Increased each seedling's plant-out area thanks to the helpful chapters from Tāne’s Tree Trust Technical Handbook: Planting & Managing Native Trees. Ch. 7.3 notes the alternative to herbicide (yeah, nah) is the excellently named #screefing: skimming off surface vegetation with a spade or cultivator. MUCH SCREEFING https://www.tanestrees.org.nz/resources/publications/