By BERNARD ORSMAN
A grove of pohutukawa and totara seedlings will be planted on the summit of One Tree Hill to improve the odds of a native tree surviving in the windswept conditions.
Among them are five self-seeded pohutukawa removed from the trunk of the ailing pine just before it was felled in October.
Birds probably dropped the seeds and their survival in such inhospitable conditions is being regarded by Maori as a tohu, or sign from nature, that the seedlings should be included in the new planting, which may be in August.
Five more pohutukawa seedlings have come from an ancient pohutukawa on One Tree Hill.
Ten totara seedlings, also taken from trees on One Tree Hill, will join the native grove next year or the year after, once they have grown to 300mm in height. They are currently 10mm.
The seedlings will be surrounded by a protective belt of native shrubs. The plan is that by the time the shrubs die naturally, in several years, the pohutukawa and totara will be strong enough to survive on the summit.
Auckland City Council arborists and parks staff see the multiple planting of young pohutukawa and totara as the best means of finding a longterm replacement for the Monterey pine, which grew to 20m.
Pohutukawa and totara are the two native species with the best chance of surviving the extreme weather on the summit.
In 1874, then-landowner Sir John Logan Campbell twice tried to establish a native tree on the summit with multiple plantings. The second attempt involved puriri surrounded by a shelterbelt of pines. The natives died, but five pines survived.
Council arborist Tony Searle said it would be possible to plant a single, older tree on the summit, but a multiple planting was a better longterm prospect.
It would take about 50 years for a pohutukawa to become well-established at a height of about 10m, and about 100 years for it to reach full maturity.
A totara would take marginally longer. An established pohutukawa or totara could live for several hundred years on the summit.
Council parks committee chairman Bill Christian said a multiple planting would address the strong cultural and historical links that both native species have with the summit.
"The proposal allows for a process of natural selection to occur. It is envisaged that through this selection process, the sustainability of the new tree at the summit will be ensured."
Historical records show that a pohutukawa was on the summit at the time of European settlements in the middle of the 19th century and Maori legend has a totara on the summit in the 17th century.
Feedback to the council from 470 people has found overwhelming support for a pohutukawa to replace the pine.
The native with bright red blossom was favoured by 51 per cent of people, well ahead of a totara (8 per cent) and pine (7 per cent). This mirrored a Herald survey last year which found half of the 300 or so readers who responded favoured a pohutukawa.
Mr Christian said it would be a shame if a steel cage, like the one erected after Maori activist Mike Smith took a chainsaw to the pine in 1994, was built to keep vandals away.
The parks and recreation committee is likely to approve the multiple planting at its meeting next week and that decision will go to the full council next month for ratification.
Once approved, the council will apply for a resource consent, which will be publicly notified. A final decision will be made by independent planning commissioners.
The council is keen to plant the pohutukawa seedlings in August when conditions are best-suited.
If the council misses this winter date, the next opportunity to plant the seedlings will be the spring of 2002.
Pohutukawas, totaras in line for One Tree Hill's top spot
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