That completely missed my main point, that I was writing about street plantings, and a request for the council's policy writers to scale downwards from trees per se, to include shrubs and smaller plantings. This was to counter an argument that we don't need street trees because they grow big and obstruct footpaths and other services. Whanganui already has examples of shrubs on street berms, including a row of bottlebrushes (two species) in upper Mt View Rd, camellias in Wakefield St and broadleaf (Griselinea lucida) beside Heads Rd and Cornfoot St. While rows of evenly spaced shrubs can be effective visually, they are too far apart in Heads Rd for visual impact though somewhat better in Cornfoot St.
are more pleasing visually than a single lancewood or an evenly spaced row. Lancewoods planted in clusters emulate the way they often grow naturally.
The collective knowledge about plants among Whanganui's multitude of gardeners is much more than that of council staff and contractors. We know what's suitable for specific sites, their flowering times, propagating them (cheaply!), how to prune to prolong the life of plants rather than uprooting and replanting every year or two, and so much more.
Specifically, I see that volunteers can:
�Contribute gardening expertise.
�Supply plants.
�Beautify city street berms, walls etc.
�Give free time, labour.
�Do careful hand weeding and pruning rather than massed spraying or slashing.
�Save current wastage of plants, eg. when flowering is over.
�Save WDC rates, including less money spent on contractors and new plants.
�Encourage fellow gardeners and residents.
Working with the public could save council a lot of strife and money and its parks staff could:
�Seek volunteers to manage specific pieces of street garden and keep a database of volunteers.
�Select potential sites with the volunteers (taking into account safety, visibility of the site, etc.).
�Work with volunteers' ideas for plants.
�Assist where needed e.g. to take away bulk weeds, contribute plants, safety gear (such as high-visibility jackets).
�Ensure that WDC contractors are aware of volunteer-managed areas.
�Not least, and very importantly, acknowledge volunteers' help.
The recent destruction of newly planted Norfolk pines at Castlecliff was very disappointing.
Whanganui citizens all paid for these trees (which can't have been cheap, as they were quite large), the planting and staking of them ... and the clean-up. Then there are intangible social costs -- the hurt feelings, the frustration, despair, etc. that lots of people now feel. I wonder whether council staff had discussions with every potentially affected resident before the trees were planted? Discussion with residents about different choices of plants, such as lower stature trees or shrubs, should have been part of the council's consultation. To have done so might have got everyone to become eyes and ears for the new trees.
Yes, consultation has a cost but it makes for better outcomes.
So where to plant? Planting areas can be large or small, depending on the number and capacity of the volunteers.
An example of a small area is patch of gravel, less than 1m by 5m, by the traffic lights at eastern end of the City Bridge.
A few years ago I offered to plant this because, for 16 years or more, it has grown nothing but weeds which get sprayed periodically. Why not have a patch of low-growing succulents such as Crassula, Sedum, or Echeveria? My suggestion was rejected by council because I was told the site was too dangerous for volunteers -- but it's protected from the traffic by a steel barrier and volunteers could work from the (temporarily closed) footpath below the planting site.
Larger areas could include those two patches of lawn where Mt View Rd meets Anzac Pde. They are highly visible, safe to work in, and replacing the lawn with low-growing plants would complement the large plane tree -- which happens to be one of the finest, least-pruned plane trees in Whanganui. Another larger area is a dune face behind the Rutland which slopes up to the Savage Club Hall. Yet another is the boulder slope between the footpath and river, just south of the City Bridge. That could be planted in shrubs to replace pampas, pink ragwort and tall fescue that are sprayed and slashed periodically. The only planting that has been done is an incomplete row of sky duster (Washingtonia) palms after the boulders were placed here.
Volunteers often have access to "free" plants or grow their own.
On a new wall beside the start of Forres St, my wife and I planted button daisies (Cotula lineariloba) sourced from the garden of a member of the Museum Botanical Group.
It has taken us several years to divide and establish enough button daisies for the whole wall. We also have to push back the weeds and unsuitably large plants that contractors have to slash back periodically to maintain traffic visibility in the narrow street.
Council parks staff told me they like this button daisy planting and want to try some in other places. It grows readily from cut-off rooted pieces. No potting is needed, as you can simply transplant rooted bits from the wall to new sites. Depending upon the planting site, volunteers could do this -- at no cost. But, no, I was told that council will pay a contractor to take cuttings, root them in pots then plant them out.
Volunteers can have a significant role in enhancing our city streetscapes at little or no cost to ratepayers. All it needs is for council to have a policy of consultation that includes valuing the help and expertise of volunteers. The council needs better supervision of its landscaping contracts.
Would I hire painters, plumbers or gardeners at my home without checking I get the services I pay for? If they make mistakes, I expect them to fix them or pay to have them fixed.
