The greening of Taihape

There’s a green revolution coming to Taihape.

A planting programme is set to transform the look of the centre of the town as New Zealand natives come in from the wild and take up residence with people.

The programme is being led by Athol Sanson, Rangitı¯kei District Council’s parks and reserves team leader.

The council is funding the project with the Taihape Community Board and the Keep Taihape Beautiful group.

Sanson said the idea was to bring plants already native to the Taihape area into town and construct gardens out of them, starting at the northern or townclock corner of State Highway 1.

Ten varieties are planned for eight gardens once the ground has been cleared. They will be grown from nursery-supplied seeds or plants.

‘‘The current gardens have become very tired and are starting to obscure visibility from car parks and pedestrian crossings and they didn’t really suit the Taihape environment and landscape,’’ he said.

So the chosen plants will be low-growing and used to the local climate – that is, dry in the summer and cold in the winter.

Such extremes don’t suit a lot of plants, which is why care has to be taken in choosing what to put in the ground, said Sanson, who has a background in native plants.

‘‘It was agreed that as Taihape has its own unique identity, the replacement gardens should reflect this.

‘‘Plants chosen for the gardens grow naturally in the Taihape region and are prized for landscaping throughout the country.’’

Sanson said a collection of what was proposed had been grown at Memorial Park so people could see what was planned before anything went in.

The motto for the exercise was ‘‘right plant for the right location’’.