Dunedin water restrictions have prompted Dunedin Botanic Garden staff to start prioritising what gets watered and what does not, as extremely dry conditions prevail across the city.
Dunedin City Council botanic garden curator Alan Matchett said the situation was causing distress among staff, who were having to watch plants die from lack of water.
"It’s stressful for staff — the horticulturists here — having to watch plants suffer like that.
"It’s the same for any other keen gardener."
He said the use of water sprinklers had been reduced and only prioritised plants were being watered by hand from 8pm to 8am each day.
As a result, there were lots of dry patches around the gardens, particularly the lawns which were not being watered at all.
"The larger, more established trees, especially the deciduous ones, will just have to fend for themselves as well.
"With the change in temperature and less water, they will start to turn that autumn colour earlier this year."
"We’re just managing what we can with the voluntary water restrictions.
"We’ve got staff coming in early to hand-water the more vulnerable or extremely affected plants.
"It’s certainly an ongoing issue."
MetService meteorologist Mmathapelo Makgabutlane said the last significant rainfall (more than 10mm) that Dunedin received was on January 6 when 18mm fell.
"Since then, there have been a few millimetres here, a few millimetres there, but nothing significant.
"There will be a few spots of rain on Sunday, but again, it won’t be anything significant," she said.
