Planting History

This page gives a brief insight into the plants of Pukekura Park. It includes plants that were added and plants that already existed in Brooklands and Maranui Gully when they were gifted to the town, both had remnants of an ancient broadleaf forest.

Lowland Forest in the Park

Remnants of an ancient broadleaf forest exist in the Park which includes trees that may be several hundred years old. The natural forest remnant in Maranui Gully and enclosing Brooklands main lawn to the south and west is an example of lowland broadleaf forest, which at one time would have occupied most of the north Taranaki ring plain. New Zealand lowland forests have a subtropical appearance due to the presence of epiphytes, climbing lianes, tree and ground ferns, but are in fact temperate forests.

The tree species common to this forest remnant are pukatea, Laurelia novae-zelandiae; karaka, Corynocarpus laevigatus; kohekohe, Dysoxylum spectabile; pūriri, Vitex lucens; rewarewa, Knightia excelsa; tītoki, Alectryon excelsus; Tawa, Beilschmiedia tawa; porokaiwhiri, pigeonwood, Hedycarya arborea; mahoe, whitey wood, Melicytus ramiflorus; mamaku, Cyathea medullaris; pōnga, silver fern, Cyathea dealbata, and nīkau palm, Rhopalostylis sapida.

Understory and forest floor plants growing in association with these are pikopiko, hen and chicken fern, Asplenium bulbiferum; nini/rereti, lance fern, Blechnum chambersii; para, king fern, Ptisana salicina; hairy fern, Lastreopsis hispida; pākauroharoha, gully fern, Pneumatopteris pennigera; kamu/matau-a-māui, hook sedge, Uncinia uncinata; kawakawa, Macropiper excelsum; kanono/raurēkau, Coprosma australis; hangehange/whangewhange, New Zealand privet, Geniostema ligustrifolium, and patē/patetē, seven finger, Schefflera digitata.

Some of the epiphytes or perching plants include:

Ferns: huruhuruwhenua, shining spleenwort, Asplenium oblongifolium; petako, sickle spleenwort, Asplenium polyodon; mokimoki, fragrant fern, Microsorum scandens; kōwaowao, hounds tongue fern, Microsorum pustulatum; leather fern, Pyrrosia elaeagnifolia.

Lianes or climbers: karewao/pirita, supplejack, Ripogonum scandens; kiekie/tāwhara, Freycinetia banksii; kaihua, New Zealand jasmine, Parsonsia heterophylla, and akatawhiwhi, scarlet rātā, Metrosideros fulgens.

Perching Plants: kahakaha, perching lily, Collospermum hastatum, and puka, broadleaf, Griselinia lucida.

Significant trees in Brookland planted before the Park took control

Spanish chestnut, Castanea sativa, planted at Brooklands in 1847 by Miss Brough, Lady Help of Captain Henry King RN. (This tree was regarded as the best and possibly largest of this species in the Southern Hemisphere, and was nationally notable while alive, died in 1976).

Two Norfolk Island pines, Araucaria heterophylla, planted at Brooklands by Captain Henry King in 1851. (These trees likely came from the ‘Egmont Nursery’ operated by James Laird).

The following were planted at Brooklands in 1890: walnut, Juglans regia; Monterey pine, Pinus radiata; maritime pine, Pinus pinaster on the Kaimata boundary of Brooklands; Monterey cypress, Cupressus macrocarpa (edge of the lawn by the zoo).

In 1893 the following were planted at the southern end of the Brooklands main lawn; Magnolia x soulangeana; rimu, Dacrydium cupressinum; tōtara, Podocarpus tōtara and tānekaha, Phyllocladus trichomanoides.

London plane, Platanus x acerifolia (Bowl of Brooklands & Rhododendron Dell); American elm, Ulmus americana (Brooklands & Rhododendron Dell); Rhododendrons, Camellia japonica varieties: ‘Great Eastern’ and the Chinese Tea camellia, Camellia sinensis and holly trees, Ilex aquifolium were planted circa 1898.

Giant Gingko – Ginkgo biloba, planted circa 1902 by Clement Govett in the gully below the “Maranui’’ homestead, after which the gully is named. The part of the Maranui gully where the ginkgo is planted is now known as List’s Garden, after the third owner of the property “Maranui” Mr. T. C. List. 1901 or 1902 are the most likely dates for the planting of the Ginkgo in that Clement Govett bought the property from the original owner, James Cartwright George, in 1901 (therefore the suggested planting date of the 1880’s on the current tree signage and in records, is unlikely or incorrect). Clement Govett first opened the garden to the public in December 1902.

A variety of palms were planted in 1903 including: European fan palm, Chamaerops humilis; Chinese windmill palm, Trachycarpus fortunei; Senegal date palm, Phoenix reclinata, also Wisteria floribunda ‘Multijuga’.

Planting in Pukekura Park since 1876 and Brooklands post 1933

When the Recreation Ground was established in 1875 the Pukekura valley was basically covered in gorse, ferns and tutu. Any trees of significance had been cut down by the early settlers and used for building or firewood. It was reported in an article (TDN, MARCH 3, 1924) that some of the timber for the original St Mary’s church built in the 1840s came from the Pukekura valley.

The first planting in the Park was a vineyard in what is now known as Stainton Dell. German, Heinrich Breidecker leased one acre of land from the Board for this purpose.

The Board started planting in 1876. Initially they needed a layout to see where paths would be, and then they needed some areas cleared of gorse etc.

The first recorded tree planting was on the opening day of the Recreation Ground, May 29, 1876. This was performed by Miss Jane Carrington, who with the help of Board members planted; an oak, Quercus robur, representing the UK; pūriri, Vitex lucens (NZ); Norfolk Island pine, Araucaria hetrophylla (South Pacific); Monterey pine, Pinus radiata (N America). All the plants for the official plantings were supplied by local nurseryman James Mitchinson. Members of the public were also invited to plant trees which included: rimu, pūriri and yew. The pūriri planted by Jane Carrington may be the pūriri behind the Bellringer Pavilion. A rimu and yew next to the path on the east side of Fountain Lake may also have been planted on the opening day.

Because the Park (Recreation Ground) was run by a Board of Trustees they had to raise money to develop the grounds which was always a struggle. They relied heavily on donations of money or plants. Presumably whatever was donated was planted and would have dictated the landscape to a large extent. In the first fifty years the vast majority of the plantings were donated. Some people such as James Mitchinson, Miss Devenish, John Wheeler, T. K. Skinner and others were regular donors.

In September 1876, the Board received a donation of 2000 trees and shrubs from Christchurch Botanical Garden, including – Fraxinus, Ulmus, Castanea and Pinus radiata. Pinus radiata were the tree that the Recreation Grounds Board planted in great numbers in the first two or three formative years of the Park. They were a great tree to provide quick shelter for the Park. It is thought that a large proportion of the trees from Christchurch were Pinus radiata.

In 1877 description of the Recreation Ground progress was reported as:

“We notice with pleasure that considerable improvements have been affected in the Recreation Ground. A great many trees have lately been planted there. Parallel with the northern and eastern boundary of the ground Pinus insignis have been planted. Some additional paths have also been formed. The furze (gorse) and fern have in some places been cleared away, and where this has been done the young trees look healthy and vigorous. Seed beds have been sown of pines in variety, as well as our own native trees.”
TH, September 22,1877.

In September 1877 Board member James Davis donated some Californian pines, Wellingtonia gigantea. Two of these trees still exist on the path from the sportsground to the Tea House.In June 1878 the following request was placed in the Taranaki Herald:

The planting season having arrived, the Botanical Gardens Board again solicit donations in the shape of trees, plants and shrubs from the public. Those having any to spare can communicate with Mr. Colson, Currie Street; or Mr J. T. Davis, Devon Street; when a man will be sent to collect the same.” TH, June 7, 1878.

At the July Board meeting it was noted that:

“It was resolved that the offer made by Mr Mitchinson of 500 shrubs at 10s per hundred be accepted, and that a pound of gum seed be procured.” Donations of Shrubs: “It was resolved that the thanks of the Board be accorded to Messrs Mitchinson, Skinner, Butterworth, L.A. Hamerton and S. Howell, for donations of shrubs;
Cutting furze – It was resolved that all fern and furze be cut on the west slope, cleared off and burnt, and that 300 holes, more or less, be dug three feet wide by 18 inches deep.”
TH, July 20, 1878.

Some of the 500 trees offered/mentioned are probably the English oaks on the western side of the main lake.
Until the 1890s the Board did not employ anyone with planting knowledge. They relied on various other people including: Board member Thomas Colson, nurseryman James Mitchinson, landscape gardener James Kidd and artist Hamar Arden to supervise planting.

In June 1881 Mitchinson made another generous offer:

“We hear that Mr. Mitchinson, of the Caledonian Nursery, has liberally offered about a thousand well grown trees and plants of various kinds to the Recreation Board, the only condition being that the Board employs an experienced man to transplant them. For want of funds it is feared this offer will be declined. Until lately the Board owed the custodian of the grounds over thirty weeks’ wages, part only of which has been paid.”
TH,June 28, 1881.

It would seem that the Board found the money to buy Mitchinson’s plants:

“The Botanical Gardens Board are carrying out extensive improvements in the recreation grounds. Several hundreds of trees have been planted, and the swamp at the northeast end of the grounds has been drained preparatory to its being laid down in grass for a croquet lawn. In the course of two or three years, when the trees will have grown up, the grounds will present a charming appearance and will vie in point of excellence with any other found in the Colony.”
TH, July 25,1881.

During the 1881 season the Board planted 1100 trees.

There was an early exchange of plants with the Botanical Gardens in Melbourne as noted in the Herald:

“Mr. Harris Ford, the secretary of the Botanical Gardens Board, has received a valuable selection of flower and shrub seeds from the Curator of the Botanical Gardens, Melbourne. The parcel was sent in exchange for a quantity of seeds forwarded by the Board to Melbourne, and the Curator expresses the hope that the Botanical Gardens Board of New Plymouth will continue the interchange of donations.” TH, November 6, 1881.

Some notable donations in 1882 included: a parcel containing 17 different kinds of seeds of shrubs and trees, from Dr Hector, Wellington museum. Dr Hector had previously visited New Plymouth. Mr T. Wilson donated a number of New Zealand fern trees.

In April 1883 the Board received two packets of seeds from the government – one packet containing seeds of the eucalyptus, or blue gum, and the other of the golden wattle. The latter was being introduced by the government for the purpose of producing bark for tanning purposes. By this time the Board had a nursery somewhere in the grounds. At a Board meeting it was stated that:

“It was resolved that the trees in the nursery fit for planting out be done as soon as possible.”
TH, July 19,1883.

The two pūriri trees, Vitex lucens, by the Band Rotunda, were planted in 1883. Originally there were three, but one was removed to open up the space around the Band Rotunda.

Among the donations in 1884 were native shrubs from Mr G Oliver; pūriris, Mr. R. Wells and hollies from Mr. J. T. Davis. Hollies were one of the trees used as boundary markers. There are a few holly trees in the Park today which may have been from this donation.

In May 1885 the Board received of a selection of valuable Western Australian plants from Mr W. Luke, comprising varieties of gums, acacias, jarrahas and wattle. A packet of thirty varieties of tree seeds was also received from the government. A few weeks later it was stated that :

“With the large donation of plants, the Recreation Grounds has been enabled to lay out a new plantation. About six hundred young trees have been set on the hill above the strawberry bed.” TH,May 23, 1885.

The strawberry bed was in the region of the Racecourse Walk.

In September the Board received 150 pūriri from Captain Wilson and water lilies from W. L. Newman. The maritime pine, Pinus pinaster probably were planted around this time. From newspaper reports we also know that strawberry trees were in the Park in the mid-1880s.

In mid-1888 the Board planted a considerable number of American native trees. These had been grown from seed forwarded by the government to the Board three years earlier. This is the possible/probable source of trees such as, Pinus torreyana, Cupressus macrocarpa and Cupressus macnabiana. Water lilies donated by Mr Mitchinson, were planted in the Lily Pond (this lily pond was located on the site that is now Hatchery Lawn).

In 1890 the Board received camellias from Miss Devenish, Mrs Skinner Snr and Mr T Veale. This could account for some of the older camellias in the Park such as Camellia japonica varieties: ‘Dido’, ‘Triumphans’, and ‘Welbankiana’.

In 1891 James Kidd designed and oversaw planting of native trees in the gully leading up to the Racecourse (area now known as Stainton Dell). Kidd was a landscape gardener from Inglewood. The following Herald article is a list of 2915 trees and shrubs planted in the Stainton Dell area in September 1891, which is an amazing collection of natives:

“The following is a list of the varieties of native trees obtained from all parts of the Provincial District which have been planted in the Recreation Ground during September last: 115 titi or cabbage tree, 69 mountain toi, 76 manuka rauriki, 189 horoeka or lancewood, 270 tarata, 110 ramarama, 40 wharangi (puka), 142 rewarewa (honeysuckle), 175 titoki or tapitapi, 109 kawakawa, 1 ngaio, 55 kohekohe or cedards, 223 totara, 58 nikau (palm), 60 rimu, 39 kahikatea (white pine), 53 miro, 30 tainui, 12 paratawhiti (the edible fern), 20 kowhai (yellow), 12 Prince of Wales feather ferns, 1 parapara or birdlime tree, 5 mountain pines also packet of seed, 5 puka (parasite), 100 koromiko, 52 tawa, 2 rata, 14 akeake, 40 matai, 45 pukatea, 26 maire, 212 puriri, 1 stingnettle of New Zealand, 12 spear grass (wild Irishmen?), 248 shrubs form the ranges, of different varieties, 170 matipo (red birch), 125 karaka. Total 2915 native shrubs, &c. The Board have still £20 left, and in the autumn they intend to plant more shrubs in the plantation, which occupies the old strawberry bed site.” TH, Oct 13, 1891.

Based on the list of plants it could safely be suggested that a very small part of the plantation remains and occupies the area between the Tea House and the Fred Parker Lawn, as there are plants in this area that appear in the list that are possible/probable survivors namely, kahikatea (white pine), pukatea, and possibly a pūriri and one of the rimus. Also based on the list of plants, the plantation may have included parts of the bank on the north side of what is now Primula Dell where there are some mature kohekohe’s and pūriri’s. This planting is also the earliest recorded introduction of Para Tawhiti/King fern, into the Park.

In 1892 due to a lack of manpower the public were asked to take charge of flower beds in the grounds. Mrs Hursthouse became the first person to volunteer along with some friends, followed soon after by pupils of Central School. In June 1892 Mr G Duncan gifted a couple of Norfolk Island pines, Araucaria heterophylla. The Norfolk Island pine near The Poet’s Bridge may be one of those gifted. A major planting in October 1892 was a maze consisting of 3-4000 box thorn plants, Lycium ferrocissimum. The maze was designed/planted by Archibald Hood. It was based on the maze at Hampton Court and was somewhere south of the Boat Shed Bridge. Improvements were made to the Carrington Road entrance and lots of native shrubs were planted.

The following is extracted from a letter to the editor. The trees mentioned are possibly sycamores and oaks near Mason Drive. This is probably the first indication that not everyone was in favour of the Park being dominated by pine trees:

“The plan of getting rid of ugly and useless pinus insignus trees has been steadily kept in view, and of replacing all gaps as far as possible with native trees and ferns, while a grand avenue of deciduous trees has been planted by the side of the racecourse.” TH, January 21, 1893.

In May 1893 Captain Mace from Oakura offered a selection of native plants for the Recreation Grounds. He had so many seedlings of all kinds come up that he invited the Recreation Grounds Board to send out some of its members to select any they thought useful. T. K. Skinner, the Chairman of the Board and another member went there and selected many plants including hardy flowering shrubs and creepers from all parts of the world. During the season 500 hundred native plants and shrubs were planted out in the grounds supervised by Hamar Arden. In 1893 a slip from the willow tree on which the Rev, Mr Volkner was hanged by the Māoris at Opotiki was planted in the grounds. What happened to that tree is a mystery.

By May 1894 nearly 3000 native trees and shrubs had been planted out under the superintendence of Mr Arden, and a large number placed in the nursery. In June of that year the Board received a donation of Himalaya pines from Mr R. H. Gibson, also shrubs and plants collected by Mr A. Kyngdon during a visit to California and the South Seas. T. K. Skinner wrote to the Borough Council asking permission to plant a new hedge along the Fillis Street frontage running eastward from Liardet Street. Permission was sought because part of the hedge was going to be outside the Park boundary on council land. In photos taken a few years later a row of young poplar trees is clearly evident.

In April 1895, Frank Hamar Arden made a public request for donations of plants for the Recreation Ground. He suggested May would be a good time to donate as he would be in the grounds constantly during that month. He asked for the following:

Grevillea robusta, Ficus macrophylla, Lawson cypress, Norfolk Island pine, Chilian pine, Cedrus deodara, Austrian pine, Cryptomeria elegans, Silver tree, Tulip tree, Casuarina or shiok, Paulownia, Camphor laurel, Olive, Plane, Balbrogia lucida, Retinosporas (any variety), Magnolias, Rhododendrons, Alder, Mountain ash, Tamarisk, Yucca, Fan palm or Kentia palm; Washington palm; and any native trees not too large, especially – Honeysuckle, Hinau, Rimu, Fern trees, Lacebark, Wharangi, Mountain toi, Pittosporum trifolium, Nikau. TH, April 23, 1895.

This year has been attributed as the accession date of the Park’s Moreton Bay fig based on this request.

In late June 1895 the Taranaki Jockey Club gifted a piece of land at the back of the grandstand to the Recreation Grounds Board to be an addition to the Park. The land that was gifted is situated on the eastern side of the main lake serpentine and runs southward from the Boat Shed back to the stream from the Bowl Lake and up to the top of the ridge where it borders the pony paddock at the back of the Stadium. The land, according to a report in the Taranaki Herald had a remnant of bush growing on it and you can still see evidence of that remnant with examples of mature pukatea, tawa, tītoki, and rewarewa, plus many supplejack vines, however, the majority of the site was bare. It became the site for the first Arbor Day planting in the Park that took place under the direction of the Scenery Preservation Society.

There was a second Arbor Day planting in the Park in August 1896. It was a continuation of the project started in 1895. Two hundred trees were planted on the day. When you walk the track that runs across the middle of this slope you will see some large pūriri trees on the edges of the track, it is probable given their size that they were part of one or other of the two Arbor Day plantings on this site. There are also a few larger karaka trees that may have been planted at this event. In July 1896 the Board sent the custodian (Charles Edgecombe) to collect plants, as recorded by the Herald:

“The custodian reported on the work during the month, which consisted principally of planting out. The Board decided to give effect to the suggestion of the custodian to work a couple of days at Ratanui for the collection of native trees and shrubs. An express will be employed to bring the collection to the Grounds. Mr N. King was thanked for his donation of native shrubs from Brooklands.” TH, July 6, 1896.

In September the following was reported:

“The Custodians report was read and discussed. The report stated that during the month some 300 native plants had been set in the nursery bed – 200 from the Meeting of the Waters and the balance from Brooklands. The overseer was glad to say that all these are looking well, owing to the puddling treatment, not one of them having turned a hair. About 50 trees of a larger growth were planted out during the month.” TH, September 7, 1896.

In October, T. K. Skinner made a donation of 578 native trees for planting in the nursery.

The Board received over 2,000 native trees and shrubs in 1898 which were planted out in nurseries around the grounds.

The Board created Manhattan Island in 1899, at the southern end of the main lake. It was a part of the lake that was shallow and filled with raupo. The island was planted with native plants using stock from the nurseries in the grounds. Later in the year the curator was sent to Ngāti Maru country (Tarata area) to collect native trees and shrubs some of which were planted on the island.

Edgecombe was sent to Raglan in July 1901 to collect plants. He returned with mangeao, tānekaha, and wharangi. He also collected some specimens of native heath and umbrella fern together with a quantity of kōwhai and mānuka seed. Following one of the Board members’ visits to Sydney, the Board received several roots of Pontederia crassipes from the director of the Sydney Botanic Gardens. In September 1901 it was noted that some of the kōwhai were blooming. Twenty kōwhai had been planted in the grounds in 1891.

The Board was gifted a valuable package of assorted seeds of African flowering shrubs from the Natal Botanic Gardens in 1902, courtesy Murdoch Fraser of Burgess Fraser Co, who had been in South Africa on a working holiday. Some of the trees flowering in the grounds in 1902 included; New Zealand ribbonwood, koromiko and Australian red gum trees.

More seeds from overseas arrived in 1903. T. K. Skinner gifted seeds of a varied collection of flowering shrubs and plants collected en route from Colombo to Vancouver.

In July 1905 the secretary was instructed to arrange an exchange of shrubs with the Ashburton Domain Board. At that time, Board member Percy Smith was heading the Scenery Preservation Commission. Fellow commissioner W. W. Smith who became Pukekura Park’s curator in 1908 spent ten years setting up Ashburton Domain around the turn of the century which probably accounts for this exchange.

Some of the trees planted in 1906 by curator Robert Mace, which may well have been a first stage planting of Tōtara Hillside, were noted in the Herald:

“The Custodian of the Recreation Grounds has reported to the Chairman the planting out of the following shrubs during the season just ended; Kahikatea 130, Totara 200, Ramarama 40, Rimu 30, Hinau 8, Maire 10, Kowhai 20, Manuka 50, Tawhiri 20, Tarata 15, Rata 6, Lacebark 10, Koromiko 15,Matipou 10, Miscellaneous native shrubs, 16 sorts, 151, Tree Ferns 40, Paratawhiti Fern 10, Mountain Toi 22, Tree flax 12, Flax various 50, Ribbon Grass 15, Australian Gums 10, Arum Lily (clumps) 130; also 2200 young native trees planted in the nurseries.”
TH, September 28, 1906.

The Board was busy in 1907 as can be seen from the following report:

“During the planting season just ended, Mr Mace the custodian of the Recreation Grounds and his assistant have set out in permanent positions a total of 540 trees and shrubs. These comprise 250 in connection with the new entrance from Gilbert Street, 50 at the John Street entrance, 130 in the newly designed belt along the Carrington Street frontage and 110 in other parts of the Grounds. As the result of Mr Edgecombe’s recent expedition to Raglan-Wiatetuna country 390 trees, shrubs and other plants have been transferred to the Grounds, mostly in the nurseries. These comprise about twelve sorts of trees not met with in Taranaki, including some fine celery-topped pines. These trees number altogether about 340. There are 45 ferns of new sorts and 5 native tois or grasses.”
TH, September 19, 1907.

Many of the plants for the Carrington Street frontage were donated by Mr. R. Davies, brother of Victor Davies from Duncan and Davies.

W. W. Smith came to the Park at the beginning of 1908. He was well known around the country as a botanist, ornithologist and entomologist. The Park seems to have benefitted from his fame as they were inundated with plant donations.

Donations included: 75 Prunus pseudo-cerasus, Japanese flowering cherries of 12 different varieties, Rhododendron ponticum ‘Alba’, Genista andreana (red and yellow flowered broom), Adiantum formosum, Asphinium culliformu, Lomaria lucida, Clematis afoleata, Exichondra sp, Helianthus florepleno, Oxalis alba, Frinkia subcordata, Heuchera alba, Cineraria maritima, Cineraria hybrids, Bignonia glandra, Dracophyllum longifolium, Sericio laxifolino (Senecio laxifolia), Convallaria maplis (majalis), Akebia japonica, bags of mixed bulbs including (narcissus, Lilium grandiflorum, gladioli), Alstroemeria, Kerria japonica, flax plants, herbaceous plants and shrubs, Australian plant seeds, a collection of native plants from Stony River, rare olearias, pomegranate plants, cactus dahlias, lilies and amaryllis.

Also a collection of native plants procured by Mr R. Davies from the Coromandel ranges near Paeroa, on behalf of Mr S. Percy-Smith was presented to the Park. A new nursery was established for receipt of the plants – The collection included about 20 species new to the Park.

The first major planting of Smith’s was reported in July 1908:

“that all the 380 plants in the old nursery have been planted out. The young totaras were planted on totara hill, while the remainder were planted on the banks of the new extension of the upper lake and on the island therein. The work of cleaning the large island at the head of the upper lake (Manhattan Island), and converting it into a large fernery composed of only native ferns is progressing as rapidly as the weather will permit.”

TH, July4, 1908.

Later in the year Smith accompanied by several gentlemen, visited the terminus of the Mount Egmont railway line, and obtained a large collection of native trees and shrubs which were planted out in the Park. It is clear that W.W. Smith made a huge impact on his arrival to New Plymouth. Smith also started developing a large flax bed in the vicinity of Palm Lawn.

The first kauri was planted in the Park in 1909. It was originally planted near the site of the current Teahouse and relocated to its present site at the base of Monument Hillside in 1911. Smith now focussed his attention on the new Gilbert Street entrance including the banks of the stream. It is interesting to note that when the public became aware of this work, they donated many plants specifically for that area. Taking a walk down Smith Walk today, many of the trees there would have been planted around 1909. The other area Smith started developing that year was the swampy land between the tea house and the Fernery.

In 1910 the spread of noxious weeds was highlighted as a problem, especially for farmers. As a response W. W. Smith offered to mount and name specimens of any plants farmers give him. His idea was to assist in checking the spread of noxious weeds. Smith continued developing the area near the Gilbert Street entrance including the flax bed, which ended up with more than 40 varieties. He also planted groups of camellias and azaleas. It is thought that camellia japonica ‘Pukekura’ that is growing near the Bellringer Pavilion was planted at this time.

W. W. Smith and Board member Percy Smith had spent three years as colleagues on the government’s Scenery Preservation Commission from 1904 – 1906 and this gave them certain privileges. They went on a plant collecting trip together in 1910 reported by the Herald:

“Permission had been obtained to visit Government reserves, from which to procure shrubs. Mr S. Percy Smith’s offer to assist in this work was gratefully accepted by the board. Mr. Smith mentioned that he had special Ministerial authority to visit certain Crown reserves for the purpose of securing specimen trees. TH, May 3, 1910.

Many more donations of plants were received. Three Raby brothers who were farming at Rerekepa collected native plants and on more than one occasion brought them to the Park by coach or horseback free of charge. Being encouraged by the Raby brothers Smith made the following plea:

“I would here remark that, like the Brothers Raby, all young men working in the native bush have exceptional opportunities for obtaining young native plants and seeds. As we require some thousands of young trees and shrubs for planting in the Park at the present time, I may be permitted to request those who have such opportunities to send us such for the improvement and beautification of the Park.” TDN, July 5, 1910.

Percy Smith asked R. W. Davies to collect native plants while he was on a trip to Raglan and Hokianga in July 1910. Davies brought back 15 different varieties of plants (216 plants in all), some of which were new to the Park.

In July 1911 C. E. Bellringer donated a collection of roses which prompted Smith to create a rose garden. It was planted in what is now known as Palm Lawn. Later in the year he reported that he had planted out 400 native trees some of which had been donated by Mr. Raby, of Rerekapa. (Rerekapa, is located in the Moki track area).

The theft of plants was an issue. Many roses were stolen, and it was noted in 1912 that two young rare Mexican Agaves were taken. However, plant donations continued to flood in, including dozens of roses and three seven-foot standard weeping ash trees donated by John Wheeler. An interesting donation came in November 1912 reported in the TDN:

“The Pukekura Park Board has secured a number of fine specimens of the Para Tawhiti, commonly known as the horseshoe fern. Mr. S Percy-Smith says that this species of fern was probably introduced into New Zealand by the natives when they migrated here. They were, he thinks originally called “Para,” at Tawhiti, but were designated Para Tawhiti in New Zealand, meaning “the Para of Tawhiti.” This particular fern is fast becoming extinct, and the board thought it would be wise to secure some specimens before it completely died out. At its meeting last night a vote of thanks was accorded Messrs. Sole Bros., who secured the ferns from the natives.”
TDN, November 5,1912.

This gift of king ferns may be the nucleus of the current King Fern Gully/Dell.

Some of the donations in 1913 included; Mr. H. Nicholson, of Maryborough, Queensland plant seed; Mr. O. Hoby, of a variety of seeds of African plants and flowering shrubs procured from the curator of the public gardens, Bulawayo, South Rhodesia; Native plants from Tolaga Bay plus many more plants from New Zealand.

In an update at the 1914 AGM Smith said:

“The beds on the lawn and the rose bed had made vigorous growth during the year. The flax bed contained 34 varieties of native flax, all flourishing well. All the Senecios and Olearias received from Kaitaia in the far north, and those from an altitude of 3000 to 5000 feet on the mountains of the West Coast of the South Island, and from the Chatham Islands had flourished vigorously side by side.” TH, May 19, 1914.

Smith started developing Sunken Dell in 1914. The stream running through it was widened and two dozen tree ferns, using four species were planted on the banks of the dell. A lawn was also sown in the dell. Some of the donations in 1914 included; Mr K. Webster, Oregon pine (Douglas Fir) and white pine seed, obtained from a lumberman in the United States of America; Mr. A. Coxhead, of Tongapōrutu, parcel of native plants and native tree seeds; Miss Devenish, collection of azaleas including azalea mollis; Mr. Morshead, fine collection of bulbs; Mr. Arthur Cox, of Tongapōrutu, packets of seeds; Mr. Cock, three dozen tree ferns, comprising three species. Nine were 3ft in height, and the others smaller, but all are very healthy plants; Mr Hanreght, of Taumarunui, package of royal fern and other plants; Mr. Wm. Arthur, parcel of trees and shrubs from the mountain; Mr W. T. Adams, of Greendale, Canterbury, sent ten packets of American tree seeds.

In 1915, the black beech, Nothofagus solandri, at the entrance to Fountain Lake was planted. It was donated to the Park by Mr Morshead, a New Plymouth nurseryman.

The collection of roses was bolstered further in 1915 with a donation of 10 plants from Duncan & Davies. They also donated another 180 trees and shrubs at the same time, which probably included the Judas tree, Cercis siliquastrum, which is a standout feature specimen and the parapara or bird catcher tree, Pisonia brunoniana, that also used to grow at Palm Lawn. Other plants donated included, kourcroya (Furcraea foetida), new varieties of native flax, six new species of water lilies and seeds from the Agricultural Department, Hawaii.

A note from 1915 mentioned the removal of several pine trees, cut up for firewood.

In 1916 there was a native tree planting near the John Street entrance (Horton Walk). Donations that year included; Garden seeds from the curator of the Public Gardens at Colombo (Ceylon); trees and seeds from Paraguay; plant seeds by exchange form the Botanic Gardens of Calcutta; box of New Zealand orchids collected in the Ruahine bush and, Australian plant seeds brought back from New South Wales by Mr. C. List.

The first palms in Palm Lawn were planted in 1917. They were supplied by Clement Wragge of Auckland. In 1916 Wragge had visited New Plymouth as part of a speaking tour and had commented on the fact that Pukekura Park would benefit from a planting of palm trees. The Board must have heeded his advice and ordered some from him. Wragge owned Waiata Subtropical Gardens which was a well-known visitor attraction. It is believed there are four trees from that planting that that still survive in the Park. Two cabbage-tree palms, Livistona australis; one kentia palm, Howea forsteriana and one cliff date palm, Phoenix rupicola. A rose pergola was constructed near the sportsground. Nurseryman, Mr Morshead donated 16 climbing roses for it.

Donations received during 1917 included, some well grown plants, natives of the Chatham Islands, native plant seeds from Ohakune, packets of seed from Christchurch and a parcel of seeds from the Mōkau district.

Work carried out in 1918 included clearing the front of Cannon Hill and planting it with tree ferns and rarer native plants and planting out the west side of Cannon Hill. The Board decided to make a fernery which Smith prepared. He then visited Whangamōmona and found rare specimens of native ferns to plant. At the time it was thought that there were about sixty-four native ferns in Taranaki and about a half of these could be found in the Park.

In April 1919 it was reported that:

“There is at present to be seen at Pukekura Park the rare sight of banana trees in bloom. These are not the ordinary fruiting variety, but belong to the Abyssinian kind, which grow in great profusion in the vicinity of the Nile. Those in the Park have been grown from seed, which was planted about seven years ago. The blooms which three of the trees have thrown are really magnificent specimens. The trees are now twelve feet in height and are situated just north of the lower lake. Some Fijian bananas were planted, but the severity of the past winter killed them.”
TH, April 3, 1919.

Donations received in 1919 included: seeds of rare Japanese trees; seeds of Australian gum trees; native plant seeds, which were sown in the bush on the east side of the upper lake; seeds of quintonia; ferns from the Bay of Islands and six new varieties of hydrangeas.

In 1920 a box hedge around the main lake was removed. The banks of the lakes were replanted with tree ferns and flowering cherries. Donations included: flowering shrubs; azaleas; collection of trees and a hundred young fan palms; dozen hydrangeas; bulbs and dahlia tubers.

Between 1920 and 1924 the Park was without a proper curator and very little planting was done. However, Charles Score Sanders planted a rhododendron dell in 1922, in what is now Primula Dell. He planted 70 varieties of rhododendrons which he supplied at no cost to the Park. A bed of Japanese irises donated by Newton King were planted near the new rhododendron dell.

Thomas Horton arrived in the second half of 1924. One of the first things he did was plant out a thousand young trees in a nursery, nearly all of these were natives. His other task was to clear the area around the site of the new fernery, removing all large trees that may cause problems. 38 pines,18 oak and sycamore were removed. About 300 trees and plants were replanted in some of the cleared area. This planting included the avenue of kauri, rimu and tōtara that are either side of Horton Walk. Some of these trees and plants were donated by Francis Morshead, Duncan & Davies and Mr. Bridgeman.

A weeping elm was donated by John Wheeler, of Vogeltown. It was planted on Huges Walk at the junction where the waterfall is today. The tree was subsequently relocated to the Band Room Lawn in 1969 when the waterfall was built.

In 1925 Horton planted the Gilbert Street frontage. This part of Gilbert Street had just been reclaimed. Until 1922 there was a 10m deep gully across Gilbert Street that the Pukekura stream ran through. kōwhai, tōtara, rimu, karaka, cabbage tree, miro, rewarewa and holly were included in this planting many of which still exist today. Pōhutukawas were planted on the John Street (Horton Walk) extension and a Camellia japonica was planted next to Sequoiadendron giganteum near old curator’s office. Other plantings during the year included, Asplenium tenibrosum sanderii, Pteris comans(very rare), Colensoa sinclairii and Melicope ternata var. mantellii (Chatham Islands).

Some pōhutukawa’s were planted on the eastern side of the Sports Ground in 1926 as well as coastal redwood, Sequoia sempervirens on Cannon Hill, donated by F. Cowling. The Norfolk Island hibiscus, Lagunaria pattersonii and tulip tree, Liriodndronn tulipifera near the pavilion were probably planted in 1926. The major development this year was the beginning of construction of the Fernery. Collecting ferns was ramped up as it was the intention to have as many different types as possible. Fortunately, many people got involved and sent plants from all over the country.

The main focus of 1927 was the planting of ferns in the Fernery, which started in June. By August 1071 ferns had been put in. As the Fernery was constructed the Fred Parker Lawn and Stainton Dell areas were developed and landscaped. A Japanese maple donated by Mr Aldridge was planted at Fred Parker Lawn. The Stainton Dell lower pond islands were planted with rimu, kauri and Hall’s tōtara. Dicksonia fibrosa tree ferns from Tarata were planted around the Stainton Dell pond and a canna lily bed was planted on the Fred Parker Lawn.

The Fernery was opened in January 1928 at which time it had over two thousand ferns of one hundred and fifty varieties. There were also a lot of begonias in the Fernery occupying spaces reserved for more ferns. Other plants in the Fernery included bouvardias, cinerarias, calceolarias, trailing lobelia, gloxinia and primulas. More ferns came in during the year and in September it was noted that:

“The fern collection now comprised 112 recognised species and varieties, besides many local variations of the types which had been collected and sent in by interested collectors.”
TDN, September 20, 1928.

Following is a list of ferns established in the Fernery by September 1928

Ref: The Magazine of the Friends of Pukekura Park, June 2009, page 3.

Hymenophyllum sanguinolentum, villosum, australe, pulcherrimum, dilatatum, demissum, flabellatum; Trichomanes reniforme, venosum, strictum, elongatum; Loxsoma cunninghamii; Dicksonia squarrosa, fibrosa, lanata; Cyathea dealbata, medullaris, cunninghamii; Hemitelia smithii; Polystichum sylvaticum, richardi, cystostegia, hispidum, adiantiforme; Dryopteris decomposita, glabella, velutina, punctata, pennigera, parasitica, gongylodes; Nephrolepis cordifolia, exaltata; Leptolepia novae-zealandiae; Davallia tasmani; Lindsaya linearis, viridis, cuneata, cuneata var. lessonii; Athyrium umbrosum; Diplazium japonicum; Asplenium flabellifolium, trichomanes, adiantoides, obtusatum, lucidum, lucidum var. obliquum, scleroprium, anomodum, hookerianum, hookerianum var. colensoi, bulbiferum, bulbiferum var. laxum, bulbiferum var. tripinnatum, richardi, flaccidum; Blechnum patersoni, discolor, vulcanicum, norfolkianum, lanceolatum, banksii, penna-marina, capense, filiforme, nigrum, fluviatile, fraseri; Doodia media, caudata; Pellaea falcata, rotundifolia; Nothochlaena distans; Cheilanthes tenuifolia, sieberi; Hypolepis tenuifolia, millefolium, distans; Adiantum aethiopicum, diaphanum, diaphanum var. polymorphum, hispidulum, formosum, affine, fulvum; Pteris tremula, comans, macilenta, macilenta var. pendula, macilenta var. saxatilis; Histiopteris incisa; Pteridium aquilinum; Paesia scaberula; Polypodium billardieri, grammitidis, dictyopteris, pustulatum, novae-zealandiae; Cyclophorus serpens; Gleichenia circinata, dicarpa, cunninghamii, flabellata; Schizaea fistulosa, dichotoma; Lygodium articulatum; Todea barbara; Leptopteris hymenophylloides, superba; Marattia fraxinea; Botrychium australe, australe var. millefolium.

Donations in 1928 included: 10 varieties of metrosideros and a large banana tree.

In 1929 a rockery was made outside the Fernery entrance, including the Chamaecyparis obtusa ‘Nana Aurea’. Many of the plants for the rockery came from Mr & Mrs Wheeler. Some rhododendrons were added to the dell, sourced by Thomas Horton on his 1928 visit to the UK as part of the NZ bowls team. The plants came from the old nursery firm Waterer & Son’s. The kauri tree in the Fred Parker Lawn was planted on October 17, 1929, by the Mayor, H. V. S. Griffith’s, to commemorate handover of the administrative control and title deeds of the Park from the “Pukekura Park Board” to the New Plymouth Borough Council. Forty-seven pōhutukawas were planted in the region of the Rogan Steet Car Park and more were planted near the sportsground. Horton also planted another 800 pōhutukawas in a nursery.

When the Victoria Road curator’s house was built in 1930, six old pine trees were removed from the hillside below. The gap was filled with the following list of trees published in the Taranaki Herald on October 2, 1931:

One Ackama rosaefolia (Makamaka), one Alectryon excelsum (Titoki), one Aristotelia racemosa (Makomako), three Brachyglottis rangiora (Rangiora), one Clianthus puniceus alba, three Coprosma baueri (Taupata), six Coprosma robusta (Karamu), two Cordyline australis (Cabbage tree), two Correa alba, one Corokia lineata, one Corokia buddleoides, four Corynocarpus laevigata (Karaka), one Dacrydium colensoi (Silver pine), two Dacrydium cupressinum (Rimu), one Dacrydium intermedium (Mountain Pine), one Dracophyllum strictum (Nei-nei), one Fuchsia excorticata purpurea, one Helichrysum glomeratum, three Hoheria populnea (Houhere), three Leptospermum nichollsii, one Libocedrus bidwillii (Pahautea), six Macropiper excelsum (Kawakawa), one Melicytus lanceolatus (Mahoewhau), one Melicytus simplex, one Melicytus micranthus, two Myrtus bullata (Ramarama), two Myrtus obcordata (Rohutu), two Myrtus obcordata ‘Purpurea’, six Nothopanax arborea (Five-finger), three Olearia greyii, two Olearia nitida, one Olearia haastii, one Olearia ilicifolia, two Olearia oleifolia, one Panax daviesii, one Phebalium nudum (Mairehau), one Phyllocladus alpinus (Toatoa), one Phyllocladus glaucus, two Phyllocladus trichomanoides (Tanekaha), one Pisonia brunoniana, one Pimelia decubata (Taranga), one Pittosporum crassifolium (Karo), six Pittosporum eugenoides (Tarata), one Pittosporum dallii, one Pittosporum nigrescens, one Podocarpus totara, one Pomaderris apetala (Tainui), one Pomaderris rugosa, three Pseudopanax crassifolium (Lancewood), one Pseudopanax discolor, one Pseudopanax ferox, one Pseudopanax lessonii (Houpara), one Quintinia serrata (Tawheowheo), one Rhopalostylis sapida (Nikau), two Senecio greyii, two Senecio rotundifolia, one Senecio bidwillii, one Senecio remotifolius, one Sideroxylon costata, one Senecio buchananii, one Meryta sinclairii (Puka), ten Sophora tetraptera (Kowhai), twenty-two Cyathea medullaris (Mamaku), six Dicksonia fibrosa (Weki-ponga). Total, 146. The following exotic trees and plants are planted amongst the above: Three Fagus purpurea (Copper Beech), one Waratah, one Koelreuteria paniculata, one Banksia menziesii, two Thuja gigantea, one Chamaerops excelsa, one Musa ensete, one Retinospora obtusa, one Retinospora crippsii aurea. These make the total 158 trees on this open face, besides a few ornamental and flowering shrubs.

Other planting in 1930 included: pōhutukawa’s and assorted natives along the Brooklands Road boundary of the Park following the removal of pines. Planting of the tōtara hedge, sequoia near the old Croquet green. Also, Thuja gigantea, kauri and pōhutukawa along Rogan Street behind Stainton Dell.

In 1931 Horton turned his attention to King Fern Gully and the hill at the top of the gully (Claffey Walk). The gully which was basically a raupo swamp was cleared. The hill above was planted with many trees including pōhutukawas and karakas. The site of the old cottage, which was also the site of Carrington Road Redoubt was planted with seventy assorted trees and one hundred tōtara (for a hedge). The hedge is on Victoria Road north of 25 Victoria Road. Eighty hydrangeas comprising about 40 varieties were planted around Stainton Dell. Hydrangeas are still a feature there today. Horton reported that five-hundred native trees had been planted out in August.

A list of exotic trees growing in the Park was published in October 1931:

“318 pinus insignis, 35 cupressus macrocarpa, 60 English oaks, 60 sycamore, 18 European silver birch, 12 poplars, 60 Japanese cherries, 150 benthamia fragrifera, 5 wellingtonia gigantea, 5 criptomeria japonica, 30 sequoia semprevirens, 6 cupressus lawsoniana, 10 English ash, cypress of sorts including goberniana, knightiana, mcnabiana, and horizontatis, thuja gigantia, alder, plane, copper beech, Oregon pine, evergreen oak, salisburia adiantifolia, scarlet oak, maple, paulonia imperialis, acacias of sorts, English yew,lauris nobites, English laurel, Canadian catalpa, and several others. A total of 997 exotic trees.” TH, October 1, 1931.

Notable planting in 1932 included; the planting of twenty two mainly native trees on the site of the original curator’s cottage (near No. 25 Victoria Road) as a way to celebrate the 21st anniversary of the formation of the Girl Guide movement; Planting of a shelter belt of Quercus ilex alongside the croquet green and tennis courts on Victoria Road; Planting of trees on the old maze site; Planting the area directly behind the teahouse with native trees; The planting of forty King ferns in King Fern Gully; Planting of tall growing conifers on hill tops with varieties such as, Araucaria heterophylla, Calocedrus decurrens, Cupressus macrocarpa ‘Aurea’ and Pinus nigra subsp. laricio (Monument Hill, Eastern Hillside, Claffey Walk, Victoria Road); Planting on the brow of the hill above the rhododendrons and azaleas (Stainton Dell), 100 tōtaras, 86 coprosma and 15 assorted native trees. During the year approximately nine hundred trees were planted.

A newspaper article described the Rhododendron Dell as follows:

The rhododendron dell in Pukekura Park, situated towards the racecourse from the fernery, is very beautiful at present, and is well worth a visit. Most of the rhododendron bushes are in flower. In about three weeks, it is stated, the dell will be at its best, with almost every bush in full flower. With 135 bushes, comprising 110 varieties, nearly all of slightly different shades and all in half an acre of ground, it can well be imagined that the dell will indeed be a glorious sight. Some of the bushes are in full flower. In particular, there are two large white bushes of the Alba Grandiflora variety. It is seven years since work in the Rhododendron Dell was commenced. Half the dell was then planted but it was not until three years ago that the work was completed. In 1928, Mr. Horton made a trip to England and during his visit procured many rare varieties of rhododendron. Countess of Haddington (shell pink), Pink Perle (deep pink), White Perle (white), George Hardy (a glorified White Perle, a new and rare variety) are some of those purchased by Mr. Horton and just now coming to bloom. The dell is Mr. Horton’s own special charge and is seldom touched by other members of the staff. TDN, October 6, 1932.

The main plantings in 1933 included; a pōhutukawa hedge along the eastern boundary of Fillis Street; Planting of kauri trees in the Fillis Street Gully Botanical Reserve (Kindergarten Gully) and pōhutukawas on the ridge top to the east of the Sports Ground; the Fountain Lake island was planted with tree ferns and azaleas donated by Duncan & Davies. Seventy pungas were planted in the gaps around Fountain Lake and the Lily Pond after they had been desilted.

A highlight of 1934 was the planting of a kauri, Agathis australis, at the south end of what is now Hatchery Lawn on the 6^th of April by Mr R. C. Hughes, to commemorate his 60 years of service to the Park on the Park committee. Unfortunately, the tree died in the mid-1950s due to the wet nature of the site. The planting of the present-day Rhododendron Dell was started in 1934 and completed over the next two years.

Brooklands became part of the Park in 1934 and Horton didn’t waste any time in planting a shelter belt on the western boundary of Brooklands. He planted 925 trees which included 250 cupressus lawsoniana, 340 assorted native, 35 thuja gigantea, 200 macrocarpa and 100 pōhutukawa.

In 1935, 500 macrocarpa were planted in Brooklands as shelter trees and 200 lawsoniana were planted as shelter trees in Maranui Gully.

Fillis Street Botanical Reserve

In 1931 Thomas Horton identified the Fillis Street gully as an area to develop a complete collection of native trees. Clearing started in 1931 and was ready for planting by November 1932. The go-ahead to start planting was given in April 1934 and planting started September with some plants being put in temporary beds. In September 1935 Horton noted:

“ self, Arthur planting trees in Fillis St gully & nursery, Kauris etc”. Horton’s Diary 2-4 Sept 1935.

A few days later he reported that the collection of rare Native trees presented had been planted in their permanent position in the Fillis Street gully, after having been in the nursery for a year. In February 1936, it was noted that:

“In the Fillis Street Botanic Reserve 96 trees, mostly rare varieties of natives, and forming the nucleus of a botanic collection, have already been planted. These trees have mainly been donated to the committee exclusively for this purpose. The plan calls for the planting of a further 850 native trees in this section.” TH, February 26, 1936.

The trees planted were on the east side of the gully. Planting was paused because it was considered not advisable to further plant the Fillis Street gully while a row of pines (Pinus radiata) was still existent along the top of its western side. There were 14 pines along the west edge of the gully which were eventually removed around September 1936. Planting resumed in April 1937. In August 1937 Horton reported that during the recent planting season, 650 native trees were planted in the new botanic reserve at Fillis Street.

In 1940 Horton gave a summary of the Fillis Street reserve planting:

“The planting of this reserve was started in 1935 and completed last year. The area comprises approximately four acres and is set apart as a botanical reserve for native trees and plants. Here we have planted not less than two each of all native trees, but the collection does not include alpine, rockery and bog plants. There are about 1200 trees and over 200 varieties. These trees are doing well. Cultivation has now ceased. When these trees have sufficiently developed, it is proposed to make suitable paths through them to give easy access to every part, and also attach name plates to all the trees. It will be essential to provide a suitable entrance to the reserve from Fillis Street. These matters need not be done immediately but must not be overlooked; probably the work should be done in about three years’ time.” TH, May 15, 1940.

Unfortunately, the work necessary to maintain and fully develop the Fillis Street reserve was not done. Several of the Park’s staff went off to serve their country during the war. This caused. the Park to decline during the 1940s. This area in particular suffered badly from a lack of attention and never recovered. Today only a small number of the trees remain from this plantation.

Kauri Grove

At the Park committee meeting in May 1935 the question of the ultimate use of Brooklands land at the rear of the cottages was discussed. It was decided to obtain a report from Horton on the advisability of planting the whole area in native major trees. Horton presented a report at the Park’s committee meeting on 13/8/1935, stating:

“There is a very large area (from 30 to 40 acres) of native bush in Pukekura Park, comprising mostly all those dwarf and medium growing varieties such as are common in the native bush of this coast, and growing amongst them are only a few of the principal timber trees. We have practically every variety of timber tree, but only in small numbers, and there are more kohekohe than any other variety. The idea of planting an area in all our best timber trees is an excellent one in my opinion, and I strongly urge that it be done, especially in view of the fact that every variety does well in the Park and no experimental planting will be necessary. There is no doubt that a plantation such as this would be of intense interest to generations to come. I do not know of any area embracing these varieties ever having been planted in any part of the Dominion before. You will notice that in my list of trees given below I have suggested more than double the number of kauris than any other variety. My reason for this is that, although this tree does not grow naturally south of the Auckland province, those that have been planted here have done remarkably well. Considering all the facts, I have no hesitation in recommending that kauris be made the special feature of the new plantation if the scheme is adopted. After a careful survey of all the Park lands, I find that an area fronting Brooklands Road would be the most suitable site. This area is eminently suitable for such a project and could be prepared for planting in1936.” TH, August 14, 1935.

Horton’s proposal was for – 250 each of white pine, tōtara, rimu, mataī, pūriri; 125 each of birch, hīnau, maire, kohekohe, yellow pine, miro; 625 of kauri. A total of 2750 to be planted out in 22 rows each of 125 trees. Also 200 lawsoniana for shelter.

The Board members visited the proposed site in September 1935. The scheme was given their full approval, but they wanted a larger area planted than Horton was proposing.

Fencing and other preparatory work started in April 1936. Fencing was necessary as the proposed plantation bordered private property. Preparation for planting the new forest reserve was the principal work being done when the Board met in June. Horton reported that a good deal of draining had been required to get water off low-lying portions, and there was still much grubbing, digging, and fencing to be done. At the July committee meeting Horton advised that most of the first section of the scheme would be ready for planting the following week. Part of the boundary fence between Brooklands and adjoining private properties had been erected through the centre of a very wet, swampy area which it had been necessary to drain.

The first trees were planted in the new forest plantation on August 5, 1936, which was Arbor Day. Further plantings took place there throughout August. Horton reported to the Park Board at its September meeting that planting of the new native forest area had been completed. We learn from his work diary, under 9/9/1936, that the following 2245 trees had been planted:

“350 Kauri; 50 Titoki; 50 Taraire; 100 Rimu; 25 Hinau; 25 Porokaiwhiri; 25 Rewarewa; 25 Pukatea; 50 Mangaeho; 200 Pohutukawa; 200 Ngaio; 100 Red Beech; 50 Silver Beech; 25 Maire; 10 Toru; 50 Tanekaha; 200 White Pine; 100 Matai; 150 Totara; 50 Tawapou; 200 Kowhai; 10 Puriri; 25 Towai; 100 Lawsoniana; 75 Thuja plicata”. Horton’s Diary, September 9, 1936.

The Borough Council was so pleased with the project that it voted £500 towards the expense, to be spread over four years. A gift of £250 towards the carrying out of the work was made by the Bruce Trust. Trees to the value of £106/15/- were planted, of which the Park nursery supplied plants to the value of £43/5/-. The total cost of labour, trees and fencing was approximately £300. All the swamp area which was drained early in the winter months was dug and planted in white pines. On the high range above the plantation a row of pōhutukawa trees was planted to make the eastern shelter belt. Lawsoniana trees were also planted on the southern side for shelter.

Horton advised the Park Committee in April 1937 that the native forest plantation was in good order. About 50 trees needed to be replaced. In mid-June 1937, a fence at the corner of Brooklands Road was removed in readiness to extend the planting of the plantation, digging for trees on the extension area was finished by the end of June 1937, and planting took place there during August 1937. Horton advised the Park Committee at its August meeting that 360 native timber trees had been planted in the extension area.

Planting of the forest extension area was continued in July and August 1938. Horton noted in his work diary (9/9/1936), that the following 1570 trees were planted in the extension area in 1937/38 – “150 kauri; 100 rimu; 25 hīnau; 100 rewarewa; 25 pukatea; 200 pōhutukawa; 100 maire; 50 tānekaha; 100 white pine; 150 tōtara; 500 kōwhai; 20 pūriri; 50 lawsoniana”. Horton added these trees retrospectively to his 1936 diary entry to give an overall count of the forest planting from 1936 to 1938.

In 1940 Horton wrote a brief summary of the planting at the Brooklands plantation:

“The area is approximately 10 acres. The total number of trees planted is 3815. The varieties include all the principal native timber trees. The Matai are not doing as well as most of the kinds. The totara, rimu, hinau, rewarewa and kauri are making particularly good growth, and also the white pines planted in the swamp areas. In the first area planted the height of the trees ranges from three to nine feet, the average being about four feet six inches. It is definitely established that the Kauri can be grown successfully here, for out of 500 in this reserve we have had scarcely a failure, and though only planted three years, many are six feet high and are very strong and healthy.” TH, May 15, 1940.

Following is a list of the trees planted in the Brooklands plantation from 1935 – 1938:

500 kauri; 50 tītoki; 50 taraire; 200 rimu; 50 hīnau; 25 porokaiwhiri; 125 rewarewa; 50 Pukatea; 50 mangaeho; 400 pōhutukawa; 200 ngaio; 100 red beech; 50 silver beech; 125 maire; 10 toru; 100 tānekaha; 300 white pine; 100 mataī; 300 tōtara; 50 tawāpou; 700 kōwhai; 30 pūriri; 25 towhai; 150 lawsoniana; 75 thuja plicata. Total 3815.

Rhododendron Dell

In 1933 Charles Score sanders bequeathed £350 to Pukekura Park for the specific purpose of creating a rhododendron dell. The dell was planted out in 1936 to the west of the Serpentine. Since 1936 many of the plants have been moved and the collection added to, and today the Rhododendron Dell extends south to the Bowl of Brooklands.

589 plants were ordered. 216 were imported from W. C. Slocock Ltd., in England. The remainder came from NZ growers, Duncan & Davies, A. H. Goudie and Edgar Stead.

The imported plants included hybrids such as ‘Armistice Day ‘, ‘Loderi Pink Diamond’, ‘Patience’ and ‘White Diamond’, ‘Countess of Derby’, ‘Cornubia’, Louis Pasteur’and ‘Betty Wormald’. Slococks’ also provided some free of charge plants which included: ‘Beauty of Littleworth’, Goldsworth Crimson’, Pink and Yellow’, ‘Mount Everest’, Vicountess of Elveden’, ‘Faggetters Favourite’ and ‘Alice Martineau.

The plants provided by local nurseryman A. H. Goudie included: ‘Blue Peter’, ‘Earl of Athlone’, ‘Mars’, ‘Pink Delight’, ‘Unique’ and ‘Glory of Bagshot’, while the Duncan & Davies collection included: ‘Ivery’s Scarlet’,’Loder’s White’, ‘Mrs Charles Pearson’, Unknown Warrior’, R. arboreum rubrum and R. griffithianum, while the Edgar Stead collection included R. delavayii, R. decorum x arboreum hybrids and R. falconeri.

Excluding Fillis Street Reserve and Kauri Grove, Horton planted 160 lawsoniana and 250 macrocarpas in 1937 to protect the native bush in the gully running towards Avenue Road corner and Upjohn Street. At the back of the old orchard site at Brooklands 550 Pinus radiata were planted behind the old pine plantation, 40 white pines had been put in the swamp ground near the rhododendrons. Around the lake and in other parts of Pukekura Park 165 tree ferns were planted.

In 1939 Horton donated a copper beech (twelve year old) which he planted at the bottom of the Bowl of Brooklands hill. The tree was dug up and moved in 1957 when the Bowl was constructed and replanted at the bottom of the road going down to the Bowl. Unfortunately, the tree split a few years ago and had to be removed. The Park imported 26 new varieties of hydrangeas from England which were planted out in the rhododendron dell.

The Park Committee decided that the location of the tennis courts was required to plant a shelter belt and suggested that the club be relocated to Brooklands behind the Gables. To give the proposed site protection Horton planted 250 natives in a double row of five chains (100m) in length.

The next major planting was 1942 when a number of tōtara and Lawson cypress were planted in an area of one and a half acres of land next to Kaimata Street. This land had previously been let for grazing. Horton noted in his diary:

July 22, “Planted trees at Brooklands.”; July 23, “Men finishing off the trees at Brooklands.”; July 26, “List of trees planted 22nd & 23rd at Brooklands Kaimata St.” The trees listed are: 106 lawsoniana, 5 years old, 5s each, £26; 20 lawsoniana, 3 years old, 10s, 40 Podocarpus totara, 5 years old, 4s each, £8; 40 kowhai, 4 years old, 2s 6d each, £8; 24 Rewarewa, @ 2s 9d each, £3 6s.

He also noted that four men did the job in 2.5 days. Some of these trees can be seen next to the Ambush Gully nature walk.

In June 1943 Horton reported that 250 trees were planted including mangeao, tōtara, white pine, native cedars, tōwai, rewarewa and kōwhai.

In 1946 a large macrocarpa on the bank below the curator’s house fell landing across Hatchery Lawn, bringing down a 120ft poplar and damaging a rimu and the Moreton Bay fig. For safety reasons another three large poplars and two macrocarpas were removed. The area was replanted with pōhutukawas, rimus, kōwhais, miros and tree ferns.

When the Sanders Rhododendron Dell was planted, 257 plants were put in spaced 6ft apart. The intention was to move some of them a few years later. Unfortunately, due to the outbreak of war the Park was short staffed, and the move was delayed. It was done in 1947 by which time some of the trees weighed half a ton. About 80 trees were moved, all manually. In the same year the Park was told that it would have to cut down about 30 large pine trees along Victoria and Brooklands Roads because of the installation new telephone toll lines between New Plymouth and Wellington. The removal happened in 1949.

In preparation for the construction of the lady’s pavilion in 1949 nine pine trees were removed from the hill behind the pavilion and towards the top of the southern terrace. It was replanted with tall growing trees given to the Park by the New Plymouth Horticultural Society.

An Arbor Day occurred soon after Jack Goodwin took over the role of Park curator in 1949. It was arranged by Victor Davies and the North Taranaki Branch of the Royal New Zealand Institute of Horticulture. The site chosen was the top of the ridge between Horton’s 1924 plantings on Horton Walk and southern terraces of the Sportsground. Trees planted included natives such as kauri, Agathis australis; pūriri, Vitex lucens; rimu, Dacrydium cupressinum and exotics such as; Norfolk Island pine, Araucaria heterophylla; Caucasian fir, Abies nordmanniana; deodar cedar, Cedrus deodara; Japanese cedar, Cryptomeria japonica and Holm Oak, Quercus ilex.

Bicycle Tree

By the path on the Children’s Playground side of the bridge by the Waterwheel there is a well-formed kauri with an unusual story. In 1943 the Parks Department gave the tree to Mr Norton who lived on Brougham Street. He planted the tree in his garden and some years later realised that it was going to end up being too big, so he offered it back to the Park in 1949 just after Jack Goodwin took over as curator. Without a truck to transport the tree Jack had to improvise. He and his assistant Alois Schonbachler strapped the tree between two bicycles and pushed it back to the Park and successfully planted it in its current location where it thrives today.

Some of the planting in the 1950s included; tupelo, Nyssa sylvatica, planted in Primula and Sunken Dell in 1951, for its coloured autumn foliage display; redwoods and Cryptomeria were planted near the List Street entrance in 1952/3; In 1955, the Azalea Dell( Goodwin Dell ) was planted out; planting of the first dawn redwoods, Metasequoia glyptostroboides in Sunken Dell and on the main lake island; taraire, Beilschmedia tarairi, northern rata, Metrosideros robusta, miro, Prumnopitys ferruginea, narrow-leaved maire, Nestegis montana, toru, Toronia toru and kawaka, Libocedrus plumosa were planted by Claffey Walk at the back of King Fern Gully; also in 1955 pōhutukawas were planted at Kaimata Street frontage.

Victoria Road Arboretum

This is the area of the Park fronting onto Victoria Road, from the car park to the Shortland Street entrance. It was identified as an area necessary as a shelter belt so that the aging pines on the western slopes below could be removed. The main planting occurred between 1953 and 1955, after the tennis courts had been removed. Trees that remain today from that planting include: peppermint tree, Agonis flexuosa; deodar cedar, Cedrus deodara; white bottle brush, Callestemon salignus; cabbage tree, Cordyline australis; Monterey cypress, Cupressus macrocarpa ‘Aurea’; smooth Arizona cypress, Cupressus arizonica var. glabra; blueberry ash, Elaeocarpus reticulatus; Suriname cherry, Eugenia uniflora (syn Eugenia myrtifolia); spindle tree, Euonymus lucidus (syn Euonymus pendulus); Hill’s silky oak, Grevillea hilliana; macadamia nut, Macadamia tetraphylla; Kermadec pōhutukawa, Metrosideros kermadecensis; coastal kōwhai, Sophora chathamica; west coast kōwhai, Sophora fulvida (syn Sophora microphylla var fulvida); Queensland fire wheel tree, Stenocarpus sinuatus; western redcedar, Thuja plicata.

Other trees were added later, some of which remain, they include: 1962, Red flowering gum, Corymbia ficifolia (syn Eucalyptus ficifolia); Norfolk Island hibiscus, Lagunaria pattersonii; 1983, tītoki, Alectryon excelsa; rimu, Dacydium cupressinum; wharangi, Melicope ternate; 2004, Norfolk Island pine, Araucaria heterophylla.

In 1956, the Victoria Road Camellia collection was integrated into the native planting from 1930 on the hillside below the curator’s house. This collection had additional plantings in 1968 and again in 1990. Also, in July 1956 Central School students helped with an Arbor Day planting in Kintergarten Gully at which trees planted included kaikōmako, Penantia corymbosa, ewekuri, Streblus banksia, white maire, Nestegis lanceolata and silver beech, Nothofagus menziesii.

In 1958 Central School students aided with another Arbour day planting, this time on the azalea bank near the first lily pond in Stainton Dell. A number of the azalea varieties planted that day still flourish in Stainton Dell.

The Stainton Dell Magnolia Collection was planted in 1959; the source of the collection was Duncan & Davies. Other plantings in 1959 included planting of the bank between the Band Room Lawn and Fernery (Frethey’s Bank); further development of Goodwin Dell; planting of conifers on Cannon Hill.

In 1959-1960 a collection of conifers were planted on Monument Hillside and planting of deciduous azaleas and Cornus kousa on Rhododendron Dell hillside.

The first of the Brookland conifers were planted in late August 1961 near the bridge over the lake. They included a hinoki cypress, Chamaecyparis obtusa ‘Tetragona Aurea’, and some Northern cedar, Thuja ocidentalis ‘Pyramidalis’. The latter were removed around 2000 or 2001 but the chamaecyparis is still going strong.

During the following month, September 1961, the Pinetum was planted up with a collection of pine species, many of which came from the Christchurch Botanical Gardens. The Christchurch collection included one of each of the following: Japanese red pine, Pinus densiflora, Pinus densiflora ‘Globosa’, mountain pine, Pinus mugo, Pinus mugo subsp mughus, black pine, Pinus nigra, ponderosa pine, Pinus ponderosa (mistakenly thought to be Pinus armandii), red pine, Pinus resinosa, chir pine, Pinus roxburghii (syn Pinus palustris), Japanese black pine, Pinus thunbergii and mountain pine, Pinus uncinata (syn Pinus mugo rostrata). A Mr Collins from Dannevirke was another source of plants, supplying three Pinus densiflora and three Pinus thunbergii; Duncan & Davies provided a patula pine, Pinus patula; and lastly from an unknown source came a Canary Islands pine, Pinus canariensis. The Pinetum collection from 1961 that you see today is as listed above and, quite amazingly, has lost only two species from the original plantings, a limber pine, Pinus flexilis and a Macedonian pine, Pinus peuce which were both part of the Christchurch Botanical Gardens’ collection of plants. Also in 1961 – Planting of evergreen azaleas on Monument Hillside.

In 1962, Smith Walk Azalea Bed was planted.

Camellias were planted at Shortland Street entrance and on Swan’s Walk in 1963, as well as the initial plantings of the Racecourse Walk Camellia collection.

The western hillside/Scanlan Walk was planted In September 1964 with; kauri, Agathis australis; rimu, Dacrydium cupressinum; miro, Prumnopitys ferruginea; European beech, Fagus sylvatica; Japanese maple, Acer palmatum, for their autumn colour and magnolia’s. This planting followed the removal of thirty three 1870s Pinus radiata the previous year.

In 1965 the foundation of the Park orchid collection was formed with the donation of Cymbidium orchid plants from local horticulturist and nurseryman Mr Fred Parker. The donated collection was named in memory/honour of his wife, Agnes Mary Parker. On the 7th of August 1965, an Arbor Day planting took place at Brooklands, which included the addition of specimen trees around the margins of the Brooklands main lawn and the planting of the camellia hedge that used to be between the Park and the Bowl of Brooklands. It also saw the initial plantings of trees and gardens in the zoo grounds.

The dawn redwood’s, Metasequoia glyptostroboides, and swamp cypress, Taxodium distichum in the Bowl of Brooklands were planted in 1966. The planting concept was the idea/suggestion of Trevor Davies, one of Sir Victor Davies son’s. The trees came from Duncan & Davies Nursery.

When the Band Room was built in 1967 two mature trees had to be relocated. One is the Belmore sentry palm, Howea belmoreana this is at the northern end of the Palm Lawn adjacent to the stream. The other is the weeping elm growing in the middle of the footpath to the north-western end of the Fountain Lake. Other planting in 1967 included; – water lily collection in the Bowl of Brooklands Lake, rhododendrons along Kaimata Street frontage and hebe, olearia and brachyglottis collection along Victoria Road frontage.

The Kaimata Street Camellia Collection was part of a 1968 Arbor Day planting. This was done after the removal of Lawson cypress which formed part of the 1942 shelter belt. The Gables garden development plantings also took place in 1968 as well as the Band Room gardens and Band Room Lawn camellia hedge.

On August the 9th 1969 what was the largest of the Brooklands Arbor Days by area and plant numbers took place. The plantings encompassed the planting of trees in the zoo deer pen (now farmyard) and a camellia collection across the southern boundary of the zoo, following the removal of pines, and the planting of Ambush Gully following the removal of Lawson cypress trees. The Lawson cypress trees that were removed had probably been part of the shelter belts planted by Thomas Horton in 1942.

Sometime in the early 1970s, two plants of Taxodium distchum var imbricarium ‘Nutans’ were inter-planted amongst the existing swamp cypress trees near the Bowl of Brooklands. These trees were the result of grafting by George Fuller, of scion wood from Felix Jury onto swamp cypress, Taxodium distichum rootstock. This form of swamp cypress tree has less droopy branches and foliage and is generally more upright.

In 1971, the Arbor Day project was the planting of the Nature Trail Native Grove, which is located behind the zoo free flight enclosure. This planting included a number of rare or less common plants that are only found in northland or on the offshore islands, such as: Three Kings Islands cabbage tree, Cordyline obtecta (syn. Cordyline kaspar); Three Kings vine or akapukaea, Tecomanthe speciosa and Three Kings kaikōmako, Pennantia baylisiana. Also, makamaka, Ackama rosifolia, and Weinmannia silvicola which both occur naturally together in northland.

A Park centennial planting took place on May 1, 1976. A kauri was planted on the western side of the summit of Cannon Hill by Don Saxton and Alex Brodie, Saxton was a long-time chairman of the Pukekura Park Committee. A ginkgo tree, Ginkgo biloba, was planted near the foot of Cannon Hill, by Fred Parker. A Norfolk Island Pine was planted at the northern end of the summit of Cannon Hill by Denis Sutherland, the Mayor of New Plymouth. A Southern magnolia, Magnolia grandiflora ‘Goliath’ was planted near the outlet of the Fountain Lake, by Councillor, Audrey Gail, Chairperson of the Parks and Recreation Committee, and a linden, Tilia x euchlora, was planted at the southern end of Hatchery Lawn by Mrs Eliot King, the daughter in law of the late Newton King.

A group of trees were planted on 10 September 1978, adjacent to the fence line near the ticket box at the top of the Bowl drive. They are bunya bunya, Araucaria bidwillii, klink pine, Araucaria hunstenii, and Taiwan fir, Cunninghamia konishi. These were raised from seed from Peter B Dow & Company, Gisborne and all share one thing in common – very prickly foliage. Two more klink pine were added in June 2008 to this group of trees.

The original planting of the Traffic Islands at Brooklands was done in 1980 along with the planting of a holly collection on the eastern boundary of the zoo. (The holly collection was subsequently removed for the zoo farmyard redevelopment).

On June 11, 1983, The last and most recent Arbor Day in Pukekura took place, with plantings taking place along Scanlan Walk (Western Hillside), after the removal of last original Pinus radiata from the upper section of this area. It continued on from where the 1964 plantings on this site concluded. An emphasis was placed on plantings of deciduous trees for their autumn colour, such as Japanese maples, Acer palmatum, European beech, Fagus sylvatica, and Persian ironwood, Parrotia persica. The Arbor Day plantings included a revamp of the Shortland Street Entrance with the installation of the stone walls that you see there today and the creation of a scented garden in and around the existing camellias.

In 1991 another deciduous conifer was added into the Bowl collection, namely a Chinese swamp cypress, Glyptostrobus pencilis. This is located near the bridge over the lake on the racecourse side and is peeking its head above the neighbouring Elegia capensis. Glyptostrobus is a monotypic genus native to subtropical south-eastern China and potentially grows up to 30m tall and, like a related genus Taxodium, forms pneumatophores especially if growing in water. In the wild, Glyptostrobus is nearly extinct so it is a good thing that we have this growing as it helps with conservation of the species. This species can also be seen in the Kunming Garden.

In 1992-1993 the Vireya Bank on racecourse Walk was developed and planted. This planting was combination planting of vireya rhododendrons and cycads.

The Japanese Hillside was developed and planted in 1993, on the slope to the west of Hughes Walk after the removal of original 1876 Pinus radiata trees from this area. The hillside was developed and planted in response to requests for a Japanese garden. Seed for the maples and Hinoki cypress were wild sourced in Japan. A collection of Camellia species was added to the Race Course Walk Camellia collection. Also, in 1993 the Brooklands Alder collection and Chinese collection were developed and planted near the Pukekura Tennis Club courts at the Welbourn end of the Park.

As foreseen by Mr Goodwin the skyline pines, Pinus radiata, were removed in 1994, and replacements were planted during the winter of 1995 using a cutting grown forestry clone of Pinus radiata “GF28” sourced from Shem Kerr, Inglewood. The area where the replacement pines were planted was renamed in 2004 as Scanlan Lookout, in honour of A. B. (Brian) Scanlan. Because of his interest in the Park and its history, Scanlan authored Pukekura: A Centennial History of Pukekura Park and Brooklands. (These pines were removed in 2024).

In 1996 the Victoria Road Car Park was developed and planted on what was once part of the grounds of the curator’s house.

In 1997 there was a major landscape redevelopment of the Herbaceous Border at the Fred Parker Lawn, including realignment of the paths and configuration of the border.

The Sanders Rhododendron Dell was extended and planted on the hillside to the west of the Bowl lily lake in 1999, and the pathways on the hillside renamed “Jellyman Walk”. In June that year a Caribbean pine, Pinus caribaea, was added to the pinetum collection. On November 16, 1999, Pinus roxburghii Sarg. (syn. P. longifolia) Long-leaved Indian pine was planted by the Venerable Pong Re Sung Rap Tulku Rinpoche the first Tibetan High Lama born in New Zealand. The tree was supplied by Alan Jellyman and planted on Eastern Hillside. It was grown from seed, supplied by Tony Schilling, sourced in Bhutan. Unfortunately, the tree is no longer there.

The Pinetum was revamped in 2000, repositioning the perimeter fences to increase the capacity of the Bowl. Plantings associated with the revamp included plants such as: Montezuma bald cypress, Taxodium mucronatum; western red cedar, Thuja plicata; hiba, Thujopsis dolobrata and incense juniper, Juniperus thurifera, which were all sourced from the local conifer nursery Cedar Lodge Nurseries. In the same year the Welbourn Chinese collection was expanded with the upgrade of the Coronation Avenue Entrance and the Welbourn Beech Wood was planted. The beech trees coming from the open ground block in the lead up to the closure of the Parks Department nursery.

In June 2001, a monkey puzzle forest was planted on the northern slope below Scanlan Lookout. The forest was the idea of Park manager Bryan Gould and monkey puzzle, Araucaria araucana, was chosen because he wanted to build on the representation of genus Araucaria, already present in the Bowl, and by association outside the Bowl the Norfolk Island pines, Araucaria heterophylla, at Brooklands. In the same year the palm collection was built on with the addition of a number of new genera and species, which include bangalow palm, Arhcontopenix cunninghamiana; Mount Lewis palm, Archontophoenix purpurea; jelly palm, Butia odorata; Himalayan fishtail palm, Caryota maxima ‘Himalaya’; Chinese fishtail palm, Caryota ochlandra; Ecuadorian wax palm, Ceroxylon ventricosum; mountain coconut, Parajubaea cocoides and Bolivian mountain coconut, Parjubaea torallyi. One of the Parajubaea cocoides was planted by New Plymouth Mayor Claire Stewart on 29 May 2001, to commemorate the 125^th anniversary of the Park. Mayor Stewart used the same spade to plant the palm that was used by Miss Jane Carrington to plant the Park’s first trees on 29 May 1876.

The Scanlan Lookout was developed and planted in 2003. The development of this lookout required the removal of some of the Bowl skyline pines planted in 1995. Also, in 2003 the Kaimata Street Frontage border was redeveloped/revamped with the installation of new edging and the planting of dawn redwoods, Metasequoia glyptostroboides amongst the existing rhododendrons.

In 2004-2005, Kunming Garden was developed and planted. This garden was the gift of New Plymouth’s sister City Kunming, in the Yunnan Province of China. All the plants were sourced in NZ. The planting included: Acer garrettii, Acer laurinum, Acer pentaphyllum, Acer salweenense, Bambusa multiplex ‘Wang Tsai’, Camellia ‘Fairy Blush’, Camellia ‘Fairy Wand’, Camellia reticulata ‘Dr Clifford Parks’, Camellia transnokoensis, Cedrella sinensis, Clethera fargesii, Davidia involucrate, Fagus sylvatica, Fargesia nitida, Ginkgo biloba, Glyptostrobus pensilis, Gordonia yunnanensis ‘Moonlight Magic’, Hydrangea heteromalla, Juniperus chinensis, ‘Kaizuka’, Keteleeria evelyniana, Kohlreuteria paniculata, Lagerstromia chekiangensis, Magnolia delavayi, Magnolia denudate, Michelia yunnanensis, Nyssa sinensis, Picea meyer, Pistacia chinensis, Podocarpus macrophyllus, Prunus mume ‘Peggy Clarke’, Radermachera sinica, Raphis excelsa, Sasafras tzuma, Weigelia florida ‘Variegata’, Wisteria sinensis.

Trees were planted on Eastern Hillside in 2007 to commemorate the centenary of the naming of Pukeura Park. The trees included, bunya-bunya, Araucaria bidwillii (alive); Corsican pine, Pinus nigra subsp laricio (alive) and Manchurian fir, Abies holophylla (Deceased). The Monument Hillside conifer collection was revamped in the same year.

The most recent conifer plantings in the Bowl are all situated in or near the Pinetum and occurred during the latter half of the 2000s. The first is a grouping of a dwarf form of the Weymouth pine, Pinus strobus ‘Witch’s Broom’, planted in January 2007, which is situated on the top of the bank directly behind the toilets. The needles on this species have a lovely blue-grey tinge.

The Brooklands herbaceous border (eastern border), and the western border (subsequently renamed the 4 seasons border) were both revamped in 2008.

In 2009 a Mexican weeping pine, Pinus patula was added to the Brooklands pinetum plantation to commemorate the 75^th anniversary of the gifting/handover of Brooklands to the citizens of New Plymouth. It was planted by members of the King family. The Brooklands traffic islands, zoo and “Gables” gardens were revamped.

The latest addition to the pinetum was in June 2010. A chir pine, Pinus roxburghii, which had been planted at Lake Mangamahoe but was not thriving there was relocated to the Park to add to the pinetum collection. It is located on the slope above the drive with the 1961 pines as a backdrop.

In 2012 there was a revamp of the native plant border on Victoria Road, with renewal plantings of brachyglottis, hebe and olearia collection. A second stage of the revamp took place in 2018.

Landscaping and planting of the Kindergarten Gully frontage occurred in 2013, after the installation of new cricket practice nets.

Native plantings in the Children’s Playground environs happened in 2014, this was a joint venture between the Park and STOS (Shell Todd Oil Services) for whom this was a team building day project. In August the Park received a plant of Bodhi/sacred Fig, Ficus religiosa, from the local Sri Lankan Buddhist community. Provenance of the tree; It was propagated from a parent tree in Sri Lanka and was sent/given to the Buddhist temple, Sri Lanka Ramaya in Auckland. The temple distributed plants to various communities, including the local Sri Lankan Buddhist community who planted their plant at a retreat property in Urenui. However, the property on which the retreat was set up was placed on the market and so a new home had to found for the Bodhi tree and it was subsequently gifted to the Park. It was grown for a period of time at the Fernery before eventually being planted out on Eastern Hillside on 6 May 2016. This sacred tree is a focus point for the community who gifted it.

In 2015 the Fills Street Frontage was landscaped & redeveloped, including new retaining walls and plantings of palms and hibiscus.

The Shortland Street entrance was redeveloped and landscaped again in 2017 and the following year the adjacent Victoria Road frontage was redeveloped and landscaped.

There were several trees removed in 2018, including, the last two old pines in Goodwin Dell, two old pines on Eastern Hillside and an Abies religiosa, which had been planted in 1965 was blown over in a storm. The storm coincidentally occurred on the 50^th anniversary of the storm that caused the inter-island ferry Wahine to sink at the entrance to Wellington Harbour and was of similar intensity. A significant event that year was finding myrtle rust for the first time.

In 2019 fifteen large cycads were gifted to the Park by Mark and Lucy Braun of Te Kuiti. These were planted out in various locations; main car park gardens, Tea House wisteria bank, Palm Lawn and Vireya/Cycad Bank on Racecourse Walk. The native shrub plantings on Horton Walk were revamped. Two significant trees were lost, a large American elm was removed from the gables garden and a storm toppled a scarlet gum on the Sports Ground’s southern terrace.

The Brooklands traffic island garden was revamped in 2020 with additional plantings of palms, aloes, yuccas, pony tail palms and grasstree, xanthorrhoea. Also, the last of the old horse chestnuts at Brooklands came crashing down.

In 2021 the Taranaki Regional Plants garden near The Poet’s Bridge was developed and the last of the original pine trees on Cannon Hill were removed. A Western Himalayan spruce, Picea smithiana was planted on Eastern Hillside as a replacement for the Pinus roxburghi planted by Rinpoche in November 1999.

Due to issues with the dam, the Fountain Lake outlet stream was redeveloped in 2022. The adjacent garden environs were planted with new palms and bromeliads. In more recent times the Palm Lawn has been an area where vireya rhododendrons have been integrated into the landscape. The vireya rhododendrons planted include varieties such as ‘Golden Charm’, ‘Pop Corn’, ‘Tropic Glow’ and ‘Will Silent’, while the varieties ‘Red Mountain’, ‘Scented Sun’ and ‘Tickety Boo’ were added in 2024.

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