Exotic trees in South Canterbury, N.Z. have been planted were experts said they can't grow. 

Some of New Zealand's greatest treasures are its trees.

Beautiful and significant trees are found through out South Canterbury. A few have the district's protection and a plaque at the base of the tree. e.g.
The Asbury Park Woollcombe Ash was felled in 2010 because it was unsafe.
The Lovelock Oak at in the TBHS grounds planted in its present position in 1941.
One of my favorites is the The Golden Ash tree outside the Timaru Hospital Chapel.
The Timaru Botanic Gardens have the majority of the trees labelled  including the grove of Blue Gum trees and there is a plaque for the Mountain Toatoa planted in 1994 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the first ascent of Mount Cook.
The "Champagne Tree" The Wellingtonia gigantica tree up Wai-iti Rd is probably one of the tallest trees in Timaru.
The Timaru District plan has controls on notable trees and forests.

Peel Forest has the Big Tree with a Champion tree score of 440 and a girth of 865cm in 2012 but a larger but a shorter totara is in Dennistoun Bush with a Champion tree score of  505 with a girth of 1,070cm in July 2012.

Known as the Big Tree. map

Measuring trees
Champion Tree Score - This takes the height (m) = girth (cm) = ¼ of average spread (m) and converted to imperial to align with the USA champion tree scores. This calculation is only made for single stemmed trees.
a. Average crown spread = (longest + shortest)/2
b. Vertical height of tree
c. Girth is a measurement taken at a point 4.5. feet above average soil level. If a burl is encountered at this point the least distorted girth below this point is used.

Tree Category
Single specimen
Stand (A group of trees of the same species)
Group (A group of trees of mixed species)

South Canterbury has poplars, blue gum trees, cabbage trees, the Raincliff Forest, Talbot Forest in Geraldine, Peel Forest with the Big Tree, the Peace Avenue on the approach to Fairlie, an alpine forest of beech trees, English walnuts, fig trees, an apple tree on Galwey's that has real dark red apples larger than grapefruit, estates with formal gardens e.g. the Orari Estates, stations where hundred of trees have been planted, the shelter belts, macrocarpa hedges, townships with domains, willows along riverbanks and lakes, homestead with drives ways of Oregon and larches, exotic trees growing at 3000 feet around the Fox Peak Ski Club planted by my father. The first recorded introduction of radiata pine to New Zealand was at Mt Peel Station in South Canterbury in 1859. The large exotic trees frame churches and cemeteries e.g. Woodbury, Fairlie, Pleasant Point. Wilding pines are causing a problem in the Mackenzie, they are getting out of hand. Arbor Day is still poplar.  

Oh ye who enter the portals of the Mackenzie to found homes, take the word of a child of the misty gorges and plant forest trees for your lives.  So shall your mountain facings and river flats be preserved to your children's Children and for evermore. 1917 T.D. Burnett

Red Oak, 7N Park Lane Sept. 2009

 
The Croft Tree, Sept. 2009, the Common Oak.

 
The W.M. Matson tree, Ashbury Park

Dedicated to the memory of the late W.M. Matson by the N.E.  IMP, Assoc. Oct. 1922

The Burnett Oak

 
The Burnett Oak, St. Mary's Timaru. Boulder from Mt. Cook Station, 1986. No. 74 map

In the grounds of the RSA, 21 Wai-iti Rd there are some  trees with plaques:

Kowhai 		planted by Baron Freyberg, V.C. 13th Dec. 1951 			Governor-General of NZ from 1946 until 1952
Red Beech 	planted by Sir for Sir Willoughby Norrie 1953 			Governor-General of NZ 1952-1957
Oak 		planted by Viscount Cobham 17th Nov. 1958 			Governor-General of NZ 1957-1962 
Kaikawaka 	planted by Sir Denis Blundell GCMG GCVO KBE 24th Jan. 1977	Governor-General of NZ 1972-1977
Lace Bark 	planted by Sir David Beattie 2nd May 1981	 		Governor-General of NZ 1980-1985

Geraldine - Beautiful trees are found throughout Geraldine - silver birch, poplar, eucalyptus, larch, pine, cabbage and other native trees just take a walk through the Domain, the river walkway along Waihi Tce, the streets, Grand Vue Golf Course on the hill or or Denfield Golf Course on the flat and Talbot Forest and look for the native wood pigeons. Wood pigeons only lay one egg at a time. One possum can cause a lot of damage. They can fly up to 20km. The Hewlings Totara in Geraldine, planted on the occasional of the birth of the first child of European descent born in the Geraldine District. map map

Geraldine  -a land of streams and woods Press, 3 March 1911, Page 9

Kennedy Street, Geraldine. The pinus radiata is massive.
Locally known as the Grey Pine, planted in 1860. In 2012 the height was 47.4 m. On private property, but easily visible from the intersection of Kennedy Road and SH79. Considered to be the largest 'normal formed' specimen of Pinus radiata in New Zealand. Burstall and Sale noted that a P. radiata at nearby Mt. Peel Station (understood to be the first of the species planted in New Zealand in 1859) was larger and taller than this tree (in 1984), but was obviously not considered of "normal" form. Source. map

Great trees of New Zealand / S.W. Burstall & E.V. Sale.
Main Author: Burstall, S. W. 1904-   Other Authors: Sale, E. V. 1919-
Published: Wellington : Reed, c1984. Published in association with the New Zealand Forest Service. Includes index. 288 p., [16] p. of plates : ill. (some col.) ; 27 cm.

Significant trees in the Timaru District

Tasmanian Blue Gum (Eucalyptus globulus ssp. Globulus) Pt Lot DP 18883 State Highway 8 map
Lombardy Poplar (Populus nigra "Italica" Lot 2 DP 1209 Rolling Ridges Rd
Manna Gum (Eucalyptus gunnii), Pinus radiata, Cider Gum (Eucalyptus vinimalis) State Hwy 8
Manna Ash (Fraxinus omus) Lot DP 558 Racecourse Rd (State Hwy 8) map
Pinus radiata & Cupressus macrocarpa (Monterey Cypress) Station Rd map
Walnut (Juglans regia) Raincliff Rd & Kowhai (Sophpra micophylla) Winchester Hanging Rock Rd. map
Mountain Beech School Road map up the Te Moana Rd.
Group of Douglas Fir Woodside Rd. map
Copper Beach. Houhi Puruhi, Manna Gum.  Orari Gorge Station, Tripp Settlement Rd map
Weeping Totara 52 Rae Rd

The beautiful Golden Radiata Pinus originated in NZ. The tips of the needles are golden-yellow. Golden Monterey Pine = Pinus radiata 'Aurea' Seedlings were from a tree first found at Gleniti Golf Course, Timaru.
318 Gleniti Rd.  Lot 1 DP80996. map
Flowering Cherry (Prunus subhirtella) 20 Gleniti Rd (Gleniti School Lirbrary Building) map
Kauri 318 Wai-iti Rd & Five Finger Tree 77 Douglas St. map
Ribbonwood & Sliver Birch Caroline Bay map
Pin Oaks, Dutch Elm, Common oak, Sycamore, Japanese Cheery, Kowhai - Centennial Park map
Dove Tree & Lime Tree Cain St. (Secondary School)

This Sequoiadendron giganteum or giant sequoia is at the Mt Peel Cemetery. It is tall. The garden at Mt Peel contains some of the oldest exotic trees in South Canterbury - a Douglas fir planted in 1859, Pinus ingnis planted in 1859, and oaks, cedars, spruce and poplars planted in 1862.

 
Geraldine Domain. Planted by Mrs. B.R. Macdonald, mayoress 19th July 1919 to commemorate signing of treaty ending World War 28th June 1919

Timaru Herald, 24 February 1875, Page 4
FOREST TREES PLANTING. About five miles west of Timaru, on the Downs, is Glengummel, the forest plantation of Messrs Sealy Bros., and Davidson. Its area contains 250 acres, and the timber is principally blue gum, mixed with, red gum, stringy bark and silver wattle, with cuttings of willows and poplars along the gullies. These trees have been planted as follows Seventy acres in 1871 in rows 9ft rows apart, 6ft. between. The trees have attained a considerable height, especially where the ground is more moist than other parts of it, the rest of the plantation was sown in 1873-4, so that nearly all stages of growth are to be seen. The owners have had the good taste to preserve the cabbage trees, and scatter broom amongst the gums as shelter for the game they purpose to stock the plantation with, and intend to add the Californian malva, which will supply them with food. The whole property is fenced with ditch, bank and gorse, with an inner edge of Cape broom. The plantation is surrounded with roads, which tends to make it a more valuable and desirable property, the amount of trees contained in this area is 200,000 these the proprietors consider to be worth for posts and rails, at six years' old, 2s each (a very modest calculation), which brings the total value to £20,000, to which may be added £2000 for the firewood contained in the tops and branches. Further, if this timber be cut at the proper time of year there is every reason to believe that a fresh growth will be made from the stump, and that the tree will thus become reproductive, and sprout like the cabbage in which case who can say what a blue gum plantation may be worth. However, one thing is well known, that such plantations are profitable in timberless districts; and there is no doubt these gentlemen will reap a considerable profit there from. The view from this point is very fine, the eye embracing the whole expanse of country as far as the Waiwera hills on the back of Christchurch, to the east and north while to the south and west the far-off blue line of low ridges defines the Papakaio western boundary. The back country, as far as Mount Horrible, is of the same undulating character, and is really splendid land. I think that Timaru has good prospects of becoming one of the first of coast line cities at any rate when she has a breakwater to facilitate her export and import trade. Considering the extent of country behind and around Timaru, which is gradually yielding increasing stores of grain, wool and beef, it is a matter of wonder that harbor improvements were not agitated long since.

South Canterbury, New ZealandGenWeb Project

Hawera & Normanby Star, 21 February 1907, Page 3
WHAT DO WE PLANT?
What do we plant when we plant the tree
We plant the ship, which will cross the sea
We plant the mast to carry the sails,
We plant the planks to withstand the gales —
The keel, the keelson, and beam and knee;
We plant the ship when we plant the tree.

What do we plant when we plant the tree?
We plant the houses for you and me,
We plant the rafters, the shingles, the floors,
We plant the studding, the lath, the doors,
The beams and siding, all parts that be.
We plant the house when we plant the tree.

What do we plant when we plant the tree?
A thousand things that we daily see;
We plant the spire that out-towers the crag,
We plant the staff of our country's flag,
We plant the shade from the hot sun free ;
We plant all these when we plant the tree.

There is room at the top, but there are shade and rest at the bottom.

Genealogy is like branches of a tree - wild, sprawling, beautiful, determined to grow in all conditions.