Fallen GIANTS

Too much rain and two cyclones mean there are tough months ahead for our national arboretum.

Jane Williams, Chair of the Eastwoodhill Trust Board, says that the Arboretum was already contending with an unusual amount of rain when it was hit by Cyclone Hale in January and Cyclone Gabrielle in February. When Cyclone Gabrielle pummelled the east coast of Tairāwhiti on the night of February 13, resident staff and their households hunkered down once the electricity went off. It was impossible to communicate with the outside world and it was a couple of days before Jane could get to Eastwoodhill to see how things were going. It was a massive relief to find that everyone was safe.

It took longer to check on the Arboretum, with health and safety a major issue as staff ventured out to find many fallen and damaged trees. Horticulturist Anthea Dalton, the collections manager, explains that the huge amount of rain was a major factor. “There’s a layer of pipe clay. When the ground is sodden, it’s like wet cement, so the roots don’t have much to hold on to.”

It doesn’t help that at Eastwoodhill, tree growth is much faster than in the northern hemisphere. Trees don’t have the chance to develop the same root structure as in their homeland, so many trees are top heavy relative to what’s underground. Typically a tree puts out most of its roots on the prevailing wind side, so if the wind comes from a different direction it’s more vulnerable. As trees topple, new wind tunnels develop and more trees are threatened.

Fortunately, no critically endangered species were affected, but some endangered species have been lost. “We only had one Magnolia officinalis and it’s now gone. We hadn’t been able to propagate others,” Anthea says.

Eastwoodhill also lost seven very large oaks. “When trees are growing closely together, it’s as if they’re holding hands underground. When they fall, that support goes and down they come,” Anthea explains. A lack of formative pruning when these oaks were young means many of them have large side branches. During Cyclone Gabrielle, these filled with water, so were heavy and therefore more vulnerable than usual when destructive winds blasted through.

After Cyclone Gabrielle, Eastwoodhill was closed for a week to allow site assessments. Arborists from Wintec helped identify areas that needed to be cleared before the Arboretum could open safely while Basil Schur, an environmentalist from Western Australia who turned up unheralded, worked tirelessly clearing fallen trees.

Meanwhile, Eastwoodhill volunteer and woodturner Ian Lawson is saving as much as he can from the wood pile, transforming it into beautiful bowls. The rest of the timber is being processed – small limbs go through Eastwoodhill’s chipper; bigger logs go through a log processor. The resulting firewood is in great demand as good hard wood is difficult to find when most trees in the area are pine.

Access to several pathways is now restricted access and this is likely to last for a few months. Surprisingly, most of the arboretum looks immaculate – testimony to the care and dedication of those who work there. Eastwoodhill’s autumn display – leaves changing colour and cyclamens blooming under trees – is glorious, but likely to be largely unseen.

While the damage is disappointing, it’s the economic cost that’s truly devastating. The main issue is that hardly anyone can get there. The Napier-Gisborne road will probably be closed until well after winter, and it will be a long time before the road up to East Cape is operational.

For the rest of this year, income will be largely nonexistent – a major problem when there has been $25,000 worth of cancelled bookings and the Trust has had to pay consultant fees for site assessments. At the same time the Trust continues to employ the staff who maintain and develop this national treasure. Eastwoodhill’s core activities – education, conservation and science – are all under threat.

Eastwoodhill Arboretum was the life’s work of its creator, William Douglas Cook, who came to Gisborne district in 1910 to take up 250 hectares of farm land from the Ngātapa subdivision. During his 55 years at Eastwoodhill, he planted about 5000 different species and cultivars of trees and shrubs. At the time of the Cold War, he saw Eastwoodhill as an arboreal ark – if a rare species was wiped out in its natural habitat, his collection could be used to re-establish it.

Run by a charitable trust since 1975, the arboretum now has more than 25,000 species of trees, shrubs and climber plants. It’s believed to hold the most extensive collection of northern hemisphere trees in the southern hemisphere, including 16 critically endangered species. In 2004, it was recognised as a National Garden of Significance by the New Zealand Gardens Trust. A year later, it was designated New Zealand’s National Arboretum.

You can donate money or become a Friend of Eastwoodhill (eastwoodhill.org.nz).

Eastwoodhill, tucked into the hills some 35km northwest of Gisborne, is an arboreal ark, a safe haven for trees. So it’s been an interesting summer there.