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It's the height of summer. Usually there are loads of insects buzzing around, especially flies. Right now, in the corner of West London, there are none.
Where are all the insects? on 15:20 - Jul 30 by dmm
R_from_afar, love your posts in this thread. You seem to be quite the expert on conservation gardening. Is it your job?
Thank you, you are too kind
I have been heavily into ecology and conservation since my teens, which were a very long time ago, and have been creating a wildlife garden since 2005. I'm very interested in wildflower meadows and traditional hay meadows in particular and scan Twitter most days for anything relevant.
After I got made redundant recently, I actually tried to get a job with a conservation charity but failed to so, unfortunately. All my work experience is in the technology space. Ah well.
"Things had started becoming increasingly desperate at Loftus Road but QPR have been handed a massive lifeline and the place has absolutely erupted. it's carnage. It's bedlam. It's 1-1."
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Where are all the insects? on 21:24 - Jul 30 with 2321 views
Where are all the insects? on 21:14 - Jul 30 by R_from_afar
Thank you, you are too kind
I have been heavily into ecology and conservation since my teens, which were a very long time ago, and have been creating a wildlife garden since 2005. I'm very interested in wildflower meadows and traditional hay meadows in particular and scan Twitter most days for anything relevant.
After I got made redundant recently, I actually tried to get a job with a conservation charity but failed to so, unfortunately. All my work experience is in the technology space. Ah well.
R - have considered volunteering with your local authority? I tried it on a regular basis for a few months as a way in to a permanent job. Didn’t get it, that was an age thing, but it helped land me a job at a local garden centre in Denham. Best move ever (so far).
Wildflowers areas in the garden are such a beautiful thing. They don’t have to be massive, but they are just so pleasing with no real maintenance.
Getting older can be good 😊
Did I ever mention that I was in Minder?
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Where are all the insects? on 21:49 - Jul 30 with 2278 views
Where are all the insects? on 21:24 - Jul 30 by Mick_S
R - have considered volunteering with your local authority? I tried it on a regular basis for a few months as a way in to a permanent job. Didn’t get it, that was an age thing, but it helped land me a job at a local garden centre in Denham. Best move ever (so far).
Wildflowers areas in the garden are such a beautiful thing. They don’t have to be massive, but they are just so pleasing with no real maintenance.
Getting older can be good 😊
Good suggestion, thanks, I have actually retired now but, coincidentally, I have been doing volunteer gardening at my local church for quite a few years. I'm on pruning duty this Saturday
"Things had started becoming increasingly desperate at Loftus Road but QPR have been handed a massive lifeline and the place has absolutely erupted. it's carnage. It's bedlam. It's 1-1."
0
Where are all the insects? on 21:52 - Jul 30 with 2266 views
Where are all the insects? on 21:49 - Jul 30 by R_from_afar
Good suggestion, thanks, I have actually retired now but, coincidentally, I have been doing volunteer gardening at my local church for quite a few years. I'm on pruning duty this Saturday
I do like to deadhead.
My Father had a profound influence on me, he was a lunatic.
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Where are all the insects? on 21:57 - Jul 30 with 2251 views
Where are all the insects? on 13:44 - Jul 30 by R_from_afar
"I'm going to dig a wildlife pond in my front garden at the end of August, just to do my bit".
Nice one You will actually find that a lot of insects come to it just to drink.
I have had one for a few years but - good news alert - the advice on how deep to make it has changed since I created mine and it's believed that ponds don't need to be any deeper than 30cm. There's some great advice here: https://freshwaterhabitats.org.uk/advice-resources/garden-pond-advice-hub/
One damp loving plant I would recommend growing if you have the right conditions is meadowsweet. The smell of it is divine, like marzipan. It's quite a tall plant but easy to manage, you just cut it back after it's flowered.
You'll doubtless end up with loads of soil from the pond's construction and you could use that to create a - roll on the drums - beetle bank. That's another story entirely, though...
First time this summer we've had a few sunny days in a row, and I'm seeing much better numbers of pollinators. I use persicaria amplexicaulis varieties a lot - buzzing today. I've got a relatively small council house garden, but i've stuffed it full of plants. I get a lot of positive comments. My 'water feature' is a gorilla tub with an oxygenator and marginal in it, hidden among pots on my patio. Insects and birds love it, so getting a water feature can be
[Post edited 30 Jul 23:14]
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Where are all the insects? on 22:25 - Jul 30 with 2205 views
This thread is the best one on here at the moment. Good to hear about people actually trying to making a positive difference in our own little ways.
Last year I started landscaping my front garden as a hot/mediterranean style garden as it is south facing and gets super hot. I've filled it with herbs etc and the bees this past week have been loving it. I often go to RHS Wisley, and I picked up a Cola plant in the spring, just to see what it was like. The thing only smells of fizzy cola bottles, the ones when you were a kid and bought for a penny!
This thread is the best one on here at the moment. Good to hear about people actually trying to making a positive difference in our own little ways.
Last year I started landscaping my front garden as a hot/mediterranean style garden as it is south facing and gets super hot. I've filled it with herbs etc and the bees this past week have been loving it. I often go to RHS Wisley, and I picked up a Cola plant in the spring, just to see what it was like. The thing only smells of fizzy cola bottles, the ones when you were a kid and bought for a penny!
We wanted to install 2 plants that attracted honey bees beside the walkway to the front door last year . After a bit of research and going off availability we decided on 2 mature Pinky Winky Hydrangea bushes/plants and while they have beautiful pink and white flowers there is no sign of the honey bees . We have a beautiful Lavander plant around the side which was a magnet for honey bees but sadly they are gone too its very upsetting . Apparantly the major issues causing their decline is pesticides,loss of habitat ,decline in polled resources ,disease and climate change hopefully that changes soon the world need those little bees
2
Where are all the insects? on 17:03 - Jul 31 with 1982 views
This thread is the best one on here at the moment. Good to hear about people actually trying to making a positive difference in our own little ways.
Last year I started landscaping my front garden as a hot/mediterranean style garden as it is south facing and gets super hot. I've filled it with herbs etc and the bees this past week have been loving it. I often go to RHS Wisley, and I picked up a Cola plant in the spring, just to see what it was like. The thing only smells of fizzy cola bottles, the ones when you were a kid and bought for a penny!
"Last year I started landscaping my front garden as a hot/mediterranean style garden as it is south facing and gets super hot. I've filled it with herbs etc"
Our front garden also faces south and a herb in it which has been a smash hit with honeybees and also some tiny little black wasps - or bees, not sure, but if they are indeed wasps, they are not the yellow and black stinging type - is oregano. If you let it flower, you get lots of small, white flowers which pollinators love. An added bonus is that you also get a pleasant smell as you walk past the plant.
I can't take the credit for our front garden oregano clump, it self-seeded from from oregano in the back garden!
"Things had started becoming increasingly desperate at Loftus Road but QPR have been handed a massive lifeline and the place has absolutely erupted. it's carnage. It's bedlam. It's 1-1."
2
Where are all the insects? on 17:12 - Jul 31 with 1970 views
Where are all the insects? on 17:12 - Jul 31 by Monkey_Roots
I was recently given 6 tiny Exatosome tiaratum (Spiny leaf insect) - a friend of mine is a bug scientist and grew them from some eggs.
They are pretty cool, and they do poop a lot.
I have put some Hawthorne, Oak, Bramble and Rose in with them to see what they like... so far, the Hawthorne is winning.
I just thought this might be a suitable post in this thread.
My neighbour used to keep stick insects and according to him, bramble leaves were their favourite meal...
Edit: I just remembered that in days gone by in the UK, some people used to call young hawthorn leaves "bread and cheese". Before anyone gets excited thinking they taste like said victuals, this was not due to their taste, rather, it was because they were filling
[Post edited 31 Jul 18:50]
"Things had started becoming increasingly desperate at Loftus Road but QPR have been handed a massive lifeline and the place has absolutely erupted. it's carnage. It's bedlam. It's 1-1."
0
Where are all the insects? on 19:11 - Jul 31 with 1872 views
Where are all the insects? on 18:46 - Jul 31 by R_from_afar
My neighbour used to keep stick insects and according to him, bramble leaves were their favourite meal...
Edit: I just remembered that in days gone by in the UK, some people used to call young hawthorn leaves "bread and cheese". Before anyone gets excited thinking they taste like said victuals, this was not due to their taste, rather, it was because they were filling
I lost a bay and an olive tree last winter, both mature plants with no sign of disease. I suspect due to waterlogging even though the soil was pretty decent we had just too much rain.
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Where are all the insects? on 19:30 - Jul 31 with 1849 views
Here in Switzerland I had a family (colony?) of bees move into the hole above my blinds on the balcony earlier in the year. The missus wasn't best pleased but I was happy leaving them to their own devices, it was interesting watching them come and go and they never bothered any of us. Curiously, their activities seemed to ramp up during heavy storms.
Unfortunately I recently came back after a couple of months at the Euros and it seems they've all died :( The only evidence of them ever having been there was a solitary dead bee on the balcony floor
QPR - "shit but local"
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Where are all the insects? on 20:04 - Jul 31 with 1807 views
I lost a bay and an olive tree last winter, both mature plants with no sign of disease. I suspect due to waterlogging even though the soil was pretty decent we had just too much rain.
Climate Change my arse.Stop spraying and things will recover. Some species up here are thriving,say two bloody great water rats today out of my pond feasting on the bread an rolled oats I chuck out.We treat our creatures with kindness and generousity here in our organic smallholding.Not a drop of pesticide has been used for 20 years.
Where are all the insects? on 18:46 - Jul 31 by R_from_afar
My neighbour used to keep stick insects and according to him, bramble leaves were their favourite meal...
Edit: I just remembered that in days gone by in the UK, some people used to call young hawthorn leaves "bread and cheese". Before anyone gets excited thinking they taste like said victuals, this was not due to their taste, rather, it was because they were filling
[Post edited 31 Jul 18:50]
I enjoy a bit of foraging, especially in the spring when young hawthorn leaves are abundant. They taste of very little but can bulk up a salad.
1
Where are all the insects? on 20:38 - Jul 31 with 1769 views
Where are all the insects? on 00:22 - Jul 31 by CLAREMAN1995
We wanted to install 2 plants that attracted honey bees beside the walkway to the front door last year . After a bit of research and going off availability we decided on 2 mature Pinky Winky Hydrangea bushes/plants and while they have beautiful pink and white flowers there is no sign of the honey bees . We have a beautiful Lavander plant around the side which was a magnet for honey bees but sadly they are gone too its very upsetting . Apparantly the major issues causing their decline is pesticides,loss of habitat ,decline in polled resources ,disease and climate change hopefully that changes soon the world need those little bees
I find hydrangeas a bit hit and miss with bees, although the paniculatas do tend to attract them. The use of pesticides in America, both on produce and in gardens, is off the scale
2
Where are all the insects? on 22:20 - Jul 31 with 1669 views
Where are all the insects? on 17:03 - Jul 31 by R_from_afar
"Last year I started landscaping my front garden as a hot/mediterranean style garden as it is south facing and gets super hot. I've filled it with herbs etc"
Our front garden also faces south and a herb in it which has been a smash hit with honeybees and also some tiny little black wasps - or bees, not sure, but if they are indeed wasps, they are not the yellow and black stinging type - is oregano. If you let it flower, you get lots of small, white flowers which pollinators love. An added bonus is that you also get a pleasant smell as you walk past the plant.
I can't take the credit for our front garden oregano clump, it self-seeded from from oregano in the back garden!
The oregano variety 'Kent Beauty', while not used for culinary purposes, is a beautiful ornamental that attracts bees.
1
Where are all the insects? on 12:32 - Aug 1 with 1485 views
My garden is full of plants that are supposed to attract insects and we don't do too badly although we've had more in the past.
I was pleased to watch a Gatekeeper Butterfly gorging on the nectar on my Hemp Agrimony plants when it was taken by a Hornet and carried off. It's a jungle out there!
2
Where are all the insects? on 07:38 - Aug 15 with 1100 views
Good news finally ,I was cutting my grass yesterday and had to move one of our purple Lavander plants out of the way and it was full of honey bees so I just cut around it . We have the same plant around the front and its starting to get a load of honey bees too so maybe its just a summer heat thing and they were waiting for it to cool down . There is a couple of giant bumble bee types buzzing but they dont seem to bother the smaller honey bees . Now the hornets are another issue but luckily they are not nesting around the deck this year .Very angry and aggressive fcukers if you get too close
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Where are all the insects? on 15:40 - Aug 15 with 752 views
Well at least the midges aren't so prevalent last couple of years so I can actually go for a walk up the lane after 6pm without wearing a hat sprayed with fly killer.Swifts/Housemartens and bats rather mournful at the lack though..
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