thisNZlife

The oak hunters

Meet the people obsessed with finding and saving these majestic trees

Oak lovers are a quirky kind. Douglas ‘Cookie’ Cook liked to garden naked, save for one gumboot on the foot used on his planting spade. He spent 55 years and all his money planting what is now New Zealand’s national arboretum, Eastwoodhill, near Gisborne. Among the 500 species of trees, shrubs, and climbers from the Northern Hemisphere are

100 oaks of 80 different species.

The threat of nuclear weapons galvanised Cookie during the Cold War era. He saw his collection of trees, tucked away at the bottom of the world, as an ‘arboreal ark.’ That concept is still relevant because New Zealand is a safe haven from the nasty diseases threatening oaks in the Northern Hemisphere.

Oak trees bring out the passion in people. Cookie’s work inspired Bob Berry to establish Hackfalls Arboretum at Tiniroto, an hour’s drive south of Eastwoodhill. The site turned out to be almost perfect, and Hackfalls is now internationally renowned for its collection of Mexican oaks (about 45 species, plus hybrids). In total, it has about 150 species of oaks.

But oak lover Don Hamilton had the most significant impact. The quercophile (oak lover) was passionate about the potential of exotic hardwoods as timber trees.

The notable horticulturist from the Bay of Plenty didn’t own land until late in his life, but that didn’t stop him from spreading his love of oaks. He planted and nurtured trees on public land – with the approval of local officials – and was also the source for some of the oaks planted at Eastwoodhill and Hackfalls.

A passionate group are hunting for Aotearoa’s most magnificent oak trees to make sure we can all share the love.

Words & images Rachel Rose

Saving oaks in 2021

The keen and passionate folks behind Oaks New Zealand are continuing the legacy left by Don, Cookie, Bob, and others.

I got involved several years ago when I went on a trip with Oaks NZ founders Eric Cairns and Kathryn Hurr. The goal was to locate oaks grown from acorns Don had imported from overseas back in the halcyon days when importing plant material was legal. Don wasn’t great at record-keeping, so it has been a nationwide adventure to piece together his contributions in the years since he died.

Oaks NZ is part of the New Zealand Farm Forestry Association and aims to fill part of the gap left by Don’s passing.

It’s driven by a handful of hard-working and very knowledgeable volunteers. There is NZ Tree Crops guru Eric, botanist Kathryn, farmer Kees Weytmans (read more on page 30), and more recently Gary Fleming, a top-notch farm forester from Canterbury. Plus there’s me, tagging along and taking notes.

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