Hummingbird gardens
August 13, 2008
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Hummingbird gardens
If you’ve ever watched tiny hummingbirds hovering around a flower bud, you were probably in awe of them. These tiny little birds flutter their wings so fast you can hardly see them, and many gardeners feel so strongly about this wonderful little critters that they believe their garden is not complete until they’ve attracted at least one.
Attracting hummingbirds to your garden can sometimes be done just by placing a simple hummingbird feeder in a tree, or mounted to the outside of a window. This doesn’t always do the trick though, and there are much better ways to get these tiny little birds coming to your garden regularly. The best way of course, is to simply create a hummingbird garden.
Sphere: Related ContentButterfly gardens
August 9, 2008
Butterfly gardens
Creating butterfly gardens is another wonderful way to enjoy nature in your yard and garden. Like birds, creating gardens which will attract butterflies is as easy as putting out plants, water features, and housing areas designed just for them.
One of the best kinds of plants you can have in a butterfly garden is a butterfly bush. These grow quite fast and large though, so you’ll need to make sure you have room before planting them.
Sphere: Related ContentBird houses and feeders
August 5, 2008
Bird houses and feeders
Putting bird houses, bird baths, and bird feeders throughout your garden is a wonderful way to enjoy more of nature every day. Birds love beautiful gardens, and if you provide them with water, housing, and additional food - particularly in the winter time - they will continue returning to your garden for years to come.
Birds love water sources of any kind, and they particularly seem to enjoy moving water sources. Even putting a water hose out into the middle of the yard and turning it on low to medium stream strength is enough to attract many birds to your yard very quickly.
Sphere: Related ContentLove Butterflies? Include the Plants that Attract them in your Garden Design
August 1, 2008
Love Butterflies? Include the Plants that Attract them in your Garden Design
Butterfly gardens filled with plants that attract those gorgeous, multi-colored little creatures that float so airily from plant to plant?don?t have to contain the huge eucalyptus trees so beloved by Monarch butterflies. They can be any size, from a smallish container planting like a window box to a small section of a perennial bed that boasts other plants beloved by butterflies, or even a bit of property you?ve let go ?back to the wild.?
The trick in designing gardens for butterflies is learning the species that frequent your part of the world and then planting their favorite flowering plants, including plant varieties that supply nectar and those that provide fodder for pre-butterfly caterpillars. If you have a university agricultural extension or USDA office nearby, ask the people there which species are common where you live and what plants they fancy. Otherwise, an Internet search will provide you with the similar information.
Sphere: Related ContentAttracting birds to your garden
July 28, 2008
Attracting birds to your garden
One of the greatest joys of gardening is the pleasure you get when birds, butterflies, and other wildlife start visiting your yard. Birds and butterflies are particularly enjoyable, because they’re beautiful to watch while they’re going about their business.
If you like the idea of attracting birds to your garden, it’s easy enough to do. Just plant some trees, bushes, shrubs, and flowers which are naturally attractive to them!
Sphere: Related ContentButterfly Gardens
May 17, 2008
Butterfly Gardens
Everyone loves butterflies but knowing how to keep and attract them to your home is really quite easy. There is no minimum size to a Butterfly garden; they can be as small as a container or window planter, or as large as your can design and build. What you want to create is a complete environment that will not only attract butterflies but will also entice them to lay their eggs; so you will want plants that caterpillars would love to eat too. In essence, you will create a complete ecosystem for all stages of their life.
First you will need to do a little research on your local area as to what butterflies are common, then you can begin searching for the best nectar and host plants for your butterfly garden. Monarch butterfly caterpillars like Milkweed, the Common Snout-Nosed wants hackberries and so it is important to know what butterflies live where you live. You also should know that what caterpillars eat is not what a Butterfly gets its nourishment from. Butterflies drink their food thus they need nectar bearing flowers and plants which hold water on their leaves. Caterpillars eat leaves.
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