Plants:
Sophora Dragons Gold
Manuka (Leptospermum scoparium)
Phormium cookianum
Carex secta
Pittosporum tenuifolium
Olearia traversiorum
This selection of natives will provide a textured look for your bank area, with the Manuka, Pittosporum and Olearia giving evergreen structure and height, and the lower growing Sophora Dragons Gold (bush Kowai), Phormium cookianum (Mountain Flax), and Carex Secta providing interest for the eye from the ground up and these plants are a fantastic source of food for our native birds. These plants all do well in clay and will make for a lush backdrop for that tricky bank area in your garden. Plant all plants at 1.2m spacing, and plant in swades for the best effect. Especially the lower growing plants like the Kowai and Falx, plant these in groups of 3-5 and they will quickly clump and establish for you.
Width required: At least 2m
Plant spacing:
All plants at 1.2m spacing
Foliage Colour: Green
Flower Colour: Yellow / White
Uses:
This is a great combination of natives to quickly cover a bank area and add some height and food for your native birds.
Compact bushy habit with lemon yellow flowers. Hardy. Height 1m
Tea tree, Manuka A fast growing shrub with abundant white flowers in Summer. The flowers are attractive to bees. It is found throughout New Zealand and is one of the most common species. As it is a pioneer plant it is used for revegetation planting. Manuka is best planted in Autumn but the roots must not be disturbed when planting.
Mountain flax, Wharariki Endemic to New Zealand Phormium cookianum is a very useful plant for any native planting. Despite its common name the New Zealand Mountain flax Phormium cookianum is found throughout New Zealand on coastal slopesto above treeline, among scrub or grasses. Phormium cookianum is smaller than the New Zealand flax Phormium tenax and has more drooping leaves. Phormium tenax leaves are more stiff and erect. The seed capsules of the Phormium cookianum are droping and twisted and not erect and angled as in P.tenax. The flowers are a source of nectar for the native birds, especially the tui and the bellbird. Most of the flax cultivars are derived from Phormium cookianum.
Carex secta is a common endemic sedge of coastal to montane swampy areas throughout New Zealand from sea level to 900 m. It is found throughout the North, South, Stewart Islands and also on the main Chatham Island, though it is scarce there.
It is a tussock forming sedge up to 1.5 x 1.5 m.
Pittosporum tenuifolium is a small evergreen tree which means "slender-leaved" in latin. This tree can grow up to 10m tall.
This plant has bright green foliage with dark brown thin stalks.
A rapidly growing hardy tree very suitable for shelter purposes, especially on the coast. Stands only light frosts. Intolerant of wet sites. Clip to maintain compact form.