kōhanga rerenga

Native Plant Nursery

Why do we grow native plants?

Native and endemic plants are the backbone of Aotearoa’s ecosystems, found nowhere else on Earth. They sustain biodiversity, providing food and shelter for wildlife while enhancing climate resilience—protecting soil, managing water, and preventing erosion. Acting as natural carbon sinks, they store atmospheric carbon and help cool urban spaces through shade and transpiration. By growing native flora, we safeguard and restore our landscapes, ensuring they thrive for future generations.

About

Since securing our community lease in 2023 at the historic brickworks site in Dacre Park, Ngau-te-ringaringa Community Nursery (NCN) has thrived as a dynamic centre for conservation, education, and community connection. Located within Auckland Council’s heritage site, NCN serves as a welcoming home for our nursery team and broader group, hosting events, fostering collaboration, and inviting volunteers of all ages to participate.

With a deep commitment to environmental restoration, we cultivate over 20,000 native plants across 75 species, strengthening our local ecosystem. Our seeds are carefully sourced by volunteers from high-quality, locally adapted plants, ensuring resilience and sustainability. We also grow rare native species to enhance biodiversity and enrich the whenua.

Most of the plants from our nursery find their home along the peninsula, contributing to vital restoration efforts. Additionally, we proudly supply plants to groups and individuals, supporting a shared vision of a greener, healthier environment.

Biosecurity practises

We are Plant Pass Certified. A voluntary certification scheme that enhances our biosecurity and hygiene processes in the nursery to ensure plants thrive and remain disease-free before being planted in reserves.

Auckland Council's Urban Ngahere Strategy recognises the social, environmental, economic, and cultural benefits of our urban forest, and outlines a strategic approach to understanding, nurturing, and protecting it. The aim for the Auckland region is to reach 30% coverage. The Devonport Takapuna Local Board area canopy coverage sits at 16.4%. We are playing our part to increase canopy cover by growing and planting 8000 natives this year, with a goal to reach 11,000 next year.

Partnerships and connections

Connecting for a larger vision

We are members of Te Aka Kōtuia. Established in 2018 with the overarching goal of increasing biodiversity across the Auckland Region. The programme began from a need for community nurseries to work collectively. Supported by Auckland Council Biosecurity and Biodiversity, Kaipātiki Project and Uru Whakaaro facilitate and support the network.

The kaupapa of the Te Aka Kōtuia - Kaitiaki & Community Nurseries is to share information, methods and seeds across native plant nurseries, and by doing so increase the biodiversity of native plant life across the Auckland Region. It aims to tautoko and encourage nurseries to work collectively; to know who is growing what, and where, and to support one another by sharing knowledge.

Takapuna Race Course

Now the Waitematā Golf Club

Duder' Brickworks

William Sanders village now located on this site.

Level 2 brick path

Featuring historic Duder bricks!

Takapuna Race Course

Now the Waitematā Golf Club

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History of the local area

Ngau-te-ringaringa refers to the bay commonly called Ngātaringa Bay. Older references and oral histories in Auckland use the longer name, which refers to a bitten hand, chiefly blood spilt whilst out fishing in the bay.

The Takapuna Racecourse, later the Devonport Racecourse, was a significant venue for horse racing in the Auckland area during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was built in the 1870s on reclaimed land between Cheltenham Beach and the football ground, and later extended to Ngataringa Bay in 1881. The course closed in 1934.

The Brickworks, which were established by twin brothers Richard and Robert Duder around 1875. Clay from Ngataringa Bay was used to make bricks, glazed drain pipes and fittings. The works were leased in 1942 to the Army, who demolished the chimney, and later that year leased the site to the Avondale firm Crum Brick, Tile and Pottery Co. They were finally dismantled to make way for the Navy housing village in the 1950s.

The gas works, opened by the Auckland Gas Company in 1883. The site also included the Devonport Fire Brickworks. The gas works supplied gas to the North Shore. They were a significant employer and a landmark in Ngataringa Bay until the early 1960s. The Devonport Borough Council later acquired the site, and the gasometers were dismantled in 1983.

In early 2023, we became the new kaitiaki of the old Devonport Fire Brickworks site.

Te Reo Māori Glossary