10 top native plants

Planting native trees is a no-brainer. Leading landscape designer Michael Mansvelt shares his all-time favourites

- Michael Mansvelt

It’s sometimes hard to imagine that our country was once covered in native forest comprising thousands of plant species, from the lush rainforests of the West Coast to the majestic podocarp forests of the east coast.

Sadly, many of these ecosystems o longer remain today but our plants, rees, ferns, grasses, perennials and mosses re among the most diverse and interesting n the planet, with 70 percent or more of hem unique to Aotearoa.

Maori have lived with a deep connection o the country’s plant life, which has ustained, healed, clothed and sheltered them for centuries. But early settlers longing for a taste of home introduced many foreign species, which changed the landscape considerably.

Not surprisingly, the plants of Aotearoa have long been prized by botanists, gardeners and horticulturalists around the world. In my travels, I always felt proud to be Kiwi when I saw our native plants being used abroad, from our iconic pohutakawa lining streets in Manhattan Beach in California to our lush tree fern displays that pop up often at the Chelsea Flower Show and the iconic cabbage trees/ti kouka that frequent landscapes all over Europe.

Thankfully, in recent years New Zealanders have begun to appreciate our flora more and recent conservation efforts by iwi and government-led initiatives such as the One Billion Trees programme and riparian plantings have made a significant dent in the amount of native plant species being replanted, where they always belonged.

Over the past 30 years as a landscaper and gardener I’ve planted countless plants, both native and exotic. As a self-diagnosed plantaholic and proud Kiwi it is our wonderful native plants that I am increasingly finding more appropriate and exciting to grow.