Hay bales used for Mtn road plants

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 10, Issue 475, 2 March 1993, Page 5

Hay bales used for Mtn road plants

Passing motorists may have thought a group of Ruapehu College pupils were caught in the act of feeding the deer in the Tongariro National Park when they were spreading bales of lucerne hay on the Ohakune Mountain Road recently. Fat deer is not the aim - giving new growth of native plants on the disturbed roadsides is.

"When the road was built the topsoil was bulldozed away in many places and covered over," said Ohakune conservation officer Rob McCallum, "and new growth has a hard time of it thanks to the lack of topsoil and frost heave." Heavy frosts freeze the water in the ground, lifting

baby seedlings out of the ground, so they have a real battle getting established. The lucerne, covered with netting provides an artificial humus layer for seeds to germinate in and also insulates the ground against freezing. The lucerne is especially grown for the project to be as weed-free as possible, but this makes it expensive - about $7 per bale. Plants

will take 7-10 years to establish, said Mr McCallum. "It's a project which the kids will be able to watch, seeing progress year-by-year, teaching them about the long-term commitment needed for conservation." About 1500 square metres on about four kilometres of road are to be covered, with this year's effort using 500 bales.