I made a home for lacewings in the bug house. Roll up corrugated cardboard, and stuff it into a 2l pop bottle, cut down to the straight sided bit. Lay it on its side in a sunny protected position.
Ladybirds everywhere in my garden too B-M. No sign of any aphids yet for them to feast on so I hope the ladybirds can wait and are able to find somewhere to hide from the forecast frost this weekend.
I found a ladybird in some pulmonaria I was potting up for a friend this morning.
Other good aphid predators are tits and sparrows who feed them to their young in huge quantities. I hang peanut feeders near roses to encourage them to visit and there are more, plus fat balls and loose seed feeders in the veggie plot so they'll come and hoover up caterpillars too later on.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
I've been in client gardens all week and the number of ladybirds out sunning themselves is more than ive seen in quite a few years. Hopefully no greenfly this year.
HH - I've always had cats but also always fed the birds. The trick is to put ground food down in a spot with no cover from which sneaky cats can pounce and then hang peanut feeders and fat balls up high where cats can't leap without being seen in good time. Have shrubs nearby for bird cover from cats and raptors.
Works for me.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
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There are many other predators, including some hoverfly larvae.
https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=507
I don't think the specific plant will be of interest to the predators, they will presumably eat aphids wherever they are.
I made a home for lacewings in the bug house. Roll up corrugated cardboard, and stuff it into a 2l pop bottle, cut down to the straight sided bit. Lay it on its side in a sunny protected position.
the last few weeks, wherever i look in my garden im finding many many lady birds
sorry to say my baby daughter was interested and accidentally squashed, teaching her to be more careful
im not sure why i have so many though
Ladybirds everywhere in my garden too B-M. No sign of any aphids yet for them to feast on so I hope the ladybirds can wait and are able to find somewhere to hide from the forecast frost this weekend.
I found a ladybird in some pulmonaria I was potting up for a friend this morning.
Other good aphid predators are tits and sparrows who feed them to their young in huge quantities. I hang peanut feeders near roses to encourage them to visit and there are more, plus fat balls and loose seed feeders in the veggie plot so they'll come and hoover up caterpillars too later on.
I've been in client gardens all week and the number of ladybirds out sunning themselves is more than ive seen in quite a few years. Hopefully no greenfly this year.
HH - I've always had cats but also always fed the birds. The trick is to put ground food down in a spot with no cover from which sneaky cats can pounce and then hang peanut feeders and fat balls up high where cats can't leap without being seen in good time. Have shrubs nearby for bird cover from cats and raptors.
Works for me.