Winter was a good season to plant out certain plants and about one quarter of the shade house plants have been utilised. Len Frances is recovering from a spell of ill health and the shade house reflects the lack of his dedication over the last several weeks. He and his assistant, Katherine have managed one tidy up session recently and Len is anticipating ongoing commitment to the project with the arrival of spring.
Nick Ives has been very diligent in applying weed control spray and the Reserve has never looked under such firm control.
The track leading from the Hillcrest entrance to Percy’s walkway has been upgraded by the application of a lime and metal mix that binds well and provides a smooth hard surface. A vandal on a motorcycle tore up patches of track throughout the Reserve on several occasions but since a little chat with him by Nick he has not returned and the damage has been made good.
Masterton Primary School has continued its association with the Reserve by sending a small team of students (4 – 6 in number) each second Friday to spend an hour learning a little and tackling practical tasks. On 17th September, as part of Conservation Week, the school sent 120 students, with teachers and helpers, to do practical work in the Reserve for a one hour session. George accepted the challenge of making this a useful occasion and this proved to be the case. It had been great value having a small boat on loan from Dr. Dennison to enable a number of quick trips to Kite Island to remove self sown tree lucerne, a task which is now almost complete. Kite Island is now well covered with native flora and is a popular haunt of the pukeko.
Local man Roger Hoar and a few of his immediate family used plants from our shade house to plant out a 5m x 4m patch to commemorate a family occasion. This practise is in line with past policy that people may plant commemorative material and look after it on condition that there is no restriction of access or signs or plaques mounted.
Random vandalism continues with several camps erected including a hole approximately 1.5m x 3 m x 0.5m deep. This vandalism has resulted in the loss of 22 trees over 2m in height. The camps have been demolished as soon as they are discovered and all rubbish disposed of. The ingenuity and effort of some vandals is distressingly impressive
