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Coleridge Valley
A nationally important collection of conifers. Situated on Hummock Road.
1930 Beginning
Harry Hart, Founder of the Hart Arboretum, was superintendent of the Lake Coleridge Power Station from 1924 to 1954. In 1933 he obtained permission to plant an experimental area of 1.94 ha on the hillside above the powerhouse. His initial intention was to grow as wide as possible a range of conifers to determine which were most suitable for revegetation in the Lake Coleridge catchment, which at that time was severely depleted.
He imported seeds from Europe and North America and obtained plants from many public and private sources in New Zealand. After he retired he continued to add to the collection, which numbered more than 140 species at the time of his death in 1980. The Central Canterbury Farm Forestry Association, which now manages the Arboretum, extended the collection with a range of rare Asian and North American conifers in 1985.
Some of the trees in the collection were pruned by the New Zealand Forest Service trainees in the early 1980’s but the management policy now is to allow all trees in the collection to grow in their natural form. No pruning is done, other that for safety reasons. The Hart Arboretum, soon to be extended to a new area elsewhere in the settlement, is a conifer collection of national importance. It contains more than two-thirds of the known species of pines in the world. Harry Hart also planted conifers and deciduous trees throughout the village.
The Site
The Hart Arboretum is sited on a south-facing slope above the powerhouse between the penstocks and the road to the surge chambers and intake.
The main entrance is a wooden memorial gate made from the timber of a cedar grown in the arboretum. The craftsman built wall flanking it is made of local stone. Against the wall is a bench seat made from Rata timber from the West Coast.
The gate and wall were built in 1989 to mark the 75th anniversary of the opening of the powerhouse.
About one-third of the original arboretum area is flat. The rest slopes, steeply in places. Most of the trees were planted in groups of three, with 4.9 meters between the trees in each group and 9.8 meters between groups. Most of the groups are identified by permanent labels. A map showing the location of every species in the arboretum is mounted in a weatherproof case at the junction of the paths.
Notable specimens include the magnificent Colorado red fir, Abies magnifica, regarded as one of the finest plantation grown stems in New Zealand. Probably the rarest species in the arboretum is the Silician fir, Abies nebrodensis.
Harry Hart kept records of every tree that he planted, recording them in a card-bound notebook that he used for 40 years.
The Terrace Extension
When the Lake Coleridge power station was sold to Coleridge Power in 1999 an area on the terrace adjoining Hummocks Road was set aside so that some of the species that may be at risk from powerhouse development could be re-established. Site preparation is scheduled to begin soon.
The tree-covered terrace adjoining the arboretum extension site will be managed as part of the arboretum, by arrangement with the owner, Coleridge Downs Ltd. The park like area in front of the Hall, owned by Selwyn District Council, will also be managed as part of the arboretum, creating a tree park of regional importance.
Most of the trees on the terrace were propagated or planted by Harry Hart in the 1940’s and 1050’s. Significant items in this collection include a group featuring six of the nine south American beech species, and two small kowhai believed to be the Chilean form of this New Zealand icon. The Terrace collection also includes two of the first dawn redwoods planted in Canterbury, A fine grafted blue cedar planted by Mrs Hart, Spanish and Grecian Firs, Mexican white pine, French mountain pine, plus familiar deciduous trees. Two of the largest trees are a Chinese poplar and a Camden woollybutt, Eucalyptus macarthurii. The latter, more than 181cm diameter at breast height