A few of our members have been very ill with the bugs that are about this winter and we hope they are all on the mend now that spring is Here.
We have now planted all of the trees that we had planned to plant this year .With the help of from many different people we have planted more than 2,549 at last count.
What a winter we have had with the Rain always falling when we planned a planting by the students from the High School. We have managed to get all the planned plantings complete.It was arranged that the students would be able to do more than just plant trees so for a change one class did mulching and another class did a potting on session at the nursery.
The last planting was the Oaks at the Arboretum and after one false start on Fridaythe 13th we managed to get the last 40 trees in into the ground. There was time left to go, so they went on a tour of some of our previous plantings.
***
Another Sunday we had a youth group from the Bahai Faith come and spend a very happy 3 hours potting up at the nursery. It is amazing what can be achieved when you have 20 pairs of eager hands at the potting.
***
Our new toy has had lots of use in the short time we have had it.
***
The students from St Peters School have been on a field trip to visit the nursery, and done a potting on session. Last year the students had collected a lot of young Coprosma plants from the Bush in the school grounds. They are growing them at our nursery until they are big enough to plant out in their Kahikatea Bush.
***
The book ‘Our Native Bush and Birds”
We had this book printed last year to be used by teachers in Schools in the Waikato region. It is being placed on our website now.
***
The rain also caused many delays with the work that has been done on the riverbank walkway in Dominion Road. This has been in and out of the water most of the year and the damage has been minimal each time.
There is just one section from the waterfall to the bottom of the stairs to be completed now.
We thought we had enough metal down there and so removed the corrugated iron chute, but what do you think could happen, you guessed it we ran out of metal. Now it is necessary to make another chute to get the gravel down the bank to the path below and at this stage the brains are working overtime to construct a suitable arrangement that will not damage the environment.
***
'Be not afraid of growing slowly.'
'Be afraid of standing still.'
***
We have had a meeting with the Waipa District Council General Manager and one subject we discussed was LakeTe Ko Utu. At this time it looks like the only thing we can get moving with is the surrounding area, when a plan is produced.
There are many well used paths in the area and some are in dire need of upgrades. The bottom path now has new gravel all the way around the Lake, so there is no need to walk through wet grass to get back to the car park. This year we added a further 35 Camellias trees to the area known as the Camelia Walk which now has a new sign saying Camelia Gardens. Until further plans come to fruition we are not able to do any work here.
***
Our Website has had over 600 hits on it in the short time it has been in operation.
***
The pine trees in the area between Lumb Park and the High Level Bridge are due to be removed soon .They have passed their use by date and are becoming dangerous and falling into the river. When this has happened there will be a planting of native trees in the cleared area to prevent riverbank erosion.
The new stairs under the High Level Bridge are excellent but the Poets Track from the bottom of the staircase is very run down. We are hoping that the Council will work on this once the pine trees have been removed.
***
'Real development is not leaving things behind, as on a road, but drawing life from them, as on a root.' G.K.C.
***
A Cambridge Walkabout recently was conducted by members of The Cambridge Reserve and Landscape Committee accompanied by members from the Community Board and the Tree Trust. We looked at many sites around the Greenbelt to decide what we needed to do to improve them. There were many suggestions put on a list and Tree Trust will decide which ones will be suitable for us to carry out in the future.
***
A.G .M
The Annual General Meeting is due.
This is to be held on the 21st of October at 7.30pm at the Alpha lodge on the corner of Alpha and Bryce Streets.
Reports and election of office holders.
There is to be a general discussion on what we have done in the past and what we intend to do in the future or what needs to be done in the future. Please bring your ideas along and join in the discussion.
We wish you to stay and have a cup of tea with us too.
