Hover-fly

Hover-flies look like little wasps. They have a yellow and brown striped back and transparent wings. This mimicry helps them to scare off predators. Despite their looks hover-flies are harmless to humans, they are a real fly. The feature that lends them the name is their peculiar flight behavior. They hover in the air at [more]

Native bee

Native bees are important pollinators in our garden. While foraging for nectar and pollen they also distribute pollen from one flower to another. By doing this they make sure that our plants get fertilised and can set fruit. To attract native bees to our garden we offer them a variety of flowering plants, that we [more]

Honey bee

Honey bees are important pollinators in our garden. While foraging for nectar and pollen they also distribute pollen from one flower to another. By doing this they make sure that our plants get fertilised and can set fruit. To attract honey bees to our garden we offer them a variety of flowering plants, that we [more]

Dealing with caterpillars

Caterpillars are the larvae of butterflies and moths. They are voracious eaters can can easily destroy a crop. The two most common caterpillars we deal with in our garden are the cabbage butterfly larvae and the larvae of the tomato bud worm. Preventive measures to avoid caterpillar problems Plant companion plants! This confuses the parent [more]

Orchard swallowtail

  Who says that pests have to be ugly? The adult stage of this animal is a beautiful butterfly. Indigenous to eastern Australia and PNG these butterflies have a wingspan of up to 14 cm. They are mostly black and white with red, orange and blue patterns on their back wings. The larvae is a [more]

Budworm moth

Budworms are caterpillars of the Helicoverpa moth family. The moths lay their eggs at night on young foliage close to fruits or flower buds and the young caterpillars feed on the foliage first before moving into buds or developing fruits. Budworm moths choose several fruits for their young ones, in our garden they are a [more]

Dipel

  Dipel is a product used to control caterpillars. It is approved for use in organic gardening. It is made from naturally occurring bacteria (Bacillus thuringiensis) and is safe on bees, ladybirds, birds, fish, mammals and pets. Dipel has no withholding period: vegies, fruit and salad ingredients can be washed and eaten immediately after spraying. [more]

Powdery mildew

Powdery mildew is the name of a variety of fungi, that affect the leaves of plants. They are present everywhere in the environment and are brought in by wind, birds and insects. Powdery mildew loves warm humid nights and dry, warm and shady areas of the garden. Really wet conditions and constant very high or [more]