Despite a seemingly dormant season for plants and plant growth, work continues propagating natives at Haehaeata Natural Heritage Trust, and new shoots are also springing up in terms of staff movement.

Dhana Pillai, who has been with the trust since it was established in 2017, is stepping down as nursery manager and trust administrator and project co-ordinator Rachael Baxter is trialling adding the nursery management to her existing duties. 

Haehaeata Trust chairman Ollie Yeoman said Dhana’s “huge wealth of knowledge” had been invaluable to the group.

“So many of us have learned so much from Dhana,” he said.

“It’s really niche knowledge and skills. Dhana’s been trialling and playing around with how to grow things in Central Otago where it is so dry and so hot and so cold.”

Dhana said she started with the community nursery well before it became a trust. The nursery was originally operated by the Department of Conservation (DoC), which withdrew in 2015.

“We had a public meeting in Clyde about rejuvenating it,” Dhana said. “The community got together and started up and got really keen.”

All of the nursery’s plants are grown from seeds collected locally as they are best adapted to Central Otago’s challenging conditions. PHOTO: Supplied

The trust was set up in 2017 to restore, educate and advocate for Central Otago’s unique dryland plant species and the creatures that depend on them, and operates the Clyde Railhead Community Eco Nursery. 

When the then-nursery manager left, Dhana volunteered for the role, and took over the part-time position once funding was available.

A qualified geologist, Dhana also studied a lot of botany in her degree and was involved as a graduate student in ecological studies in Otago.

“I really love native plants and I love plant propagation,” she said. “It’s something I’ve done since I moved to Alexandra about 30 years ago.”

Dhana’s last nursery session with volunteers will be next Thursday (June 29) but she will remain involved in the trust, collecting seeds, propagating and being involved in restoration projects. She just planted out 32 trays of seeds this week.

“I’m not leaving or anything. I’m just stepping back from the formal role of being the manager and organising the volunteers. That’s the role Rachael will be taking on.”

Rachael also has a wealth of experience propagating and growing plants, as part of the Mackie family which owns Mackies Garden Centre in Letts Gully Rd. She has committed to the combined role for a year to see how it fits with everything else in her life, and will restart volunteer sessions on August 10 after a winter break..

She has been involved with the trust as a volunteer since at least 2018 and in a paid part-time role since 2020.

The trust’s flagship rejuvenation project is on DoC land at Falg Top Hill, where it has been involved since 2020 in a multi-year project where it aims to plant 500 trees and shrubs annually. Regular planting and weeding sessions take place there, and the trust also works with local schools and local organisations, supplying plants, helping establish plantings  and educating groups.

“On and off, throughout the years, there have been quite a few school visits to the nursery,” Rachael said. 

“A lot of it has come through Enviroschools and they get their own little planting projects underway.”

Rachael speaks with Clyde School pupils about each species being planted and why it was important for bird, insect or lizard life. PHOTO: The Central App

The Trust was involved in a joint project with Clyde School in May, planting mountain beech, cabbage trees, broadleaf, flax, mountain coprosma and the nationally endangered Hector’s tree daisy near the Miners Lane playground.

“They managed to fit in a visit just before they went planting so they had seen the nursery. Dhana talked about seed collection and some of the seeds and what they look like and how they disperse.

“Small groups will come back once it’s warmer and we’re propagating and they’re going to get involved in the propagation side of things too.

“There’s a lot of partnerships we can develop.”

Find more information about volunteering or supporting the trust here.