How to Plant a Tree

At Coes Ford they plant a variety of trees such as totora, kowhai and more. They do this to get birds back into the area. This is how to plant a tree.
First you have to dig a square hole big enough to fit the plant.

Second you have to have to place the fertilizer tablet in and cover with dirt,the tablet is used to increase the plants growth.

Now you need to take the plant out of the pot. If it gets stuck you need to apply pressure. Now you need to carefully place the plant in the hole, then cover with all the dirt.

You need to get the blankets and put it around the tree. This helps to keep the weeds away and vermon. Then you put one bamboo stick in the ground and slip the sleeve over the plant. Then put the other three bamboo sticks into the sleeve.

At the end of the day I felt good to be helping.

Reuben Kelly

Brenna’s Coes Ford Video

Coes Ford Adventure 2012

The whole junior Burnham School and parents went to Coes Ford to plant native trees to create habitats for both insects and native birds. On Friday morning we were split into three separate groups. Our activities for the day were planting native trees, studying insects and aquatic invertebrates.

One of the activities was led by Mike who discuss the importance about insects. He mentioned about how insects disguise themselves in their environment. He explained by planting  native trees that we are improving insects’ habitats and  bringing back native birds. Later on he showed us a live weta  that some of us held.

With the aquatic vertebrates we discovered how they helped measure how healthy Coes Ford river is by counting the population of insects, especially the May Fly. We also separated the different aquatic vertebrates by using suckers into containers. We found that Coes Ford river  was healthy.

Our main objective for the day was to plant native trees. Brooke demonstrated how to plant a tree properly. We learnt how to use a protective blanket to stop weeds from destroying the tree. Also a  protective sleeve was required for each plant to stop rabbits and other animals eating the small trees.


At lunch time there was a boat race. The rafts were made from Harakeke ( flax).  Many of the rafts went off course and got tangled in the tree on the bank of the river.

We had an amazing time at Coes Ford but we were exhausted as we hopped into the bus and drove back to school.