Hello
I'm now the proud owner of a lot of gorse bushes and supporting infrastructure in Northland. Sale went through about 3 days into the lockdown so while I own it I haven't been able to go there. I have not been idle though...I have paid my first rates instalment!
Joking aside, I have also started growing my first batch of manuka seedlings. There are a few great "how-to" videos on youtube and I purchased some Northland seed through the interweb. This will get me going but I have my local buddies up there gathering some for me so that I can claim to have fairly local seed. When I eventually get to site I will pick up some from the various stands of manuka about the place, then I will have actual local bona-fide eco-sourced seeds. Has been great to feel as if I am doing something productive. After just over 2 weeks there are microscopic green bits appearing through the seed raising mix. (I can't see them without my glasses on) It's going to take a year before they are ready to plant and then it wont be the right time of year (coming into summer) so I have 18 months of production ahead of me before I can plant. If I manage to get 100 plants going a month, that's 1800 plants in little pots around my house down here.....will make the garden look interesting!! The bees will like it.
Also the access to the lot is being tidied up by a local contractor (eco-sourced lol) and so when I eventually get up there I should be able to drive right up onto it. If you drive past Kate on your way to the BOI, you will probably see it.
Fencing - nothing is happening on that till I get there but the land owner I bought from has been great and I don't envisage too many problems, with him at least!. I'll probably end up doing most of it myself, with plenty of mechanical assistance. Haven't had the chance to talk to any of the neighbours yet. Don't have a clue if there is any stock grazing it.
I bought an Extractigator - tried it out on a few shrubs around here and......well maybe it will do a better job on gorse. It didn't take much of a shrub before I needed a 1m long scaffold pole extension and even then it didn't pull the piffling little shrub out enough to totally get it out of the ground. Jury is out on that, will report back when I get up there.
Finally and perhaps most importantly I have bought my chainsaw (battery op) just waiting for Mr Bunnings to tell me when I can come and get it.
Reading forum posts has been very helpful, especially the ones about the animal dramas as it has reinforced my no livestock approach. Reading those is enough to turn anyone vegetarian!!
Hope you are all coping with your various levels of lockeddownness. Thanks for all the help. Stay well people.
Cheers
Richard
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Have you considered Tagasaste (tree lucerne)? It grows well and propagates fairly easily. You will need to get some root trainer pots for your seedlings as you want those roots to go down and not round and round. Also, arm yourself with tree guards and bamboo canes or the rabbits will destroy your hard earned rewards.
Don't be afraid of a few sheep, especially Dorpers or Wiltshires, they really are easy care and will benefit the soil. As long as your fences are sound and you have water, that's all you need.
I don't think you can beat the gorse in the short term, except by aggressive slashing and burning and hard grazing. The current school of thought is that you use the gorse as a nurse crop then it will die off as the canopy shades it.
Good luck and welcome to the forum!
5 acres, Ferguson 35X and implements, Hanmay pto shredder, BMW Z3, Countax ride on mower, chooks, Dorper and Wiltshire sheep. Bosky wood burning central heating stove and radiators. Retro caravan. Growing our own food and preserving it. Small vineyard, crap wine.

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No tagasaste for me, its not native. Whats the benefit of planting that?
No water on my property, basically a hill so little chance to store any and no streams ephemeral or otherwise. So no sheep.
But never say never!
Cheers
Richard
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It is a good nurse tree for natives and stock can eat it, makes good firewood.
treecrops.org.nz/?s=tagasaste
thisnzlife.co.nz/5-organic-ways-get-rid-gorse/
5 acres, Ferguson 35X and implements, Hanmay pto shredder, BMW Z3, Countax ride on mower, chooks, Dorper and Wiltshire sheep. Bosky wood burning central heating stove and radiators. Retro caravan. Growing our own food and preserving it. Small vineyard, crap wine.

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We've planted heaps of it here. The goats love it and it grows well. We fed out lots earlier this year when we were in drought.
Web Goddess
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Cheers
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The access way into the site is now built and I didn’t even raise a sweat. This lockdown business has its advantages it seems.
Better still my eco-sourced local contractor had a fence post whacking doohickey on his digger and so put in heaps of posts while he was there, so the vendor can run the wires. I’ll be giving him a call when I do any fencing that’s for sure.
And I have a date to actually go there! That will be a nice Christmas present.
Progress is being made.
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I will hopefully get up there again before Christmas.
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Haven't made it up there yet, but sometime after Christmas, in between looking after my sons dog for a few days and looking after a few grandchildren for a few more, I will sneak up for a quick look. Things free up for me in January and so I will be able to get up and do some stuff (not entirely sure what yet). Looking forward to it
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I have now been to the site a few times and even camped there but haven't achieved much but that was the plan over the summer anyway.
The land is being grazed at the moment but have had a discussion re fencing off an area that I can start planting on. My seedlings look like they could survive so I'll be putting those in the ground in a month or so.
The driveway needs a bit of maintenance already, drains need cleaning and rampant kikuyu growth needs spraying. So recent threads about backpack sprayers and gorse cutting implements are timely and useful, thanks to all who posted there.
I've been told that heli sprayjng will only knock the gorse back and not kill it. I'm wondering whether I'd be better off spending that money on a good brush cutter. I favor the idea of cutting it and painting the stumps...mainly because I don't like the prospect of physically spraying 3 to 4 hectares of gorse myself. I see opinions differ so happy to hear if everyone thinks that's a mistake. I note the property is bounded on three sides by land with lots of gorse and tobacco weed and no attempt to control it, so I will have an ongoing problem, for sure.
Still got some fencing to do and still to decide whether I have a crack at that myself or hire a fencer. I've got a quote and it's a lot of money but if I get the pros to do it, it will no doubt be a better job and I can get on with planting trees. I'm leaning in that direction.
May also soon have some flat land but that might end up being punted to spring/summer as the site is steep and shifting dirt will be challenging if it's wet.
Pretty happy though. Good to be able to go visit it at last.
Cheers
Richard
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5 acres, Ferguson 35X and implements, Hanmay pto shredder, BMW Z3, Countax ride on mower, chooks, Dorper and Wiltshire sheep. Bosky wood burning central heating stove and radiators. Retro caravan. Growing our own food and preserving it. Small vineyard, crap wine.

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