Patapātai

Pūniu River Care Inc (PRC) is an incorporated society and New Zealand registered charity.  The purpose of our society is to enable local hapū to be involved in improving the water quality and replenishing taonga within the Pūniu River catchment.

We are a well established, high quality native plant supplier for all your needs. We also help landowners undertake riparian planting along waterways on their farm. We can create a planting plan that outlines plant selection, plant supply, maintenance and releasing. Where available, we may also be able to assist with securing funding for your project.

Visit our online store to start shopping!

An eco-sourced seed is a seed that has the ability to naturally occur within the planting zones also known as Rākau whenua - able to have their whakapapa traced back to the area. We look for established ngahere and go out to collect the seeds ourselves. All of our seeds are sourced, tracked and traced so that we know where they came from and where they can be replanted.

This could take a couple of years for the native trees to grow large enough to form a foliage canopy and block out the pioneer species (weeds). To ensure our plants have their best chance at growing through and combatting the growth of weeds, we offer a maintenance plan for releasing our native plants within this time.

Our Social media channels facebook and Instagram provide an up to date stream on all of the different aspects of PRC including updates on current projects, educational posts on plants and useful te reo māori phrases and highlights of our kaimahi connections and celebrations of achievements.

Absolutely!!! Pūniu River Care has a well established native nursery providing plants for small land blocks to major development projects, and everything in between.

With our knowledge on current environment legislation and regulation and NZ historical sites we can offer advice on when, where, how, and what to plant. We start with a phone call to understand your needs, then organise a site visit to develop a planting plan for your farm. We do carry out work outside the Pūniu Awa catchment but usually stay within the Waipā/King Country region. If you would like to know more about the costs around a site visit and planting plan, contact office@puniuinc.org for a call back.

PRC work with funding partners on projects that highlight significant sites along the awa and contributing waterways.  In some circumstances applications can be made on your behalf and assist with applying for funding.

When we help with planting waterways, we help heal Te Taiao (natural environment).  All of the native trees and shrubs that are planted contribute towards healing the whenua (land) and the wai (water) by decreasing the amount of sediment that is currently contaminating NZ waterways and increasing biodiversity for an abundance of birdlife and freshwater species.

Every year our plant species list grows, and this is dependent on the success of the seed germination. You can check out on plant selection for 2023 here

‍Contact nursery@puniuinc.org for an up to date plant species price list.

The best way for natural weed removal would be to create a foliage canopy. Another way is using organic weed spray control.

Check out our current vacancies here.