Alter-natives wholesale plant nursery

We can design and plant for you.......

Landscaping, Hedges, ETS (effluent fields), Revegetation, Wetlands, Native Forestry....

from Warkworth to Mid Northland or further for big jobs.

Here are some of our jobs....

This webpage was updated by Ian Fox on 08 April 2010.

Landscape - Design and Implement.

Langs Beach.  This newly built spec house needed something to give it a better appearance.   A put in a grisilinia hedge around the boundary, hebe and corokia at the entrance with a paver path with shell around to the rear of the house. In the shaded areas at the rear we planted kawakawa and putaputaweta.  All planting was mulched and had irrigation.  We also added a Yucca as a feature in the front.

 

Landscape - Design and Implement.

Langs Beach.  This newly built family beach house needed finishing off with landscaping.  We supplied and planted a grisilina hedge on one side to block the view from neighbours put a palm tree in the front and ferns at the rear with a few purple piripiri and turutu for amoungst the rocks. There was also a few corokia, poroporo and weeping matipo.  Fully automated irrigation was installed.

 

Landscape, Revegetation, ETS field - Design and Implement.

Waipu.  A new house with step hillside below.  We supplied and planted 3500 plants as revegation but keeping in mind it needed to fit with landscaping yet to be done around the house.  The top part of the hillside also serves as the ETS field.  The plants at the top are selected so they don't block the views once the are mature.  We also work on several of the neighbours properties. (photo on right was from the neighbours deck).

 

Landscape & Revegetation - Design & Implement.

Waipu. This area was planted with mostly native trees with a few exotic species.  A gravel walk track was put in leading down the hill to a grassed picnic table area.  Plant species were selected and placed so as to allow a view to the table as you walk down the track as well as from the house deck.  Flowering trees such as pohutukawa and kowhai were used to frame the view.  Larger tree species such as rewarewa were planted near the botoom of the hill.

 

Domestic ETS (Effluent) Field.

Ruakaka. Here we supplied and planted 300 native plants for an effluent field.  Most of the day it rained but that doesn't stop us working.  The client had brought the chipped pine mulch and had intended to spread it himself but after a day on the wheelborrow decided to get us to spread it. 

FYI. Mulch is usually spread at 1 cubic metre per 10 square metres.  It takes 10-13 wheelbarrows to move each cube. So on this job there was about 300-350 barrow loads.

 

Hedge - Supply & Plant

Springfield.  This hedge was planted to so that the farmers could not see the neighbouring houses.  It also doubles as livestock shelter.  Another fence was to be errected after planting.  There was two hedges totaling 500m long ranging from 1m to 4m wide with up to 4 rows of plants.  A range of pb3 grade natives were planted direct into the grasses area (after being grazed) with no spraying.

FYI.  If we spray the pasture the weeds will grow  and we then need to keep spraying every few months so we may as well put in plants that are 60cm or high and do no maintenance of the grass. We do this for some jobs as it more cost effective.

 

Hedge 400 Metres long

Before site work
Sprayed and saw dust mulch
Marked and plants placed
Planted and staked
Before site work
Sawdust going on, Sprayed 4 weeks before
Planted
Planted

 

Hedge at Waipu - 135 Metres long with 3 rows of mixed natives.  Most of the length the plan was not to have plants which will be 2-3m tall when mature.

Left: Just started laying sawdust mulch over sprayed ground. Left: the finished job.

 

Effluent Feild at Waipu - 300 metres with dripper lines.  The client brought and spread their own sawdust to save money.

Above: dripper lines waiting to be covered with sawdust. Above: After planting in a grid partern of colour and texture.

 

Effluent Field at Waipu Cove - 250 Square Metres with pipes undergound.  A mix of native plants went in with sawdust mulch.

Before Straight after planting 12 months after planting Kanuka & Manuka 12 mths later

 

Effluent Field at Waikeikei - 600 Square Metres with pipes underground.

Before spraying Laying of sawdust mulch After planting After planting

 

Effluent Field at Mangapai -  250m with pipes underground. The client was going to put their own mulch on to save money.

This feild was planted with mostly Flax with grasses near the house at the top of the slope.  there was also about 40 mixed coprosma.

 

Step bank at Waipu Cove.  This bank was very hard clay and almost rock in places.  Any topsoil or mulch placed on was likely to be washed off.  we planted 1000 small grade (5cm tubes) into holes drilled with a petrol power drill.  Species planted were Rengarenga, 3 different flaxes and sand coprosma. All will tolerate the poor ground.  As the bank was so step we could not stand an work on it so we used ropes anchored at the top and wore harnesses. 

Drilling the plant holes Looking from the western side
From the eastern side

 

Step bank at Whakapirau. We planted 4 sorts of flax and a few toetoe.

Before with kykuyu grass all over the bank.
After planting with sawdust mulch.

 

Step bank at Whanake North - 500 square metres of bank planted with mixed natives. Mostly flax, Hebe and Coprosma.  This client chose not to have mulch to save on costs. Maintence of weeds will be done by periodic spraying with 1/2 the usual rate of glyphosate.

Before in May 2008.  covered with kykuyu grass. After planting in June 2008.  We returned for more planting in September 2008 and the plants had near doubled in size.

 

Reforestation and Wetlands at Mangakaramea.  This has been an ongoing project we started in 2007 with the planting of 8750 plants. In 2008 we planted an orchard of 50 fruit trees and created a large pond and planted a further 4000 plants.  2009 we will expand the pond and plant a further 2000 plants.  Dam projects this size in a flowing stream need resoucre consent.

Planting done in 2007.
Clearing Gorse
4Mtr high Gorse
Culvert for access
Placing trays of plants for the planting team.
Taking plants over a stream.
Gavin planting.
 
Digging the dam in October 2008.  We used a 14 ton and a 20 ton digger for 5 days. We expossed the rocks while digging and a dam wall will be built on top of the rock. Planting was done soon after the diggers finished.  
       
       

 

Revegetation - Supply & Plant

Springfield.  About 1500 square metres of hillside. A fire had gone through an area of native bush some years ago and gorse had regrown and the gorse had then been sprayed out a number of times over the years. The owner cut the gorse with a scrub cutter and pitch forked it down the hill.  We then planted 635 pb3 grade plants.  The owner had planted 100 the year before amongst the gorse. The area planted raps around the lower left and along the top of the bush in photo on right.

 

Reforestation of a hillside in Whangarei.  6000 square metres of previously grazed step hillside.  We planted 2000 plants in 2008 in a patchy patern where some areas have no plants and other areas are thick with plants. This creates areas of grass in the forest which will eventually be covered by a canopy as trees mature.   Most plants were 9cm tube grade (about 3/4) and the rest were pb3 grade.  we planted direct inot the grass with no spraying or cutting. This works very well if you put the right grade of plant in. There will be no mulching, spraying, or grass cutting done on this job. This saves a lot of money.   We hope to be back in 2009 to put in a further 2000 plants.

 
The area stretchs outside of this photo but is above the clay dam wall. The guys carrying the plant stretcher down the hill to an area to be planted.  The strtcher can hold 120 9cm tube grade plants.