This list covers some of the more common plants for different situations when planning the planting of your site. It will help if you can identify how sunny/shady, wet/dry, windy/sheltered, your site is and how much this changes at different times of the year.
OPEN SUNNY SITES: (also see 'Coastal Sites') all the plants on the Coastal list below will also do well in these sites. The plants listed here are often primary colonisers and are well suited to the first phase of regeneration planting
Small trees
Aristotelia serrata - wineberry
Coprosma grandifolia
Coprosma lucida
Coprosma robusta
Cordyline australis – cabbage tree
Dodonaea viscosa - akeake
Griselinia littoralis
Hedycarya arborea - pigeonwood
Kunzea robusta - kanuka
Leptospermum scoparium - manuka
Lophomyrtus bullata - ramarama
Melicope ternata - wharangi
Melicytus ramiflorus – mahoe, whiteywood
Myrsine australis
Pittosporum eugenioides – lemonwood, tarata
Pittosporum tenuifolium – kohuhu
Pseudopanax arboreus – five finger - lancewood
Pseudopanax crassifolius
Sophora microphylla – small leaved kowhai
Pennantia corymbosa – kaikomako
Weinmannia racemosa - kamahi
Shrubs
Hebe arborea
Hebe stricta
Coprosma rhamnoides
Coprosma rotundifolia
Coprosma areolata
Raukaua anomala
COASTAL SITES: coastal plants don’t only grow on the coast. They’re suited to that environment because they can cope with harsh, exposed conditions. That means the plants on this list will do well on your typical open windy Wellington hillside. Some of these plants are also just as happy in damp conditions so don’t be surprised if they also appear on other lists
Trailing ground covers, ramblers and climbers
Acaena pallida – sand bidibidi
Disphyma austral - iceplant
Tetragonia implexicoma – native spinach
Muehlenbeckia complexa - pohuehue
Clematis forsteri (plant only once other plants are established to shade its roots)
Grasses, flaxes, rushes, sedges etc
Apodasmia similis - oioi
Austroderia toetoe - toetoe
Ficinia nodosa - wiwi
Phormium cookianum - wharariki
Poa cita – silver tussock
Carex pumila
Clump forming
Aciphylla squarossa
Euphorbia glauca
Shrubs
Coprosma propinqua - mingimingi
Melicytus crassifolius
Olearia solandri - coastal tree daisy
Ozothamnus leptophylla - tauhinu
Trees
Coprosma repens (small tree) - taupata
Myoporum laetum - ngaio
Olearia paniculata – tree daisy
Climbers
Clematis forsteri
Muehlenbeckia complexa
SHADY SITES: shady sites are either shady due to aspect, or shady due to existing tree cover. Either way these plants will suit. If you’re wanting large emergent trees to plant into established planting or natural regeneration then the list is a little different (see Emergent Trees list)
Shrubs and small trees
Macropiper excelsum - kawakawa
Melicope ternate - wharangi
Melicope simplex
Schefflera digitate - pate
Fuchsia excorticata - kotukutuku
Hedycarya arborea
Melicytus ramiflorus
Carpodetus serratus – putaputaweta, marbleleaf
Coprosma grandifolia
Coprosma rhamnoides
Coprosma robusta
Coprosma areolata
Coprosma rotundifolia
Griselinia lucida
Weinmannia racemosa - kamahi
Climbers – climbers enjoy their roots cool, especially Clematis, so shady sites like established plantings are ideal. Ultimately though, they want to climb into the sun so if there is no sun for them to reach at all, they won’t do as much flowering or fruiting
Passiflora tetrandra – native passionfruit
Clematis paniculata
Parsonsia heterophylla – native jasmine
Ripogonum scandens - supplejack
Clump forming
Dianella nigra – NZ blueberry
Ferns: Asplenium bulbiferum, Asplenium oblongifolium, Blechnum fluvitale
Astelia fragrans
Libertia ixiodes – native iris
Microlaena avenacea – bush oat grass
WETLAND: fully wetland plants are mostly rushes and sedges and can stand wet ground year round. Riparian plants typically grow on the edges of lakes, streams, inlets and wetlands.
Rushes and sedges
Apodasmia similis
Juncus pallidus
Cyperus ustulatus
Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani
Carex geminata
Carex lessoniana
Carex virgata
Carex secta
Shrubs
Plagianthus divaricatus
Copromsa crassifolius
RIPARIAN (waterway edge zones)
Austroderia fulvida
Austroderia toetoe
Cordyline australis
Hoheria sexstylosa
Phormium tenax
Carex dissita
Carex flagellifera
LARGE EMERGENT HARDWOODS
Alectryon excelsus – titoki
Beilschmedia tawa – tawa
Dysoxylum spectabile – kohekohe
Elaeocarpus dentatus – hinau
Laurelia novae-zelandiae – pukatea
Knightia excelsa – rewarewa
Rhopalostylis sapida – nikau
LARGE EMERGENT PODOCARPS
Prumnopitys ferruginea – miro
Prumnopitys taxifolia – matai
Dacrycarpus dacrydioides – kahikatea
Dacrydium cupressinum – rimu
Podocarpus totara - totara
Small trees
Aristotelia serrata - wineberry
Coprosma grandifolia
Coprosma lucida
Coprosma robusta
Cordyline australis – cabbage tree
Dodonaea viscosa - akeake
Griselinia littoralis
Hedycarya arborea - pigeonwood
Kunzea robusta - kanuka
Leptospermum scoparium - manuka
Lophomyrtus bullata - ramarama
Melicope ternata - wharangi
Melicytus ramiflorus – mahoe, whiteywood
Myrsine australis
Pittosporum eugenioides – lemonwood, tarata
Pittosporum tenuifolium – kohuhu
Pseudopanax arboreus – five finger - lancewood
Pseudopanax crassifolius
Sophora microphylla – small leaved kowhai
Pennantia corymbosa – kaikomako
Weinmannia racemosa - kamahi
Shrubs
Hebe arborea
Hebe stricta
Coprosma rhamnoides
Coprosma rotundifolia
Coprosma areolata
Raukaua anomala
COASTAL SITES: coastal plants don’t only grow on the coast. They’re suited to that environment because they can cope with harsh, exposed conditions. That means the plants on this list will do well on your typical open windy Wellington hillside. Some of these plants are also just as happy in damp conditions so don’t be surprised if they also appear on other lists
Trailing ground covers, ramblers and climbers
Acaena pallida – sand bidibidi
Disphyma austral - iceplant
Tetragonia implexicoma – native spinach
Muehlenbeckia complexa - pohuehue
Clematis forsteri (plant only once other plants are established to shade its roots)
Grasses, flaxes, rushes, sedges etc
Apodasmia similis - oioi
Austroderia toetoe - toetoe
Ficinia nodosa - wiwi
Phormium cookianum - wharariki
Poa cita – silver tussock
Carex pumila
Clump forming
Aciphylla squarossa
Euphorbia glauca
Shrubs
Coprosma propinqua - mingimingi
Melicytus crassifolius
Olearia solandri - coastal tree daisy
Ozothamnus leptophylla - tauhinu
Trees
Coprosma repens (small tree) - taupata
Myoporum laetum - ngaio
Olearia paniculata – tree daisy
Climbers
Clematis forsteri
Muehlenbeckia complexa
SHADY SITES: shady sites are either shady due to aspect, or shady due to existing tree cover. Either way these plants will suit. If you’re wanting large emergent trees to plant into established planting or natural regeneration then the list is a little different (see Emergent Trees list)
Shrubs and small trees
Macropiper excelsum - kawakawa
Melicope ternate - wharangi
Melicope simplex
Schefflera digitate - pate
Fuchsia excorticata - kotukutuku
Hedycarya arborea
Melicytus ramiflorus
Carpodetus serratus – putaputaweta, marbleleaf
Coprosma grandifolia
Coprosma rhamnoides
Coprosma robusta
Coprosma areolata
Coprosma rotundifolia
Griselinia lucida
Weinmannia racemosa - kamahi
Climbers – climbers enjoy their roots cool, especially Clematis, so shady sites like established plantings are ideal. Ultimately though, they want to climb into the sun so if there is no sun for them to reach at all, they won’t do as much flowering or fruiting
Passiflora tetrandra – native passionfruit
Clematis paniculata
Parsonsia heterophylla – native jasmine
Ripogonum scandens - supplejack
Clump forming
Dianella nigra – NZ blueberry
Ferns: Asplenium bulbiferum, Asplenium oblongifolium, Blechnum fluvitale
Astelia fragrans
Libertia ixiodes – native iris
Microlaena avenacea – bush oat grass
WETLAND: fully wetland plants are mostly rushes and sedges and can stand wet ground year round. Riparian plants typically grow on the edges of lakes, streams, inlets and wetlands.
Rushes and sedges
Apodasmia similis
Juncus pallidus
Cyperus ustulatus
Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani
Carex geminata
Carex lessoniana
Carex virgata
Carex secta
Shrubs
Plagianthus divaricatus
Copromsa crassifolius
RIPARIAN (waterway edge zones)
Austroderia fulvida
Austroderia toetoe
Cordyline australis
Hoheria sexstylosa
Phormium tenax
Carex dissita
Carex flagellifera
LARGE EMERGENT HARDWOODS
Alectryon excelsus – titoki
Beilschmedia tawa – tawa
Dysoxylum spectabile – kohekohe
Elaeocarpus dentatus – hinau
Laurelia novae-zelandiae – pukatea
Knightia excelsa – rewarewa
Rhopalostylis sapida – nikau
LARGE EMERGENT PODOCARPS
Prumnopitys ferruginea – miro
Prumnopitys taxifolia – matai
Dacrycarpus dacrydioides – kahikatea
Dacrydium cupressinum – rimu
Podocarpus totara - totara
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