The Gorge Nursery was established in 2007
and is owned and operated by Sis Johnston and Mike Smith. It
is 1.5ha with approximately 7000 ornamental trees. It is located
at Ashley Gorge near Oxford. Both Mike and Sis completed their
Amenity Horticulture Apprenticeships with the then Waimari District
Council. Mike has 34 years’ experience in tree nursery
production and arboriculture and Sis has 14 years’ experience
in the nursery industry, giving them a good skill base to pull
from.
We specialize in growing two main grades of
containerised ornamental trees, a 25lt and a 45 lt grade with
a mix of deciduous and evergreen exotic and also native trees.
These trees are grown to survive in harsh Canterbury conditions,
be it out in an open paddock or exposed situation or in a sheltered
garden.
Growing an A grade tree begins with sourcing
good quality stock, using a good quality potting mix and employing
good nursery practices.
As explained further down below we use tried
and proven nursery practices; growing trees in open surroundings
without the use of canes, and using pruning techniques that
result in the tree being stronger and having more uniform shape.
These practices result in strong hardy trees with good shape.
We are passionate about trees and like to give
one on one time with our customers to help select the right
trees to fulfil their vision, which will do well in their location.
Growing trees at Ashley Gorge is often a challenging
time. We experience strong winds from the North- west, and the
occasional good dumping of snow. We cope with transpiration
by watering up to 3 times a day to help reduce hydrophobic soil
mix conditions occurring – the less energy the tree has
to use sucking up water the more growth it will put on. If a
tree wilts, the wilting will reduce the growth rate for several
days.
The spin off from the wind of course is that
our trees leave the nursery hardened off to the wind which gives
them a far higher survival rate than trees that have been grown
in a sheltered environment.
We have a slightly slower start to spring than
down country but have a longer growing season in the autumn
largely due to the climatic influence from the Gorge Wind.
Our philosophy is to use proven
best practice to produce high quality trees at a reasonable
price that are hardy to Canterbury conditions.
The Way We Grow Trees –
This is determined by understanding the way trees grow .i.e.
the physiology and morphology of the tree. Physiology being
the way in which organisms or parts of organisms function and
morphology is the study of the external form of organisms.
We start with either producing or buying in,
high quality GOL’s. (Growing on lines) The GOL is root
pruned (to remove damaged or over-crossing roots and to improve
root structure) and form pruned at bagging up time. They are
planted into a high quality potting mix.
We understand the importance of growing a tree
with a self-supporting stem – this happens right from
the earliest contact we have with the tree. We achieve this
by
1) Not employing the practice of caning trees
which in turn allows the secondary thickening tissue to develop
and
2) We leave the lower branches on the tree
for the better part of the growing season as these lower branches
aid the thickening of the stem. The only time we use canes is
when we ‘cane to train’. Some species love going
every which way but up, so we put a cane on them for the first
part of the growing season to get a straight trunk and then
remove it in the second half of the season to strengthen and
harden.
In our nursery we practice ‘Natural Target Pruning’.
During the growing season all the trees in the nursery are examined
and form pruned if necessary. Form pruning is when double leaders
and dominant branches are removed. At the early stages of a
trees growth some branches will exhibit dominant form. These
branches are removed to push the growth into the top leader
and to allow small forming branches to grow into that space
which creates and even branched tree. In most cases you are
restoring symmetry to the tree.
Every time a tree is bagged on the root ball
is given close attention. Any circling roots are removed and
all root balls are teased side and bottom which helps form a
radial root system. Trees are tied onto a line which stops them
from blowing over but still allows them to move in the wind.
The best trees are selected in the early autumn
for bagging on, thus we are only growing on the best trees into
larger grade trees.
In summary our growing techniques produce a
tree with the following qualities
ABOVE GROUND
Health and vigour
Pest and Disease Free
Injury free
Self-Supporting trunk
Tapered trunk
Apical Dominance
Crown symmetry
No Included bark
Trunk position in Bag - central
Graft unions - sound
BELOW GROUND
Free of damage and decay
Root Direction – down and outwards
Root ball occupancy
Height of root collar at the correct level in the bag.
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