Yesterday, I chopped down the sycamore tree growing in my yard. While I like trees, and this one was large enough to provide a bit of privacy and shade, sycamores are a pest species banned from sale and propagation in much of the country. While they're a marvel of evolution, their masses of "helicopter" seeds mean they spread like wildfire and have a nasty habit of colonising and then crowding out native bush. In Wellington, reserves along the Hutt hills are slowly being taken over by them; closer to home, environmental groups have been clearfelling them from blocks of native bush in an effort to stop them from taking over entirely. I don't want to be part of this environmental problem, so there was nothing for it but to chop the thing down and bag up the seeds for disposal. Fortunately it was small enough that I didn't feel too guilty.
In its place, I think I'll plant a Kowhai, as soon as I figure out which variety I should be putting here.
