Hackfalls Arboretum

Hackfalls is an arboretum in New Zealand. It was founded in the 1956 by Bob Berry. Hackfalls Arboretum is part of “Hackfalls Station”, a sheep and cattle farm of about 10 square kilometres, owned by the Berry family. Hackfalls is situated in Tiniroto, a tiny village in the eastern part of the North Island, between Gisborne (town) and Wairoa.
The area of the arboretum is 0.56 km². It stretches along the borders of two lakes. It holds about 3,500 species of trees and shrubs.
In 2002 The International Dendrology Society awarded Hackfalls Arboretum with its plaque.

Geography

Tiniroto is situated on the inland road (SH 36) between Gisborne and Wairoa. The distance from Gisborne is about 60 km, from Wairoa 40. The Ruakaka Road is a gravel road of about 20 km, that leads from Tiniroto, with a wide curve, crossing the Hangaroa River two times, past Donneraille Park, back to the SH 36. Berry Road branches off from this Ruakaka Road about 1 km outside Tiniroto. 3 km further up on Berry Road is the homestead of Hackfalls. You have then passed Lake Kaikaore which together with Lake Karangata form the “wetlands” of Hackfalls Station.

The hill country of the Tiniroto district was formed in a big landslide from the North and East which occurred about 7000 years ago. The lakes around Tiniroto were formed then. On steeper slopes the soils are derived from a yellow clay. On more level areas the soils consist of volcanic ash deposits (pumice) of about 50 cm.

The Māori occupation brought fires which destroyed much of the original forest cover, except in ravines and near the Hangaroa River. From 1880 onward, European settlers cleared most of the remaining forest, scrubs and ferns, replacing it by grassland. At Hackfalls a few remnants of the original plant cover remain, the largest of which consists of about 40,000 square metres, protected by a Queen Elizabeth II Trust covenant since 1985.

Hackfalls Station

The Whyte family from Scotland were the first European settlers that acquired the station. They called it Abbotsford.
The Berry family settled in Tiniroto in 1889. The original property of the Berry family in Tiniroto was named "Harewood", 1 km from Hackfalls. In 1916 The Berry family bought the property off the Whyte family. The first "Harewood" was sold and subdivided and the name changed. The name Hackfalls was given to the new property in 1984 when Bob’s niece Diane and her husband bought into and ran the stock side of the station, which left Bob free to concentrate on the arboretum. The name Hackfalls was chosen as it is where the original Berry family lived in Yorkshire, England – Hackfall Wood. Hackfalls in New Zealand is very similar to the countryside around Hackfall Wood.

Hackfalls Station covers an area of about 10 square kilometres of hill country. The eastern and northern border are formed by Hangaroa River. The western border is roughly the Ruakaka Road. To the south the border is fenced. The station is a sheep and cattle breeding and fattening farm. Normal stock carrying capacity on the station is approximately 8000 stock units (sheep and cattle).
Hackfalls Arboretum covers 0.56 km² of the Station. Most of the arboretum is grazed by sheep, sometimes by cattle.

History of Hackfalls Arboretum

Bob Berry was born in 1916 at Tiniroto, and became a farmer, like his grandfather and his father were before. But he developed a special interest in trees. About 1950 Bob Berry took over the running of “Hackfalls Station” and began collecting trees. Until that time, only trees with a commercial interest were planted. Trees were grown for timber, or as fence posts (mainly Lombardy Poplars), or as fruit trees. From ca. 1950 onward Bob started planting trees for their beauty and botanical interest. Bob continued planting until 2007.Hackfalls Arboretum now hosts several important collections and a number of beautiful mature specimens.

Main features of the collection

* "Acer" - about 160 specimen
* "Alnus" - about 80
* "Betula" - about 90
* "Camellia" - about 80
* "Eucalyptus" - about 90
* "Hebe" - about 50
* "Ilex" - about 60
* "Magnolia" - about 70
* "Malus" - about 50
* "Populus" - about 220
* "Prunus" - about 80
* "Quercus" - about 450
* "Rhododendron" - about 400
* "Salix" - about 70
* "Sorbus" - about 70

The most important part of the collection are the oaks ("Quercus"), especially Mexican oaks. Hackfalls is said to have the largest collection of Mexican oaks in the world. A large number of these oaks were collected by Bob Berry himself on trips to Mexico.

Bob Berry and Eastwoodhill

The contacts between Bob Berry and Douglas Cook, that date back to 1953 played an important role in the development of the collection. Douglas Cook was the founder of Eastwoodhill Arboretum (Ngatapa, Gisborne, New Zealand) and offered advice and made suggestions concerning Hackfalls. After Douglas Cook's death Bob started preparing the first catalogue of Eastwoodhill. It was published in 1972. It contained almost 3000 different taxa. Bob bought a typewriter to produce it. In that same year he also published the first “list of trees and shrubs” of Abbotsford Station, als Hackfalls was still called in those days. Those catalogues were the first of a long list of ever expanding publications that Bob made, until the publication of the most recent “Plant list” of Hackfalls Arboretum in 2007, covering 158 pages in Excel.

Lady Anne

1990 Bob married Lady Anne Palmer. She had a reputation as a gardener in England. She founded Rosemoor Garden, and donated it to the Royal Horticultural Society when she followed Bob to New Zealand. Her influence on the homestead garden of Hackfalls has been quite considerable. She created a beautiful garden with well grown specimens of many interesting shrubs and plants, cultivars as well as (endemic) species.

July 2006 Lady Anne and Bob Berry changed home to Gisborne (town). Since then Diane Playle, cares for the arboretum. Diane is Bob's niece. She's been managing Hackfalls Station since 1984.