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Attracting Insects to Your Garden – For Pest Control and Pollination

January 15th, 2012 admin

Erecting an Insect nest box or providing an Insect Habitat and feeding station can be a great way to encourage more wildlife to your garden. Attracting the right insects has several benefits:

They are low down in the animal food chain and having a plentiful number of insects means food for birds and mammals, which will also be attracted to your garden.
Some Insects, such as bees are great pollinators and will help your plants and orchards grow.
Insects, such as ladybirds and lacewings eat hundreds of the Gardener’s worst enemy – aphids and therefore, provide a natural source of pest control.
Butterflies are an attractive and welcome addition to any garden.

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Garden Designs For The Different Types Of Gardens

January 15th, 2012 admin

No matter if they are urban or rural, all gardens benefit from preplanning and design. This doesn’t mean just knowing where you want your garden, but the overall design of the garden. Today, gardening can include everything from vegetables to flowers to lawn care. Carefully planning what you want, and where you want it, beforehand will help you get the most from your garden.

Planning Your Garden

To begin, measure and draw a plan of your yard and/or garden as it is now. Your plan should include the placement of your house, driveways and walkways, property boundaries, trees and shrubs, and utility services. Using graph paper, draw everything as close to scale as possible.

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Fish and Wildlife in a Water Garden? Species to Choose

January 15th, 2012 admin

There are in excess of 20,000 species of fish in nature, and most of these are marine-based. A small number are freshwater fish, and only a tiny number of these are suitable for keeping in ponds. Nevertheless, of the few species available to us, there is a huge range of hybrids, shapes, colours, habits and sizes. And the good news is that every few years a new type of fish, or strain of fish, becomes available to the pond-keeper.

The common goldfish
It is said that the common goldfish is the best known fish in the world and we can all instantly recognize it. It is fairly long-lived fish – 15 years is not unusual – and millions are bred annually by fish farms, which also makes them quite cheap to buy.

Originally from China and parts of Siberia, the goldfish is a hardy breed, able to withstand a range of temperatures from above 30°C down to practically freezing. As a child I well remember the cold British winter of 1963. We had about eight goldfish in a large metal water tank in the greenhouse. The water froze solid, even under glass, all bar about three inches at the bottom. They were probably iced up for three or four days in total but, by speedily defrosting the ice, we managed to save most of the fish.

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