I LOVE this! Here's a WIN-WIN for your garden and bats: Put up a bat house and collect your own guano without disturbing the bats. We put cardboard boxes or other tubs underneath all our bat houses, so have all the guano we need to amend our soil.
So brilliant, Melissa! We actually have a bat box pretty high up near our roof. I don't know if anyone's ever used it, and we definitely don't see any droppings. :(
could you talk more to the unwanted visitors and maintaining a population of their predators? I bought a handful of ladybugs online and I still feel pretty crappy about it. I know in theory we should plant native plants that attract them but until those bloom all the soft bodied insects run rampant. I tried to harvest and eat some of my lettuce and there was more aphid on it than lettuce.
I am also curious your thoughts on home beekeeping. despite the native wild plants in my yard I have yet to see any bees hanging out in my garden and I was thinking about keeping a small hive nearby. I have no interest in any of the byproducts, I essentially just want to put up a little house with a bee starter pack but I'm not really sure the best way to go about that ethically. Or if it even is ethical in the first place.
OK -- there's a lot here. Let me try and answer all of your questions. Let me start with the easy one first...I don't recommend keeping a hive. It might take time for the native pollinators to find you (include native plants, as well as a water source). As I discuss here 9https://colleenpatrickgoudreau.substack.com/p/keep-flowers-not-bees), honey bees are cultivated just as other domesticated animals are, and farmers are making sure they have enough to eat. Not so with native bees. One of the problems for native bees is not having enough food (since we all plant so many ornamentals and other plants pollinators can't eat), but also: honey bees compete with wild bees for nectar and pollen, transmit diseases, and can push native bees out of their habitats. Well-intentioned as it may be, keeping honey bees does not help wild pollinators—scientists compare it to farming chickens to save wild birds. Next, I know how frustrating it can be to deal with aphids on lettuces (it's one of the reasons I stopped growing food and just focus on plants for wildlife; I have plenty of access to farmers markets and produce. It's easier to let them worry about aphids). Anyway, you can spray aphids off with a hose, but you need to be vigilant. As for the lady bugs, yeah, there are a few different reasons to not buy them, one of which is that shipping insects across regions can spread diseases and parasites, threatening both native ladybugs and other beneficial insects. I hope that helps a little. I'll continue talking about creating a backyard wildlife habitat, but like I said, keep planting natives, and add some water vessels and moving water if you can.
Thank you so much for the detailed response. That makes complete sense about having cultivated bees being more competition for the native friends. Still, i winder if i can put up an empty hive as a safe space for a wild population to move to, should they choose.
As far as ladybugs, that is also a great point. Luckily, the place i bought them from is actually just a few hours away, but i know the travel is still stressful. I was trying to spray the aphids off and that works with sturdy roses, but the lettuce was too fragile, which is why i opted for the pretator path.
This is my first time gardening and i am learning so much but still have much more to go. :D
We're all learning! :) Just a couple more things...most native bees are solitary -- not social, so a hive wouldn't make sense if you're trying to attract native bees. HOWEVER, if you want to do something to attract native bees, you can buy a bee hotel. There's lots of information about bee hotels but basically, they should be placed near native flowering plants so bees have easy access to food sources and can efficiently collect pollen and nectar for their brood. And you'll want to keep an eye on cleaning it out every year or so, since they can harbor pests, parasites, or diseases that harm bees. But bee hotels are a great way to support native bees! :)
I LOVE this! Here's a WIN-WIN for your garden and bats: Put up a bat house and collect your own guano without disturbing the bats. We put cardboard boxes or other tubs underneath all our bat houses, so have all the guano we need to amend our soil.
So brilliant, Melissa! We actually have a bat box pretty high up near our roof. I don't know if anyone's ever used it, and we definitely don't see any droppings. :(
could you talk more to the unwanted visitors and maintaining a population of their predators? I bought a handful of ladybugs online and I still feel pretty crappy about it. I know in theory we should plant native plants that attract them but until those bloom all the soft bodied insects run rampant. I tried to harvest and eat some of my lettuce and there was more aphid on it than lettuce.
I am also curious your thoughts on home beekeeping. despite the native wild plants in my yard I have yet to see any bees hanging out in my garden and I was thinking about keeping a small hive nearby. I have no interest in any of the byproducts, I essentially just want to put up a little house with a bee starter pack but I'm not really sure the best way to go about that ethically. Or if it even is ethical in the first place.
OK -- there's a lot here. Let me try and answer all of your questions. Let me start with the easy one first...I don't recommend keeping a hive. It might take time for the native pollinators to find you (include native plants, as well as a water source). As I discuss here 9https://colleenpatrickgoudreau.substack.com/p/keep-flowers-not-bees), honey bees are cultivated just as other domesticated animals are, and farmers are making sure they have enough to eat. Not so with native bees. One of the problems for native bees is not having enough food (since we all plant so many ornamentals and other plants pollinators can't eat), but also: honey bees compete with wild bees for nectar and pollen, transmit diseases, and can push native bees out of their habitats. Well-intentioned as it may be, keeping honey bees does not help wild pollinators—scientists compare it to farming chickens to save wild birds. Next, I know how frustrating it can be to deal with aphids on lettuces (it's one of the reasons I stopped growing food and just focus on plants for wildlife; I have plenty of access to farmers markets and produce. It's easier to let them worry about aphids). Anyway, you can spray aphids off with a hose, but you need to be vigilant. As for the lady bugs, yeah, there are a few different reasons to not buy them, one of which is that shipping insects across regions can spread diseases and parasites, threatening both native ladybugs and other beneficial insects. I hope that helps a little. I'll continue talking about creating a backyard wildlife habitat, but like I said, keep planting natives, and add some water vessels and moving water if you can.
Thank you so much for the detailed response. That makes complete sense about having cultivated bees being more competition for the native friends. Still, i winder if i can put up an empty hive as a safe space for a wild population to move to, should they choose.
As far as ladybugs, that is also a great point. Luckily, the place i bought them from is actually just a few hours away, but i know the travel is still stressful. I was trying to spray the aphids off and that works with sturdy roses, but the lettuce was too fragile, which is why i opted for the pretator path.
This is my first time gardening and i am learning so much but still have much more to go. :D
We're all learning! :) Just a couple more things...most native bees are solitary -- not social, so a hive wouldn't make sense if you're trying to attract native bees. HOWEVER, if you want to do something to attract native bees, you can buy a bee hotel. There's lots of information about bee hotels but basically, they should be placed near native flowering plants so bees have easy access to food sources and can efficiently collect pollen and nectar for their brood. And you'll want to keep an eye on cleaning it out every year or so, since they can harbor pests, parasites, or diseases that harm bees. But bee hotels are a great way to support native bees! :)