Information on garden wildlife and what you should do about it.
Mosquitos. If you live in a semi-damp place with warm weather, you know what they are. We all hate those annoying little creatures sucking our blood, buzzing in our ears, and ruining our outdoor time. There are lots of ways to get rid of them, but mosquito foggers are the most common. But do mosquito…
Butterflies are beautiful creatures, and they’re also excellent pollinators. It’s no wonder so many people want to have them around. So, how exactly can we get butterflies into our backyard? Butterflies are most attracted to plants with flowers that are vibrant in color (especially blues and purples), have high nectar content, and have the easiest…
While working on Backyard Boosts and landscaping my home, I’ve been asked, “why do you plant so much lavender?” I love the smell of lavender, but I also love that bees and other pollinators love lavender just as much. Bees and wasps love lavender because of its scent, its color, the shape of it’s flower,…
Winter brings its own complications to the realm of feeding birds. To overcome these issues, I’ve come up with a list of suggestions for specific bird feeders that might be a bit more winter-friendly. The best bird feeders for winter are those made of metal or with a metal roof and possibly base, those that…
Every year I hear more and more people tell me what to do and what not to do when it comes to feeding birds during the winter. The most common myths about birds in winter: Birds will freeze All birds fly south If you stop feeding birds, they will die Nut butter can kill birds…
You’ve seen them out there all puffed up like little colorful snowballs in the wintertime, looking for food and scraping by. But should you feed the birds that are hanging around your yard? Because most birds need food during temperature extremes when their standard food supply is lacking or while on migration, it is helpful…
You know it’s a great thing to accomplish – making a home for bees, insects that are in danger all over the world due to climate changes, and the use of pesticides. Not only that, but if you have a garden or flowers of any kind, bees can help keep them pollinated and producing. But…
There are plenty of reasons for having to get a new queen for your beehive. The hive could be in decline because of an older queen, the queen may have died without a successor, or the queen may have swarmed and the successor wound up non-viable. So what to do? Requeening is the act of…
Yes, I will tell you how much a Queen Bee costs. I know there are a lot of backyard apiarists in our region and if you’ve ever had the curiosity and wanted to help out with the bee population, maybe you should look into it. A queen bee’s cost is directly influenced by the type…
We’ve probably all heard them. Some of us have seen them. They come around every year as the weather becomes warm again, just like clockwork. What are they? Your friendly neighborhood toads. Because toads are a natural form of pest control for insects, they are definitely beneficial to your backyard. Not only that, but their…
Cats like raised beds because the soil is usually looser and warmer than the soil in the rest of the yard or even the rest of the garden. We keep our beds relatively bare with just the soil, so cats find this to their liking, using it as litter. They’ll also chew on fresh leaves…
You’ve seen them – scurrying up the back wall of your house, making you jump while weeding your garden, or sunning on the patio while you drink your afternoon tea. Every region has its own bunch of lizards, and I’ve seen bunches of them over my lifetime. But, I’ve always wondered, are they beneficial or…
