Te Kararo Queenstown Gardens Tree Succession Plan

Feedback on the draft Te Kararo Queenstown Gardens Tree Succession Plan closed on Monday 12 May 2025. We're currently reviewing community feedback expect to present the draft plan to the Community & Services Committee for adoption in August 2025.

Planning for the future of Te Kararo Queenstown Gardens

Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) has created a draft tree succession plan for Te Kararo Queenstown Gardens to help protect this much-loved community asset, ensuring it remains a resilient, ecologically diverse environment for future generations to enjoy.

The plan takes a long-term approach to managing the removal of aging Douglas Fir wilding conifers in the Gardens and replanting the area with a diverse range of native and suitable exotic trees and plants over the next 60 years.

How we plan to carry this out

Removal of wilding conifers and the introduction of new plants in Te Kararo Queenstown Gardens will be staggered across multiple zones, ensuring new plants have time to adapt to the windy environment as conifers are gradually removed throughout the area.

To carry this out, we’ve broken the Gardens into 12 different zones – each one representing different canopy densities, groupings of trees, and how much wind protection they currently provide.

These zones have their own phases and stages of work to guide which trees are removed and when, and the introduction of new planting.

• A ‘phase’ of work in a zone represents a single year.
• A ‘stage’ of work in a zone represents a ten year period

This approach to different zones means we can consider which existing trees provide vital wind protection and need to remain in place longer than others, helping new plantings to flourish and grow strong before they’re exposed to the elements later.

Why is a succession plan so important?

Te Kararo Queenstown Gardens provides an unparalleled environment for locals and visitors to explore and enjoy, right in the heart of Queenstown.

Whether it’s loved for a lunch break walk or run around the leafy surroundings, a game of disc golf with friends, or the simple enjoyment of the many fantastic flower beds and towering trees – the Gardens plays a significant role in Queenstown’s cultural and natural heritage, and the wellbeing of our community.

The problem: Approximately five hectares of aging wilding conifer trees are currently located within and around the Gardens. As these trees are nearing the end of their lives, we need to plan for transitioning to a more sustainable and ecologically diverse shelterbelt.

These conifers play a crucial role in acting as a windbreak to shield this public space from wild weather, but their invasive nature and advancing age are a significant threat to the landscape’s long-term sustainability.

Some of the risks of these wilding conifers include:

• Biodiversity loss: these trees create a dense canopy that blocks sunlight, suppresses understory growth, and disrupts natural regeneration processes – all significantly reducing native flora and fauna in the area.
• Degradation of soil quality: needle litter contributes to soil acidification and reduces nutrient availability, resulting in poor soil health that challenges the establishment of other plant species.
• Seed spread risk: invasive wilding conifers are battled with all throughout the Queenstown Lakes, and the geography of the Gardens enables the spread of seeds into surrounding natural areas, compounding the ecological challenges and threatening local ecosystems.

A succession plan for Te Kararo Queenstown Gardens will help to restore biodiversity and ecology in the area, enhance how people use this space, and ensure it flourishes for future generations to enjoy.

What would we plant?

As wilding conifers are gradually removed, we plan to rapidly introduce a whole host of new plants and organic matter, using a mixture of native and suitable exotic trees and plants. Species include:

• Pioneer species: grasses, ferns, and early colonisers like mānuka to restore soil structure and improve nutrient cycling and support the growth of future plantings.
• Native trees: kōwhai, beech, and southern rātā to provide additional wind shelter as quickly as possible while enhancing the reserve’s visual appeal and creating wildlife habitat.
• Carefully selected exotic species: tall, fast-growing and non-invasive conifer species to further establish windbreak – creating new functional but less intrusive shelter.

Wondering how we’ll lay these new plantings out to give them the best foothold to flourish? We’re planning to adopt the Miyawaki method, which helps to create dense, fast-growing and ecologically resilient forests.

Documents

• Draft Te Kararo Queenstown Gardens Succcession Plan
• Summary of the Succession Plan
• Storymap: A quick and easy scroll through the key details
• Appendix 2: Succession plan maintenance schedule for Te Kararo Queenstown Gardens
• Appendix 3: Species selection guide
• Appendix 4: Soil enhancement techniques and best practices

Get involved and help nurture this natural environment for those to come

Feedback closed on Monday 12 May 2025.

Next steps

We're currently reviewing community feedback on the draft plan and expect to present it to the Community & Services Committee for adoption in August 2025.