Farm Forestry New ZealandNative hardwood species to consider for timber plantations in Northland include puriri, rewarewa and pohutukawa.
Rewarewa is well adapted to phosphate-deficient soils and is a good nectar producer. Rewarewa is hardy, slow growing and if open-grown tends to have poor form with multiple leaders. The timber is very attractive but highly susceptible to borer so would require treatment for all applications.
Puriri, although fairly slow growing, produces a high quality, dense, durable and strong timber with significant market potential. However, little work has been done on managing the species in plantations. Puriri is highly susceptible to the puriri moth, which bores into and damages the wood. The level to which this insect would damage plantations is unknown. Puriri requires good quality fertile soils for reasonable growth rates.
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