A planting programme originally designed to herald summer on the Whangarei district coast with a blaze of crimson has celebrated its 27th year.
The Pohutukawa Coast Project was set up in 1991 to help re-establish pohutukawa trees along the coastline.
Since then it has planted more than 66,000 trees, in recent years supplied by Tawapou Nursery at Matapouri.
![From left, Mayor Sheryl Mai with Northland branch Royal Forest and Bird volunteers Ina May, Lesley Jewell and president Tony Dunlop](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/BGMWLGTQEPFW2WYT35YISPXGJM.jpg?auth=8feafa3a2589cce4aea1b2c1bc4dd3d703da2b1bbd7158a096a1d00fd92920ef&width=16&height=12&quality=70&smart=true)
In later years it branched out to include urban and rural areas and included other native plants such as hebe, flax, kowhai, puriri, and pseudopanax in the free tree giveaway.