NEW ZEALAND CHRISTMAS TREES

Ed Silberbauer

Betty’s Bay, as everyone knows has the privilege of lying in the richest floral area in the world. So why do we mess it up?

We have here a wide variety of alien invasive plants of all shapes and sizes, some more awful than others. Of all the ‘awfuls’ the New Zealand Christmas tree tops the list. This tree was introduced to Betty’s Bay in the 1950s and became a great favourite in Sunny Seas as it withstands salt air and strong winds and provides a magnificent floral display at Christmas time.

By the 1970s it was obvious to most people that it was a disaster as it is aggressively invasive and exceptionally difficult to eradicate. To date there are no herbicides registered for the New Zealand Christmas tree. Some experimental work has been done but with limited success.

The Betty’s Bay Hack Group on several occasions has tackled small areas but no sooner has the spot been cleared when the next lot of new seeds germinate and the site looks as bad, if not worse, than before.

The solution is simple in theory. Obtain an effective herbicide and make sure that every single soul who owns property eradicates this menace from his or her plot and keeps it clear. It is quite pointless clearing one plot when the source of the infestation remains on the neighbour’s property. The seed may be viable only for one year but with a new set of seeds appearing each year there will be no advantage on that score.

Everyone must want it gone and do something about it all the time.