A Central Otago community nursery has welcomed a new online tool from the Otago Regional Council that helps find the most suitable native plants for a specific area and project.

ORC environmental implementation manager Libby Caldwell said the new Otago Native Planting Guide is an interactive map which uses potential ecosystem information to produce a list of native species which will be best suited to plant in your specific area.

“Plants which naturally occur in the area will have a higher chance of surviving as they’re adapted to growing in that local environment. The native animals in those areas will also rely on specific plant species for food and habitat,” she said.

Haehaeata Natural Heritage Trust nursery manager Rachael Baxter said the interactive page on the website was easy to use. 

The trust runs the Clyde Community Eco Nursery which propagates native plants to rejuvenate Central Otago’s original flora, thus increasing habitat for native creatures also.

“The series of downloadable planting guides that accompany the map are a great resource for all to gain an understanding of the species that will do well in the different general ecosystems around Alexandra, and would be of great use to anyone wanting a better understanding of our local native species,” Rachael said.  

“Especially the Central Otago Grey scrub and shrublands, riparian planting, and the Kānuka shrubland guides which we think are the most appropriate for us here.”

Rachael said the nursery had grown most of the species on the list at one time or another. 

“It is timely for such a resource to be out in the public domain as we often get enquiries about what to plant where,” she said.

Libby of the ORC said the local landscape had been greatly modified since humans arrived in Aotearoa, noting that plants were the “building blocks” to restore a healthy ecosystem.

“In many places, our native birds have also disappeared. By planting the right species, in the right place, we hope to bring our native fauna back, as well as improving water quality and helping toward climate change responses,” she said.

 The Otago Native Planting Guide works by users entering their project location, address or clicking on the map, which then creates a downloadable list of what native species should be planted at their site.

Libby said introduced exotic species which are planted in gardens could escape into the wild and create problems for native species as they could become weeds.

“When exotics become established in the wrong place, they often start outcompeting our native species,” she said.

The Otago Native Planting Guide is for species choice rather than an instruction manual for native revegetation projects. It is intended as a supplement to existing planting resources, and to assist where they don’t. The guide is available here.