Morning:
1 wheelbarrow of “suspected material” to (garden-)rubbish tip.
5 wheelbarrow of earth from garden-rubbish tip to compost.
Sorted out the different stacks of branches around the compost.
Did some cutting on the shrubs around the compost (especially Chimonanthes praecox 1950 014 #724 (needs to get labelled btw!.
Afternoon:
5 more wheelbarrows from garden-rubbish to compost.
Another specimen of arrears in maintenance. Wilma had detected it already. I had seen it before with a half eye (as we say in Dutch). But last week I came to realise how serious it is (New Years Day). A good job for the Sunday. Well. It will be a good job for a couple of Sundays!
There is a fence at the back of the garden. It is not high. Made of wire-netting. and apart from that there is this green netting to keep the weeds at its place. Well. It’s holding things at its place. On both sides of the netting large bundles of rootstocks, as we know them from the jasmine. Meters and meters long and very strong (I measured lengths of up to 15 m.!). There are a lot of (interesting) shrubs along the fence. Closely packed together (needs thinning!) and the jasmine tends to climb in some of the shrubs already. And then there are roses. That makes the work such a pleasant job. I’m sorry to say that I have cut some of these roses back. They grew in the shadow.
01:00pm
I worked for two hours until now.
I’m quite sure the jasmine is Jasminum polyanthum
(see e.g. DOC – “Plant me instead” (Wellington 2005), p. 134)
Find photo’s I made in Kevin’s Bush and take some new ones.
05:00pm
Worked a third hour. Did today 10 m. of the total length of 15 of the garden. To be continued next week(end).
It was a sunny day, with thin clouds covering most of the sky in the morning. As the day went on the clouds became thinner and the sun hotter. No wind.
The trees did not have proper protections (or surrounds as Di calls them), so we took most of the old surrounds off and made new ones, using the cages of Uncle Bob.
In the meantime Steven did a wonderful job in repairing a weak spot in the fence.
The Orchard is frequently visited by cattle, so protections need to be strong.
We still do have to make an inventory of the trees over here. I don’t think they’re in the catalogue.
In the morning we looked at the object, and planned what we needed. After that I went riding with the Mule and the trailer to get enough protections, metal posts etc.
In the afternoon Di and I changed some 8 protections, while Steven repaired the fence.
It was a sunny day, with some clouds. Not so hot as two days ago. But later in the afternoon it got about 25°C and rather humid.
morning:
Tried to find tools for repairing the punctured tyre of the wheelbarrow. I couldn’t find anything. Steven couldn’t help me either.
Steven “changed” contents of fuel-tank (with 1:30 mix) for 1:50 mix, as the Shindaiwo-scrubcutter apparently needs 1:50 mix. But… Husqvarna-scrubcutter needs 1:33 mix, if I read the manual well… The little chainsaw needs 1:30 mix. And, according to Steven, the old Jonsered scrubcutter needs 1:30 or even a bit more oil, so perhaps it was a bit precipitate that Steven emptied the contents of the fuel-tank over the fence. But alas.
afternoon:
Chainsawed last willows and some other trees.
made an inventory of all the Rhodo’s inside the Rhodo-part:
“from left to right – from back to front”= from West -> East; from North -> South):
Rhododendron ‘King’s Milkmaid’ 1996 161 #3048 old label
Rhododendron ‘Phyllis Korn’ 2000 019 #3122 new label
Rhododendron ‘Dreadnought’ 1993 142 #2985 old label 
Rhododendron ‘Santa Rosa’ 1993 145 #3163 old label
Rhododendron ‘Puget Sound’ 2000 023 #3139 new label
Rhododendron without label
Rhododendron ‘Precious’ 1993 144 #3129 old label
Rhododendron ‘Dawn’s Glory’ 1993 139 #2971 old label
Rhododendron without label
Rhododendron without label
Rhododendron without label
Rhododendron ‘Phantom’ 1999 021 #3121 new label
Rhododendron without label
Rhododendron without label
Rhododendron without label
Rhododendron irroratum ‘Polka Dot’ 1994 108 #3036 old label
Rhododendron ‘Firewine’ 1994 107 #3001 old label
Rhododendron ‘Kubla Khan’ 1994 110 #3051 old label
Rhododendron ‘Mary Tasker’ 2000 018 #3080 new label
Rhododendron ‘Boddaertianum’ 1999 018 #2921 new label
Rhododendron ‘Red Majesty’ 1994 112 #3149 old label
Rhododendron without label
Rhododendron without label
Rhododendron without label
and finally there is the Hydrangea (without label) which I can’t find in the database.
(a space means: some distance in the field)
(the new labels have a “format” that is different from the common format)
So I found 24 specimen, of which 10 still are unnamed. According to Uncle Bob’s database there must be 43 specimen of (different) Rhodo’s in C8 north-east. So where are the remaining 19?
– - – -
1/2 hour mowing with light Husqvarna scrubcutter in Rhodo-part.
1 hour raking.
1/2 hour mowing with light Husqvarna around the West-entrance.
A very hot day.
Weekly Report:
Monday 2007-12-03 to Sunday 2007-12-09 (incl.)
(crossed order)
2007-12-09 Sunday: Gisborne -> Morere Springs -> Tutira -> Napier
Rainy / foggy.
Visit Morere Springs Hot Pools
Short walk through Morere Springs Reserve – wonderful nikau palms. Photo’s wv.
Visit H. G.-S. Arboretum, Tutira; we met the curator Chris Ryan (?). He invited us to have a look around. For instance in the nursery. Big planting! Geographical organized. Trees of the same species planted in blocks. Photo’s wv.
Stay overnight at Albatross Motel on Westshore, overlooking estuary
2007-12-08 Saturday: Gisborne: Farmers Market, Shopping, Ballet, Dinner with Margriet
stay overnight at the Showgrounds
2007-12-07 Friday: EWH (worked only 1 hr) -> Gisborne: Shopping (Op-shop), Dinner at USSCO with EWH-staff
stay overnight at the Showgrounds; heavy rain at night
2007-12-06 Thursday: Hackfalls -> EWH: microscope work on Pinus devoniana, Pinus
heavy rain at night
see: Wikipedia entry on Pinus devoniana I recently made (with pictures from Hackfalls!)
2007-12-05 Wednesday: Hackfalls
db is still ill
morning: cutting Alnus etc. other side of the lake
afternoon: cleaning Aunt Isobel’s garden
2007-12-04 Tuesday: Hackfalls
db is ill
morning: Ridge halfway (on the boundary of G7 and G6):
Sorbus alnifolia 1983 020 # 3604 in very bad condition. Catalogue says 9m! Put in new protection. (= G7)
Just beside it a beautiful large specimen of S. alnifolia: 1985 095 #3603. Catalogue has questionmark: may be S. japonica! catalogue says height 3m.(=G6)
Catalogue says there is a third specimen of S. alnifolia
Sorbus meliosmifolia 1977 031 # 3649 – removed metal posts.
Carpinus turczaninowii 1994 228 # 631 – removed protection and metal posts.
Lithocarpus corneus (?) 1992 230 #1546
removed chaotic protection
protected again with metal post. height about 1.40 m.
(old?) label says 1993 230
Embrothium coccineum 1999 066 #1004
removed protection and metal posts.
Pinus rzedowskii 1991 014 #1997
There is a lot of work to be done here!
afternoon: cleaning thistles and rushes along the entrance road
2007-12-03 Monday: Hackfalls
Wilma is ill.
morning: mowing at the other side of the lake, Wilma clears Acer.
Monday Nov. 26 to Sunday Dec. 2 (incl.)
(order crossed)
2007-12-02 Hackfalls
In the morning we did a little tour through the arboretum and made some photo’s of a Mexican oak: 
Quercus rugosa
Bark, male flowers, small new acorns, young leaves
On our way back home we saw a beautifull flowering Aesculus californica at the backside of the cattleyard.
afternoon: view of the arboretum from the airstrip
fish and chips from Tiniroto tavern
2007-12-01 Saturday: Hackfalls
2007-11-30 Friday
2007-11-29 Thursday
2007-11-28 Wednesday
2007-11-27 Tuesday
Monday Nov. 26: Wilma arrives at Gisborne Airport at 11:55 am
(see photo’s)
We drive straight to Tiniroto via Waerenga-o-kuri
This was the first period db was working at Hackfalls this season.
db arrived at Gisborne:
db arrived at Tiniroto:
Until: Monday Nov. 26: Wilma arrives at Gisborne Airport at 11:55am
This is the new weblog of (our activities) in Hackfalls Arboretum, Tiniroto, Gisborne, New Zealand.
We will describe which work we’re doing, and observations we make.
For general information on Hackfalls Arboretum, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hackfalls_Arboretum
Hackfalls Arboretum is situated in Tiniroto.
For general information on Tiniroto, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiniroto
This weblog is started by Wilma Verburg and Dick Bos. We come from the Netherlands. We have visited New Zealand a couple of times. The last time was February to April this year.
Dick Bos is working now in Hackfalls Arboretum from September 2007 until March 2008. Wilma Verburg arrived last week (end of November), and she will leave again in the beginning of January 2008.
They have a weblog in Dutch at WordPress: http://wvendb.wordpress.com
