Friends of Farnley

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Friends of Farnley

Friends of Farnley - join local residents looking after this reserve every 3rd Sunday of the month, 9.00 - 10.30am followed by a cuppa

14/03/2026

It’s complete…the eel circle has been returned to how it was envisaged when laid in 1997…the arc of river stones has been finished and the small arc planted with grasses. We have created two passages where the river stones are of the smaller size to assist people with walking issues or on bikes to transit the arc. Thanks for the work of Joan, Wendy, Paul, Julie, Katrina, Eve, Rufus, David B, Caroline, Dave K, John, Gen and Charlie today in our March workday tidying up after the flood and finishing the eel circle. After a bit of weathering, it will all look great. Thanks to those who took to the mellow sprouting by the scout den…the less of this w**d the better!

17/02/2026

Anyone living close to Farnley Reserve able to take pics of any flooding of the reserve?

14/02/2026

The revamp of the eel circle to return it to the soft and hard landscaping of the original design is half-way there following the February workday. Thanks for progress on the eel circle and with removing many w**ds from the reserve go to Rufus, Eve, David B, Joan, Katherine, Lois, Vanessa, Billy, Sarah, Julie, Stephanie, Mark, Jill, David P, Gen and Charlie with special welcome to new volunteers Eleanor and Spencer. We ran out of stones - but we will soon have the eel circle finished. Looking great!

17/01/2026

SUCCESS! As a gift to start 2026, today during the working bee, Dave discovered that kahikatea are self-seeded and growing well in the reserve. The parent trees were planted in the reserve in 1985 and are now mature enough to reproduce. Also today, a large rainbow trout and eel visited - the river seems to be in good health here! Thanks to Paul, Wendy, Lois, Stephanie, Rufus, Katherine, Joan, Vanessa, Jill, David P, Arlo, Ralph, Gen and Charlie for starting the year so enthusiastically!

13/12/2025

For the last workday for 2025, we donned Yuletide decorations and worked for just a hour before cake and coffee to celebrate a great year’s efforts and the reserve looking really good. All helped along by the presence of a decent sized rainbow trout in the river! Thanks to Paul, Wendy, Bernard, Julie, David P, Jill, Joan, Rufus, Grant, Caroline, Lois, Dave K, Gen, Charlie and Vanessa. Particular thanks to Ruby our Ranger for her encouragement and support throughout the year; and to Greg from DoC!

Looking forward to seeing everyone in 2026.

16/11/2025

Another great turnout of the community to help Farnley Reserve look good as it turns into a bush remnant. Community thanks go to Bernard, Joan, Wendy, Paul, Stephanie, Mark, Jill, Katherine, Sarah, David B, Robert, Julie, Ralph, Eve, Rufus, Katrina, Vanessa, Andrew, Arlo and Dave K for a great morning of attack on the spring w**ds.

25/10/2025

A real team turned out to labour in the reserve during Labour Weekend. Labourers included Wendy, David P, Ralph, Katrina, Dave K, Joan, Eve, Rufus, Jill, Julie, Gen, Charlie and Grant with special welcome to Stephanie, Mark, Vanessa, Arlo, Billy, Erin and Richard. Lots of w**ds were removed!

21/09/2025

The day’s work is done…and what work! Many thanks to a big team (22) who turned up in balmy NW weather to wrestle the tradescantia, tall fescue and vedlt grass into submission: Gen, Charlie, Joan, David P, Katrina, Dave K, Jill, Eve, Rufus, David B, Grant, Katherine, Wendy, Paul, Sarah, Lois, Hamish, Ralph and Dooby with special welcome to new members Eoghan and Rob, and very special welcome to the extraordinary Josie who is a treasure of the river. Also, very special thanks to Ralph for all his extra time and work in the reserve!

23/08/2025

The August workday at Farnley Reserve saw a wholesale attack on a large area of vedlt grass which has quickly grown. This w**d was brought into NZ in the 1940s and has become a widespread and persistent w**d. It seeds prolifically several times each year. We will never get rid of it, but if we don’t keep it controlled it will change what grows in the reserve. The community thanks Eve, Rufus, Bernard, Jill, Lois, David B, Ralph, Wendy, Paul, Katherine, Joan and Katrina for their attack on the vedlt grass this month.

20/07/2025

We achieved two steps in the restoration of this reserve today 1) we restored the front ring on the eel circle to how it looked in the original 1998 design with the planting of carex buchananii in our own reserve-made compost; and 2) we mulched the area in front of the scout den where we planted last month. We also managed some w**ding in front of the eel circle.

The community thanks Eve, Rufus, Bernard, Jill, Caroline, Sarah, Matt, Lois, Grant, John and Gen with particular thanks to super volunteers Alex, Sophia and Charlie.

15/06/2025

It was Planting Day on Sunday at Farnley Reserve…cold to begin with but planting soon warmed up the sixteen stalwarts. The plants from CCC were soon happily in the ground care of Charlie, Grant, Eve, Rufus, Katherine, Dave K, Sarah, Shane, Lois, Joan, David B, Katrina and Gen. Particular thanks to Ruby, our super-Ranger for the plants, guards, felt mats and stakes…and the spades, the energy, the enthusiasm and the organisation…and the six-day weeks serving all the other groups and issues along the river during this Big Wet!!

We have reached the furtherest extent of the reserve now so any future planting will be minimal.

25/05/2025

A small team today but lots of great w**ding thanks to Wendy, Paul, Eve, Rufus, Jill, David x 2, Ralph, Gen, Charlie and Dooby.

Address

Farnley Reserve, Centaurus Road
Christchurch
8022

Website

https://ohrn.nz/friends-of-farnley-reserve/

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