Have you seen the new plants and trees going in the gardens on Tongariro Street? Our team is removing and replacing vegetation along the busy stretch of road to make it safer and give it a vibrant new look. It's all part of looking after the place we love!
The road is the main route into town for many of our visitors and we want to make sure it looks good for summer. We also know some of the plants have been encroaching on to the road recently and want to improve visibility for motorists and pedestrians.
Parks operations manager Andrew Moor said the old garden in the median strip of the street consisted of tired or deteriorating plants.
"We want to freshen the street up with some new trees and plants to create a beautiful garden strip on one of our main roads," he said. "We're going to leave the kowhai trees and a few other key plants that look good, but will be adding to these."
A mixture of manuka, coprosma, grasses and other small shrubs will be planted over the coming weeks.
The work began at the southern end of Tongariro Street late last month and will move up towards Spa Road over the next few weeks. It is expected to be completed by the end of the month.
"The new gardens will be easier to maintain, more aesthetically pleasing and less intrusive," Andrew said.
The work is being funded out of the parks and reserves maintenance budget.
