The Monday Q&A: Raetihi plant nursery owner Carina McNie says growing plants was 'in my blood'

Carina McNie played a key role in building the Makotuku Track. Photo / Supplied

Every Monday, the Chronicle fires 10 questions at a local.

This week Emma Bernard chats with Raetihi local Carina McNie, who owns a native plant nursery and played a key part in building the Makotuku Track.

How did you get into growing and selling native plants?
I was brought up on a farm in Orautoha Valley, and as a child I've always had my own garden. I got the [gardening] bug from my mother, so then I had probably about 20 metres by four metres of a garden. I would hang out in the farm and do my garden, so it was in my blood.

When I left college I did a diploma in landscape and design, then I worked in Hamilton in garden centres. Then I came back to our farm and firstly wanted to grow trees for the farm. I started to, then Horizons heard about me and wanted to give me a contract for growing for them.

After I had my contract with them, I just started selling to the public.

What is Raetihi's best hidden secret?
We've got a few good things in Raetihi. We've got The Dinosaur House, it's a dinosaur museum. Go there with your kids. It's got real-life versions of dinosaurs and all the different types.

We've got Volcano Vibe, which sells art and herbal things. It's quite cool.

And we've got some really good op shops, and then our walking track.

What do you most enjoy about living in Raetihi?
I love how quiet it is, and the community. Everyone knows everyone, and they're good people.

What are some great tips and starter plants for people wanting to get into growing natives?

Probably just stick with easy-care natives like your grasses and hebes. They don't need too much feeding - put plenty of mulch on the ground and maybe just give them a little bit of a trim if they need it. Natives are pretty easy care, they're not like roses that you need to prune or anything like that. Like for a grass, you just need to take the seed heads off them. That's about it really, you don't need to do much.

What are some of your favourite plants at the moment?

I like all sorts. I do love natives, but I really love flowers. I love David Austin roses, hellebores, dahlias. I've got a small native garden but mainly I love my cottage garden. I don't sell them but I just love flowers and the colours. I always have.

What is your long-term vision for Raetihi? What do you hope to see happen?
Well, I focus on the track and that visitors come and enjoy it. And that it's a place for our family and friends to enjoy.

When I first moved to Raetihi, the only place for us to walk our dogs was in town. So I wanted to help create a place that we could take our dogs, take our friends and enjoy the outdoors. Enjoy the river. The river is right there.

There's lots to enjoy in Raetihi, but I really want to concentrate on enhancing the river and us enjoying that part of it.

What is involved with owning a nursery? What sort of jobs do you get up to?
Just generally watching the health of the plants. It's about growing the seed, and then looking after that little seedling until it gets sold.

So I've got to grow the seed, then look after it. It goes through two stages of potting, and then it gets put out for sale. So I need to look after it for a year, and then they get sold in a year for my contracts.

It depends on what time of the year it is, I'm either pricking out, potting out, I'm always weeding, watering. In summer, watering is a full-time job. They're living things, so if you don't water them, they die. You've got to constantly check on them.

In winter I've got to cope with frost. So it's quite challenging.

If you had a month to go travelling anywhere in the world, where would you go?
I would visit my brother in Perth with his family.

What are your future plans for the nursery and the walking track?
For the track we have to be careful, because we have to maintain it. We maintain it by ourselves so I guess it's making sure that we keep it to a standard that we like, and not get too big.

As for future plans for my nursery, I'm not sure. I like being small and being connected to my customers, so I don't really want to expand too big. I like to be a niche. I wouldn't mind a little bit more space, but just keep it as it is, really.

If you weren't running your nursery, what would you want to do?
I'm a land girl, so I'd probably work on a farm. Owning my own farm would be the ultimate dream. Because I've been brought up on a farm, you see, and I've got two children and they love being outside and on the farm. So I think that would be the dream.