School's redwood named tree of the year

Rangiora Borough School pupils and staff under the giant redwood tree. PHOTO: SHANE BUCKNER

By Shelley Topp

A redwood in the Rangiora Borough School’s playground has won the inaugural Waimakariri Tree of the Year award.

Principal Shane Buckner says the school community was excited to learn its beautiful tree had won the award.

The tree, which is believed to have been planted about 1860, when the school land was owned by William Sanson ‘‘means so much to our school, both past and present’’, Buckner said.

‘‘It has featured in many designs over the 150 years our school has been part of the community.

‘‘Our updated uniform has a stylish representation of our tree in the side panels of the shirt, and our children wear this with pride.’’

The tree is the focal point of the school.

It has a stage built around its trunk for the tamariki/children of Rangiora Borough School, to sing, dance and play on for many generations to come.

It was dedicated to the memory of the late Alan Sutton who was principal at the school from 2001 to 2021.

‘‘The stage area provides a number of opportunities for our children to gather and use in a variety of ways, from performance or just to relaxing,’’ Buckner said.

Six trees were nominated for the Waimakariri Tree of the Year award, which was organised by the Waimakariri District Council’s Greenspace team.

The judges, Canterbury Botanical Society life member, Farm Forestry New Zealand member and former QEII National Trust representative Miles Giller, Keep Rangiora Beautiful member Adrienne McGowan and Waimakariri district councillor Niki Mealings all agreed Rangiora Borough School’s redwood was the star among the six strong candidates.

‘‘All of the trees have a very different story,’’ the judges said.

‘‘They are all special trees and some were really unlucky to miss out.’’

However, Rangiora Borough School’s redwood really stood out because of its magnificent presence, beauty and strong connection with the school and wider community.

‘‘It is huge, it is beautiful, it is part of the story of generations of children and is the focal point of the school.’’

The other five trees nominated for the Waimakariri Tree of the Year Award were a giant redwood on the wheelchair-friendly Lookout Track in the Ashley-Rakahuri Gorge Reserve, a giant tōtara on the Tōtaranui track, which was built to showcase the tree in the Ashley Gorge, a baby tōtara in Silverstream reserve, an ornamental cherry tree in the Kaiapoi Food Forest and a memorial olive tree planted in the Rangiora RSA car park.

All three judges visited every tree to assess them, even the giant tōtara, which has challenging access on an advanced tramping track with steep sections.

All six trees will now be nominated for the 2025 New Zealand Tree of the Year award, which will be announced on June 5 - Arbor Day.

A panel of judges will select six finalists for the award, then the public will have the opportunity to vote for their favourite tree from May 1 until voting closes at midnight on May 31.