Tree-planting events and volunteering will be the themes of the King’s coronation weekend in the Ashburton District.

Mayor Neil Brown will unveil a commemorative plaque next to three new native black pines (Matai) in the Ashburton Domain at 9.30am on 6 May to mark the occasion, and a volunteer planting day will be held at the Harris Scientific Reserve from 9am-12pm the same day.

A planting day is also planned at the Hakatere Marae on 7 May, from 1-4pm.

Volunteering Mid & South Canterbury, in collaboration with the Ashburton District Council, Hakatere Marae and Ashburton Community Conservation Trust, is co-ordinating coronation weekend activities.

“King Charles has been a passionate supporter of the environment for six decades and so it is fitting that events here and around the world have a focus on promoting conservation and acknowledging volunteers,” Mayor Brown said.

“The Matai will be planted on the edge of the Royal Lawn in the domain, and that is also a fitting spot.”

Council’s Open Spaces team will pre-plant the commemorative trees in an area adjacent to the central carpark. Matai grow up to 25m and produce seeds that are edible to the kereru (New Zealand pigeon).

Other royal trees in the domain include a flowering cherry that marks the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II on 2 June 1955, a copper beech planted in memory of Diana Princess of Wales on 11 September 1997, and other trees to mark the 100th birthday of the Queen Mother on 4 August 2000 and to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II on 1 November 2002.

Trees were also planted in 1981 when the Queen visited Ashburton and in 2022 to mark the Queen’s 70th year on the throne.

The domain ceremony will happen at 9.30am and people of the district are invited to come along. The Harris Reserve planting ends at 12pm, leaving people free later in the day to watch the coronation being televised from London from 10pm (New Zealand time).

In the United Kingdom, the weekend of celebrations includes a concert, a Coronation Big Lunch and a day of volunteering. Brits will get a public holiday on Monday 8 May, when they are being called on to volunteer in their local area in honour of King Charles’ passion for community charity.

Mayor Brown said the volunteering effort in Ashburton would centre on the Harris Scientific Reserve, Council-owned land on Lovetts Road, off Maronan Road, where indigenous kanuka trees and other rare shrubs and plants are growing.

The site is managed by the Ashburton Community Conservation Trust and is also home to insects, lizards and birds not found on farmland.

“The reserve is just a small part of land in the Canterbury plain with indigenous vegetation and serves as an educational resource for the district and a seed source for several restoration planting projects.”

The planting day at the marae, on SH1, gets under way at 1pm on Sunday 7 May with a welcome and speeches.