Native plants grown tough

Minginui

The porowhita or circle of life is complete at Minginui which is surrounded by the pre historic Whirinaki Te Pua a Tane conservation park.

Minginui is situated near New Zealand’s largest native forest, in the southernmost reaches of Bay of Plenty and it started off as a native timber milling town.

Native logging was stopped abruptly in the 1980’s, preserving the forest for future generations but it had a huge impact on the livelihoods of locals.

Minginui Nursery has been catalyst for change, and now 33 people are employed to grow native plants, eco sourced from the rohe, and sent far and wide across the North Island.

Local iwi Ngati Whare set up the nursery to provide employment in the area and now, the 6ha site is able to produce one million seedlings each year.

Manager Matt Jackman says they are very busy providing a range of native plants to farmers, lifestyle block owners and smaller customers.

There is huge demand for the hardy natives for riparian plantings to protect waterways for native regeneration projects, wetland planting and amenity planting.

Plants can be sent anywhere in the North Island using the nursery’s own truck and nursery trolley system and couriers are used for smaller orders.

Matt says the relatively cold climate of Minginui ensures plants are “hardy and tough” so they can go into a number of environments.

“That is probably one of the real strengths of the nursery is the environment the plants are grown in.”

To check out the full range, purchase plants and hear more about the story of Minginui Nursery head to www.minginuinursery.co.nz.


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