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Story: Trees in the rural landscape

Shelter trees

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Shelter trees

The first pastoralists planted belts of fast-growing trees to shelter their homesteads and vegetable gardens. This 1860s sketch of the Nelson brothers’ station, in Hawke’s Bay, shows shelter belts around the house, and a line of trees in a paddock (right). The rest of the farm is devoid of trees.

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Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: E-121-q-027

by Amos Baigent

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Maggy Wassilieff, Trees in the rural landscape – Overview, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/artwork/19690/shelter-trees (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Maggy Wassilieff, published 1 March 2009.