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
Wildlife Gardening
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!
Give weeds a break in your garden
All over Ireland gardeners are on a mission to eradicate weeds... but is there a different approach that can help the gardener AND help Ireland's wildlfie?****Weeds!The very mention of them can send gardeners into spasm. Throughout summer well into autumn we fight a never-ending battle with weeds. It’s a futile exercise, because we know the seeds released this year … [Read more...] about Give weeds a break in your garden
Giving birds a leg up on the property ladder
Round ones, square ones, big ones, small ones, wooden ones... even ones made from recycled election posters: nest boxes, just like the birds that use them, come in all shapes and sizes. They’re a great wildlife win-win -- giving birds a safe, secure place to raise their young, and giving us the opportunity to watch all the drama unfold without disturbing them. At this time of … [Read more...] about Giving birds a leg up on the property ladder
