How to grow your own po¯ hutukawa trees

Flowering in time for Christmas, po¯ hutukawa are a symbol of summer and beach-side holidays so are ideal for festive seasonal displays. A po¯ hutukawa grown in a big pot will last as a homegrown Christmas trees for several years before planting out.

Tree health can affect flower colour and bounty, particularly for container-grown plants, so keep them well-fed and watered.

Liquid feed small trees throughout winter. With their gnarled roots and branches, po¯ hutukawa can make highly effective subjects for bonsai, too.

Trim immediately after flowering – it will bring the tree back to flower faster, as energy is not diverted to seed production.

Po¯ hutukawa’s natural distribution is the upper part of the North Island, roughly northwards of a line from Gisborne to Taranaki. Down south local ra¯ ta¯ species are the summer stars.

But po¯ hutukawa do remarkably well in Wellington (the Basin Reserve), the frost-free zones of Christchurch (coastal areas and the Port Hills) and even on the Otago Peninsula. Healthy trees won’t suffer from light frosts but protect young trees if they’re out of their home territory.

Po¯ hutukawa and ra¯ ta¯ make excellent hedges, too – if you get the pruning right you will be rewarded with a band of colour. Po¯ hutukawa roots won’t invade intact pipes, either.

The red flowers and green leaves tie in with traditional Christmas colours but actually po¯ hutukawa flowers aren’t always red. There are naturally occurring variants with blooms that are apricot, salmon, pink, even yellow.

If you are interested in unusual po¯ hutukawa trees take a trip to Auckland’s Wenderholm Regional Park or Long Bay Regional Park.

Po¯ hutukawa flowers aren’t always red, as this yellow variety ‘Aurea’ proves. Right: With their gnarled roots and branches, po¯ hutukawa can make highly effective subjects for bonsai, too.

You’ll see a range of different po¯ hutukawa trees in bloom – apricots, pinks, reds and more.

The only way to get a po¯ hutukawa to grow true is to take cuttings – for instance, all the ‘Ma¯ ori Princess’ po¯ hutukawa are descended from one tree in New Plymouth.

Growing from seed will produce enormous variation: leaf colour, intensity of flower colour, bounty of flowers, flowering time, tendency to multi-trunk, or weeping forms.

Collecting po¯ hutukawa seed is easy and the time to do this is late autumn. The fine seed is ready to be released from their seed capsules from March through to May or June.

Stand back a little and tap on a lower branch to see if any seed falls off. If it does, place a bag or a bucket over the capsules and shake the seed inside. Do this clear of the tree’s dripline; seed falling on you becomes itchy!

Sow fresh seed as soon as possible in seed trays of standard potting mix. A very finely sieved covering of mix on the sown seed, merely the thickness of the seed itself, works well although we’ve had equal success with simply sowing on top of the tray of mix, as long as the humidity and warmth are right – ideally about 18-20 degrees Celsius – and always wet but not swimming.

Cover trays with a plastic bag or newspaper ‘‘tent’’ and water twice daily. In seven days they’ll be like a lawn. As soon as the seedlings are up and green, remove the bag and reduce watering to avoid fungal attack. Once there is a fairly full and even show of seedlings in the tray, liquid feed with a seaweed solution, which provides immediate vigour.

Once they have four or five leaves, start transplanting. You’ll probably get 2000 seedlings per tray. Visit Project Crimson’s website (projectcrimson.org.nz) if you want to donate any extras to a local project.