Beneficial insects are essential in keeping our gardens and farms healthy. Some pollinate plants that produce our food. Others eat pests that would otherwise destroy our food crops. They also help break down dead organic material and recycle nutrients back into the soil. We rely on these tiny insects more than we realize, and they are a valuable part of the ecosystem.What … [Read more...] about Beneficial Garden Insects and How to Attract Them to Your Garden
gardening
Make your garden bird-friendly
In this guest post Tony Manhart, founder and editor-in-chief at Gardening Dream, shares his tips for making your garden more bird-friendly.Whether young or old, many people enjoy birdwatching. It can be a relaxing way to pass the time, and it is interesting to learn about the different birds that occur where you live. Making your garden more bird-friendly is a great way … [Read more...] about Make your garden bird-friendly
Garden wildlife: it’s a jungle out there!
As another wildlife documentary draws to a close, I can't help looking out of the window at our back garden: the patio, the lawn, the garden wall strewn with ivy, the flowers nodding their heads gently in the evening breeze.It all seems so quiet and mundane compared to the wondrous tropical ecosystem I've just witnessed on the screen. But first impressions can be … [Read more...] about Garden wildlife: it’s a jungle out there!
Watch out for hibernating hedgehogs
This weekend, while out in the garden clearing a build-up of dead leaves and layers of last-season's montbretia foliage, I uncovered a prickly, but very welcome surprise.A hibernating hedgehog!Its spines flexed involuntarily, once... twice... and then it was still again. I whipped out the smartphone and took one quick photograph (above), before replacing the … [Read more...] about Watch out for hibernating hedgehogs
Digging, for the birds!
Regular IW contributor Albert Nolan reflects on how a bit of winter digging benefits the bird life in his garden. It was a day when you would have fought to have a shovel in your hand as the icy wind slipped easily through layers of clothes. I was finishing off a new bed that I had started a few weeks ago and for once the frosty weather had been a great help in … [Read more...] about Digging, for the birds!
Newt discovered in Tipperary potato patch
This account of a smooth newt found hibernating in an allotment in Co. Tipperary last November was sent in by Ireland's Wildlife reader and avid gardener Andy Dawson and his young son Ethan. It's a notable record, since the Irish Wildlife Trust's National Newt Survey had received no newt records from Tipperary up to and including 2012. CJ Recent years have seen … [Read more...] about Newt discovered in Tipperary potato patch
Gardeners urged to phase out peat
Ireland’s peat bogs are under threat… and gardeners are being urged to do their part to conserve them by finding alternatives to peat compost. Celebrity gardeners are calling for pete-based compost to be phased out completely and replaced with more environmentally responsible choices. Irish peat bogs are a unique wildlife habitat that support a staggering array of … [Read more...] about Gardeners urged to phase out peat
