The Country
  • The Country home
  • Latest news
  • Audio & podcasts
  • Opinion
  • Dairy farming
  • Sheep & beef farming
  • Rural business
  • Rural technology
  • Rural life
  • Listen on iHeart radio

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • Coast & Country News
  • Opinion
  • Dairy farming
  • Sheep & beef farming
  • Horticulture
  • Animal health
  • Rural business
  • Rural technology
  • Rural life

Media

  • Podcasts
  • Video

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whāngarei
  • Dargaville
  • Auckland
  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Hamilton
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Te Kuiti
  • Taumurunui
  • Taupō
  • Gisborne
  • New Plymouth
  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Dannevirke
  • Whanganui
  • Palmerston North
  • Levin
  • Paraparaumu
  • Masterton
  • Wellington
  • Motueka
  • Nelson
  • Blenheim
  • Westport
  • Reefton
  • Kaikōura
  • Greymouth
  • Hokitika
  • Christchurch
  • Ashburton
  • Timaru
  • Wānaka
  • Oamaru
  • Queenstown
  • Dunedin
  • Gore
  • Invercargill

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / The Country

Editorial: Pear or pohutukawa?

By Mark Story
Hawkes Bay Today·
24 Oct, 2018 05:50 PM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Pohutukawa or bradford pear? Obvious choice, you'd think, writes Mark Story. Photo / File
Pohutukawa or bradford pear? Obvious choice, you'd think, writes Mark Story. Photo / File

Pohutukawa or bradford pear? Obvious choice, you'd think, writes Mark Story. Photo / File

Nothing screams "Hawke's Bay" like a bradford pear.

In terms of regional resonance the iconic tree is right up there with Rita Angus, Cape Kidnappers and Coleraine.

With its pyramid shape, densely packed branches and profusion of early spring blossom, the native of Vietnam and China speaks to us as New Zealanders on a level that totara, pohutukawa, kowhai or karamu can only dream of.

If endemic pride is your thing, you simply can't go past an introduced ornamental with inedible fruit.

Additionally, Hastings District Council claimed the species has leaves that turn a different colour in autumn.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Yep, there's sarcasm in these lines because said specimen is council's unconscionable specimen of choice for Havelock North's Napier Rd.

Other parties were "involved" in the selection, but it's primarily council's brief. And it's come up short. Again.

Why does a district that prides itself on local, artisan provenance, opt for an import?

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Why weren't natives chosen?

It's a question I've put to council in ink ad nauseam. At best it's a form of cultural cringe, at worst botanical bigotry. What does it have against trees that nature chose for this soil?

Why look elsewhere for beauty when it's on its doorstep?

Remember that Hawke's Bay is bettered only by Canterbury in hectares of indigenous bush cleared since colonisation.

Discover more

New HB fruitgrowers head targeting young blood

07 Oct 06:00 PM

Editorial: Pest control is natural justice

11 Oct 05:42 PM
Manufacturing

Wattie's confirms loss of 70 jobs

14 Oct 10:53 PM

Helicopters sent up over Hawke's Bay at night as growers try to beat away frosts

15 Oct 01:06 AM

But fear not, council's redressing that, one bradford pear at a time.

Its decision to plant rata on Karamu Rd was a brief, enlightening aberration. The bradford pear bombshell is simply the latest iteration in a litany of botched tree choices for this local body.

Hastings' central city melia trees (which drop hard, slip-hazard poisonous berries) and olives (another messy slip hazard) are two examples.

There's cultural malnourishment going on here; a sensibility should be there, but isn't.

Yesterday I sipped coffee at Bay Espresso and was warmed by a window that framed totara and karo in the sun. It's the way it should be. It looked like home, it felt like home.

The karo and totara framed at Bay Espresso cafe is a taste of home.
The karo and totara framed at Bay Espresso cafe is a taste of home.

Conversely, shoe-horning more exotics in our landscape makes this province feel less and less like home.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Maybe council should surrender its tree planting regime to regional council.

And no, no sarcasm therein.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from The Country

The Country

MenzShed revitalises historic dairy factory for community

The Country

Go fishing with Scott Barrett and Kaiwaka Clothing

The Country

'Yellow gold' with Mark de Lautour on The Country


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Recommended for you

News in brief: 64 sika deer culled in Russell Forest deer eradication project
Northern Advocate

News in brief: 64 sika deer culled in Russell Forest deer eradication project

'It really is hard': Why older jobseekers are struggling in NZ's current market
New Zealand

'It really is hard': Why older jobseekers are struggling in NZ's current market

'I was going through a lot': Security guard who assaulted Uber driver keeps licence
New Zealand

'I was going through a lot': Security guard who assaulted Uber driver keeps licence

'Twister': Man's quick action saves elderly camper in Northland storm
New Zealand

'Twister': Man's quick action saves elderly camper in Northland storm

'It's all on the line': Boxing legends prepare for final bout
Boxing

'It's all on the line': Boxing legends prepare for final bout

'My partner just got shot': Woman describes fatal gang shooting
New Zealand

'My partner just got shot': Woman describes fatal gang shooting



Latest from The Country

MenzShed revitalises historic dairy factory for community
The Country

MenzShed revitalises historic dairy factory for community

Members raised $110,000 for renovations, independent of council contributions.

15 Jul 03:00 AM
Go fishing with Scott Barrett and Kaiwaka Clothing
The Country

Go fishing with Scott Barrett and Kaiwaka Clothing

15 Jul 02:00 AM
'Yellow gold' with Mark de Lautour on The Country
The Country

'Yellow gold' with Mark de Lautour on The Country

15 Jul 01:34 AM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP
search by queryly Advanced Search