Down Garden Services

GARDEN CREATURES

Here are some common garden creatures that you might come across while gardening. Not all are enemies and can indeed be beneficial, eg. preying on other creatures which damage crops or flowers. It is a fundamental law of nature to eat and be eaten so the beneficial creatures need a supply of what we consider pests, to survive. We may have replaced our hunter-gatherer skills with a shopping trolley and credit card, but this option is not available in the wild; eg. the complete removal of slugs and snails would seriously affect the diet of some birds. If they are not having a detrimental effect, then leave them alone as they all form part of the natural balance between flora and fauna which gives us the beauty we all strive for.

There are some real villains, Vine Weevils and New Zealand Flatworms being the most notable. These two add to their dastardliness by the fact that they do not need a mate to reproduce, so if only one individual is brought into the garden they can establish themselves. There are a few new "aliens" which have been spotted recently. The big problem with introduced species is that they are not part of the existing food chain so may not have a natural predator; our biggest defence against them is our climate, which fortunately kills off most of the creatures accidently carried here on plants or in food imports.
Some can be used to control others which are present in abundance and are damaging ornamental or crop plants. These biological controls have to be used carefully or they can become pests themselves.
The following creatures have been arranged as Friends, those with Some Bad Habits and The Enemy depending on how they behave in the garden. Some of the friendly creatures may not do anything physical to help, but their presence adds to the pleasure of the garden. The life cycles of insects involve forms which can have different diets, so although Moths are considered benign and important pollinators, their larvae are amongst the most destructive to plant-life.

FRIENDS

Peacock Butterfly Red Admiral Butterfly Small Tortoiseshell Butterfly Painted Lady Butterfly Bumblebee Western Honeybee Red-tailed Bumblebee Hover Fly Common Darter Dragonfly Ground Beetle Devil's Coach Horse Ladybird Centipede Earthworm Garden spider Sexton Beetle Dung Beetle Robin Swallow Common Frog Cinnabar Moth

Original Fine Art Paintings by World Artists Gardening and Birds Raising Chickens and Goats Baking Bread.

Back to top /\

SOME BAD HABITS

Red Ants Blackbird Earwig Elephant Hawk-moth Froghopper Hawthorn Shieldbug Millipede Pill Millipede Moth & Pupa Large Yellow Underwing Moth Grey Dagger Moth Caterpillar Knot Grass Moth Caterpillar Red Velvet Mite Song Thrush Wasp Woodlouse

Crocus.co.uk Up to 50% off selected plants Garden furniture Design service Garden Machinery Hammacher Schlemmer for unique patio furniture, hammocks, garden tools, lighting and more. Country Bookshop over 3.2 million titles UK and US books, discounted magazine subscriptions, bargain books upto 80% off

Back to top /\

THE ENEMY

Aphid Big Bud Mite Large Cabbage White Caterpilar Small Cabbage White Caterpillar Gooseberry Sawfly Larva Aquilegia Sawfly Larva Cockchafer Grub Cockchafer Beetle Carrot Fly Grub Leatherjacket Leaf Beetle Brown Scale Insect Midge Larva New Zealand Flatworm Australian Flatworm Pea Beetle Red Lily Beetle Slug Snail Wireworm Woolly Aphids Vine Weevil Rabbit

Homemade Insecticides Secret Information Big Multinationals Don't Want You to Know Homemade Insecticides Secret Information Big Multinationals Don't Want You to Know Underground Pests? Your guide to banishing underground pests

Back to top /\

Friends    Some Bad Habits   The Enemy

Back to Home Page

Or use the back button of your browser to return to previuos page

	Select where to search:-  Search this site Search the Web