Search - Articles

, as there were two or three ladybird couples mating on the plants, I chose to let nature take its course and let the blackfly be (ladybird larvae have a voracious appetite for aphids). This week I popped down and found so many ladybirds that I worried there weren

This Saturday (30 October) is RSPB Feed the Birds Day. To celebrate, I gave my feeders a good wash with hot water and disinfectant and bought some expensive bird seed. The birds, still busy eating aphids from the trees in the local park, are none

sweet peas that ended up in the border, but they're no giants.I've succeeded in my personal mission to beat Adam Pasco in the height stakes, as did our our colleague Ross, who managed to grow his sunflowers to a respectable 2m. Others weren't so lucky

was there to encourage people to take part in its ladybird surveys and help map the spread of the harlequin ladybird over the UK.The harlequin first came over to the UK in 2003. It was an inevitable invasion: a native of Asia, it was being used for biological control

, Myathropa florea, laying eggs inside the bin. Another one was buzzing about on Sunday, trying to find a way to the waste inside. The larvae of many hoverfly species eat aphids, but not these. The ‘rat tailed maggots’ are happier living in decaying matter