at source, for both environmental and economic reasons, was one reason why the regional council had invested heavily in its 16ha poplar and willow nursery near Mata, south of Whangārei.

The NRC is again inviting the owners of erosion-prone land to order heavily-subsidised poplar and willow poles from the nursery for the winter planting season.

Orders are were now open, and nursery co-ordinator Matthew Mabbitt said 3m poplar poles were selling for $4 and 1m shrub willow poles for $2, both plus GST. (A pole typically retails for about $12.)

Protective sleeves were available for $7.50 (plus GST), and, depending on contractor availability, the council would also heavily subsidise planting, at the rate of $5 (plus GST) per pole.

The council had about 7000 poles to sell, and while payment did not need to be made until May 21, demand usually outstripped supply, so it would be wise to lodge orders soon.

Orders would close on April 30 or when stocks were sold out.

Anyone wanting to order should contact the council's land management staff on 0800 002 004, or email nursery@nrc.govt.nz to arrange a consultation and free planting plan.

Mabbitt said that to save costs and comply with Covid guidelines, the council would no longer deliver poles direct to the farm gate. Buyers would have to collect them from one of four pick-up points instead, in the weeks beginning Tuesday, June 15 (Far North), Tuesday, June 22 (Mid North), Tuesday, June 29 (Dargaville), and Monday, July 5 (Whangārei).

The fast-growing trees had broad and binding root systems and had been widely used in Northland for years.

Neither species was native, but their quick growth rates meant they could be controlling erosion within as little as three years. They also provided shade for livestock in summer, and in winter dropped their leaves, allowing grass to grow, making them ideal trees for pastoral farming.