White ZZ plants are not exactly “White” but have a tint of yellow and white on the leaves, which makes them appear very different from the regular green and rare black types.
09.03.2024 - 05:41 / irishtimes.com / Fionnuala Fallon
Since last autumn, I’ve regularly discovered fresh holes in the lawn as well as scratch marks on a favourite tree. I suspect my garden is being visited by a badger. Is this damage likely to continue – and what should I do? Anna, Co Wicklow
It’s not unusual for these nocturnal omnivorous mammals to visit gardens at night. Large, powerful, muscular animals, they use their heads and strong, sharp claws to excavate the ground in search of food, often leaving what are known as “snuffle holes” behind them. About 80 per cent of their diet is typically comprised of earthworms and chafer grubs, but they’ll also eat small animals and reptiles such as rodents, rabbits, hedgehogs and frogs as well as bulbs, vegetables and fruit.
Given the time of year that the visits to your garden first started, it’s very possible that your visiting badger is seeking out chafer grubs in particular. The larvae of certain species of chafer beetle are C-shaped and cream-coloured, with a dark head, and are about 15mm in length. Unlike the larvae of the vine weevil, with which they’re sometimes confused, chafer grubs can be distinguished by the fact that they have distinct legs.
It’s worth bearing in mind that some species of chafer grubs play a beneficial role in the ecosystems of our gardens
These grubs hatch from eggs laid in the lawn by the parent beetle in autumn and then burrow deep into the ground, where they remain dormant over winter before pupating to emerge as chafer beetles in spring. For badgers they are a great delicacy, and they will go to some lengths to excavate them from their winter hiding spots, often causing considerable damage to lawns as they do so.
The good news is that the number of chafer grubs in the ground naturally declines
White ZZ plants are not exactly “White” but have a tint of yellow and white on the leaves, which makes them appear very different from the regular green and rare black types.
Six DVD’s in a boxed set ‘A Year at Kew – The Collection’ (Series 1-3) with Alan Titchmarsh is available from Amazon in time for a Christmas gift. Over 1000 minutes of gardening in a month-by-month journey via the BBC through the world’s greatest botanical garden.
We bought an old house and have been working extra hard on a self-build extension and house renovation for the last seven months. We have installed a big fixed window pane with the idea of looking out on to a lovely green back garden, but at the moment it is just a mound of earth, derived from the dig to get foundations done. What can I place here that will green quickly and also be bee and bird friendly and give us some nice colours and view for this summer? Would a wild flower meadow be the way to go until we figure out what to do with space or what can you recommend that is eco and purse friendly? RH, Co Dublin
The winding peaks and troughs of Arizona’s Verde Valley, weaving through jagged ochre mountains, dreamy cactus-clad deserts and deep volcanic canyons, make up some of the most iconic images of the American West. For thousands of years, the valley has been home to both the Verde River, one of Arizona’s only perennial wild rivers, and to Indigenous communities from the ancient Sinagua and Hohokam peoples to present-day tribes including the Yavapai, Hopi, Apache and Zuni. It is also home to 270 species of birds, 94 species of mammals and 76 species of native amphibians and reptiles. All this makes the Verde River key to the history, culture and ecosystem of central Arizona.
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Oxalis triangularis, also known as false shamrock, is an eye-catching bulbous perennial that makes an excellent and long-lived house plant. Bold, dramatic foliage in shades of dark purple to wine-red creates a striking contrast to blush-white flowers borne in summer. The leaves are three-lobed, hence the name of shamrock which it resembles, though is not actually related to. Oxalis triangularis is native to from Brazil. Its leaves have extra fascination because they open during the day and close at night.
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Common beech (Fagus sylvatica) is one of the most majestic of European native trees, yet also makes an excellent formal hedge as it tolerates regular clipping. Although deciduous, beech is still good to use as a screening hedge as growth is dense, twiggy, and the dead leaves usually remain on the branches for much of the winter, often until the new leaves appear in spring. There are both green and purple-leaved varieties of common beech which are suitable for hedging. The purple-leaved form (Fagus sylvatica ‘Purpurea’ is commonly known as copper beech. To grow as individual trees, the common beech species becomes too big for all but the largest gardens, but there are columnar (fastigiate) and weeping forms of beech that are much more compact in size.
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