Soil and Climate in coastal North Taranaki             

The mountain you see in the background of this picture is Mt Egmont/Taranaki which is a dormant volcano 8260 feet tall. It has permanent ice in the crater only and last erupted about 1750. In the park there are trees growing which have rocks in the forks from the last eruptions. Egmont National Park consists of a near circular rainforested area which was surveyed off last century on a radius of 6 miles from the summit. The radius line runs around the mountain at about 1500 feet above sea level.At higher levels on the mountain there are alpine plants, some of which are unique to the area.

The city in the foreground is New Plymouth, which has a population of about 45000 people. Waitara which is the town we live near is about 12 miles east or so to the left of this pictured area. It is also on the coast.

The mountain has provided a deep free draining soil over most of the province, and this, coupled with the fairly even rainfall, allows us to grow a wide range of plants. The mountain also helps to moderate our weather. From May to August we average 6 inches of rain per month and our driest months are January and March, averaging less than 4 inches of rain each. The yearly average is 60-65 inches or 15-1600mm.

There are only a few areas which are completely frost free. Most of Taranaki province can experience frosts, even to sea level in some of the sheltered river valleys.

Our garden is situated at 39 degrees  south latitude, and about 174 deg. 13 min east longitude and is approx 150' above sea level and about a 3 miles from the sea. It slopes gently to the north and we have zone 9 growing conditions with frosts some years down to -5 Celsius.