TAUPO NEEDS TREES AND SHRUBS.

Taupo Times, Volume II, Issue 86, 11 September 1953, Page 4

TAUPO NEEDS TREES AND SHRUBS.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 1953

WHEN the recreation reserve bordering the northern half of Tongariro Street was being cleared recently, preparatory to being sown in grass, it was found that gum trees growing there were affected by dry rot. One, growing on the edge of the main highway, was roped preparatory to being cut down, and the mere f>ull of the rope brought it down. Prior to this dead branches had fallen onto the highway on a number of occasions during high winds, and it was plain that the trees were becoming dangerous. These facts were given by the Times to an enquirer, a holidaytime resident of Taupo for thirty years, who asked why the trees had been removed, and who spoke of the beauty of the trees seen in the towns of Britain on a recent visit there and urged the planting of more trees in Taupo. An enquiry addressed to the Chairman of the Town Board by the Times elicited the information that the matter of replacing the trees was already in hand and that a row of suitable new tre£s was shortly to be planted in the reserve bordering the main highway and Tongariro Street. The need for the planting of more trees, of suitable size, in the town area, is. obvious, and is already being met to a praiseworthy extent by the generous activities of the Taupo Horticultural and Beautifying Society. The Society has donated trees to the Town Board, as well as making a sqbstantial contribution to the Board toward the cost of planting, and in the past two months some eighty trees from this source have been planted by the Board on the Lake

front and in the Old Orchard camping ground. No doubt this valuable work will be continued both by the Society and by the local body, and be extended to other reserves and suitable areas. But much more could be done by private owners to beautify both their own properties and . the street frontages adjacent to them. In'this connection, the advent of electric power makes it necessary to ensure that planting on street frontages should be only of such trees or shrubs as will not interfere with power lines. What could easily be done to beautify street frontages is well shown by what has already been done, by some residents in certain streets in the town, which have been given great beauty by the planting of silver birches and, other suitable trees. Such planting need not necessarily entail great expense, and does not require any knowledge that may not easily be acquired. All that is needed to transform the many bare and unsightly street frontages in the town into places of beauty is the will to do so on the part of residents. Trees and shrubs of many suitable types grow well in Taupo, and what has already been done can guide others so that success may be assured. A special need along most of the Lake beaches is the planting of trees large enough to provide shade. These areas are out'side local body control, but it is possible that the various angling clubs and societies might be able to do something if members brought the matter before them.