gardens | Common News Update

Mar122021 by adminNo Comments

Brown stink bug among ‘future threats’ to gardens

Science

Getty ImagesGardeners are being urged to be on alert for the stink bug insect and other pests set to arrive in the UK.The brown marmorated stink bug has been spotted at three places in England so far, but experts are warning that it may become more widespread.The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) said gardeners should be on their guard for the insect.It could appear alongside more familiar animals such as slugs, snails and the box tree caterpillar.Andy Salisbury, principal entomologist at the RHS, said the pests and diseases that gardeners commonly face on their plots have fluctuated over the last 25 years.'Game changing' plant disease warningRevealed: The secret life of the spittlebugDeadly olive tree disease 'could cost billions'"With gardens taking on a more important role in supporting...

Feb202021 by adminNo Comments

Urban pollinators get almost all their food from backyard gardens

Science

Feb. 19 (UPI) -- Which came first, the backyard garden or the backyard pollinator? Strictly speaking, pollinators have been around a lot longer, but a new study suggests a lot fewer urban pollinators would be around without residential gardens. Advertisement In a first-of-its-kind study, researchers in Britain determined just three home gardens can yield a teaspoon of nectar each day -- enough food to nourish thousands of bees. For the study, scientists used a fine glass tube to extract and measure the amount of nectar produced by flowers in the residential gardens of four major cities: Bristol, Edinburgh, Leeds and Reading. Using a refractometer, scientists measured the nectar concentration in the nectar extracted from more than 3,000 individual flowers. "Although the quantity and diver...

Oct182020 by adminNo Comments

Gardens help towns and cities beat countryside for tree cover

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Dec72019 by adminNo Comments

Biodiversity: The best plants for attracting insects to gardens

Science

You can do your bit for insects by growing lots of foliage in your garden, a study has found.Ground-dwelling insects, such as beetles, generally benefit from dense vegetation, including evergreens.Spiders, however, prefer a bit of bare earth - such as a bald patch in a lawn or a sparse flower bed.Alarm bells are ringing about a global decline in insects. Recent studies suggest populations are plummeting, due to nature loss and pesticides.Against this backdrop, new research, published in Biodiversity and Conservation, investigated how plants can best support all forms of insect life."The main message is the more foliage there is, the more invertebrates you will have in your garden," said Andrew Salisbury, Royal Horticultural Socie...

May212018 by adminNo Comments

Seeds of hope: The gardens springing up in refugee camps

Science

"Syria is green," says Aveen Ismail. "But here it was like a desert until we started growing plants and trees." The 35-year-old fled Damascus with her family in 2012. She now lives in the Domiz Camp in Northern Iraq, where roses, lemon trees and marigolds have sprung up amid the concrete and dust."Creating a garden was a way for us to heal and remind us of home," she says.Alfonso Montiel of the Lemon Tree Trust has sat down in many of the tiny green spaces at the camp."You'll see in some cases it's full of roses," he says. "The first question you ask yourself is, why not food?"Flowers, says Montiel, give a sense of the passage of time. "It gives them a sense of hope. It gives a sense of control of their environment." The Lemon Tr...