Bringing your garden to life with natives

by Deborah Colson, Restore Hibiscus and Bays

New Zealand’s native birds, lizards and insects evolved alongside native plants during a period of 800 million years of geographical isolation. 

This led to a very high percentage of plants and animals that are found only in NZ (endemic) – around 80 percent.

Native birds are either insect-eaters such as the pīwakawaka (fantail), which catches insects on the wing and riroriro (grey warbler) which picks insects off plants; nectar feeders such korimako (bellbird), or fruit-eaters such as the kererū. Tūi and silvereyes are omnivorous, feeding on nectar, insects and fruit. Native lizards eat a variety of foods including plenty of small insects and berries. Wētā will mostly eat leaves of native plants but also some smaller insects. Pollenators, such as bees, feed on flowers. 

To bring a range of native species into your garden, you need native plants and a variety of food types.

Here are my suggestions for home gardens on the Coast.

Ground covers
Lobelia angulata (pānakenake) is a pretty groundcover which has a mass of small white flowers in summer provding food for pollenating insects, followed by purple berries for the native lizards. It grows well in the shade, and will tolerate some dappled light. 

For a sunnier spot, creeping fuschia (Fuschia procumbens) works well. It has very colourful flowers (unusual for our natives), followed by red berries which provide food for native lizards. 

Muehlenbeckia axillaris (creeping wire vine) is the groundcover version of muehlenbeckia. It thrives in full sun and has tiny flowers which feed pollenating insects, followed by the tiniest of berries which provide food for silvereyes and lizards.

Shrubs
Kakabeak (Clianthus spp.) produces stunning red or white flowers shaped like the beak of a kākā parrot. It does best in full sun, free-draining position. The flowers produce nectar which is very popular with tūi. If  you are lucky to have a kākā visiting, they will also feed on the flowers. 

Muehlenbeckia astonii is a highly divaricated (zig-zaggy) shrub which also loves full sun. The flowers and fruit are identical to that of M axilaris mentioned above. The grey warbler will disappear into the middle of this shrub and emerge with insects in its beak. The rare kakariki parrot, not normally seen outside sanctuaries which has been seen on the Hibiscus Coast recently, also feeds on the fruit of this shrub. 

Small trees
Kōwhai trees (Sophora spp) come in a range of sizes, from shrubs to trees. They all produce fabulous yellow flowers (yellow is kōwhai in te reo māori) which are popular with nectar-feeders. Kererū feed on the foliage. Kōwhai has its own caterpillar called the kōwhai moth caterpillar. Don’t be tempted to remove these caterpillars – the tree will recover its foliage, and the caterpillers need to eat.

Karamū (Coprosma robusta) and  karo (Pittosporum crassifolium) are common small trees which both produce flowers and fruit. Tūi love both. Karamū (like all coprosmas) are dioecious meaning that each plant will have either male or female flowers. Only the female plants produce fruit (orange berries) and require a male plant to be nearby for pollination. Karamū leaves are also a favourite food of wētā.

Mānuka is famous for its popularity with honey bees. The pretty white flowers will also bring monarch butterflies into your garden, and will host plenty of flying insects for fantail and grey warbler.

Large trees
If you have the space for just one big tree in your garden, plant a pūriri (Vitex lucens). Unusually, this tree has flowers and fruit all year round making it an important food source for nectar-feeders and kererū. If you are very lucky your pūriri could provide a home for the pūriri moth caterpillar which bores into the tree trunk, emerging as NZ’s largest moth some years later.

Deborah Colson is an Ecological Restoration Advisor specialising in creating and restoring native habitat across the Hibiscus Coast. She is also the horticulturalist at Fernglen Native Plant Gardens in Birkenhead. She transformed her 800sqm section in Army Bay from lawn and weeds into a native haven brimming with life, by mulching over the lawn and planting hundreds of natives. Restore Hibiscus and Bays is a charitable trust which supports community-led conservation. Get in touch if you would like help to make your backyard a haven for nature – www.restorehb.org.nz, email deborah@restorehb.org.nz