Expandable hose takes pain out of watering your wildlife garden
Today’s expandable hoses are a must for any gardener still struggling with the traditional hose. The best ones are everything they advertise. Kinks are a thing of the past and they all but put themselves away when you are done with them.
Finding inspiration in local woodlands for our garden design
Drawing garden inspiration from the simple beauty of our fall woodlands is not only an important educational exercise but a joy we should all experience as fall turns to winter. Recognizing the beauty in a moss-covered rock and how we can incorporate that same feeling in our own gardens is just the beginning.
DIY: A solar drip for the birds
Converting a rarely used bird bath dripper into a solar powered fountain that is used daily, is a simple, DIY project that will please both the birds and the birdwatchers.
Building a brush pile for your Woodland garden
A brush pile provides habitat for a multitude of mammals, insects and reptiles. But the real bonus of a backyard brush pile is that it may just lure in new birds that don’t normally visit your Woodland garden.
Why leave your leaves
Let them fall and leave them be. It’s time to rethink how we deal with fall leaves. If we let them be over the winter, insects, birds, reptiles and mammals will have a fighting chance not only to survive winter, but to get through an often demanding spring with enough food to feed themselves and their babies.
Fallen leaves are woodland gardeners’ gold
Fall is a golden time for Woodland gardeners. While neighbours line the curb with bags of leaves, gardeners have to restrain themselves from filling their trunks with the bags to compost them and create leaf mold, otherwise known as gardeners’ gold. The best idea is just to leave them where they fall, the next best idea is to gather them and create an open compost in a corner of your yard.
Naturally Native: Creating a Woodland Garden for the Birds
Exploring native plants and the importance they play in our gardens to attract birds is a primary focus of Ferns & Feathers’ first Naturally Native newsletter. Our primary feature is a three-part unveiling of a backyard woodland landscape plan created by a professional designer. It’s not too late to fill out the form at the bottom of the homepage to sign up for your free newsletter.
Garden photography: Tragopan blinds help get you up close to backyard birds
It’s not always about getting photos, but nothing is better than nailing the photograph you’ve been trying to get for weeks. A Tragopan photographic blind just may be the best tool to get up close and personal with your favourite birds and woodland creatures. Not only will it improve your photography, it may also provide some memorable moments as you experience your backyard wildlife in a whole new way.
Toronto couple behind Q&A Design create the ultimate Bird Feeder
The Ultimate Bird Feeder has its roots in France but it’s definitely a made-in-Canada masterpiece. With its copper roof and western red cedar body, the exquisite feeder is the work of French architects and designers Coraline Allard and Pierre Quesnel from QnA Design. The couple are offering a special discount to readers who sign up for the Ferns and Feathers Woodland Garden newsletter.
Engineering a naturally native wildlife garden
Angela den Hoed of Soil&ink has taken a passion and turned it into her life’s career. One that has taken her down an unusual path, but a path she just loves to go down. Along the way she has discovered her love for the outdoors, for gardening and using natives in the garden. Angela is in the process of designing a Woodland garden for our upcoming fall newsletter.
Five tips to attract hummingbirds to our woodland gardens
Here are five tips to attract hummingbirds to your gardens and keep them coming back for more. Going native and eliminating insecticides in your garden will go a long way to attract these wonderful, entertaining little birds.
Going Native: Saving nature one backyard at a time
Bringing Nature Home is a book every gardener needs to read. The book is a rich resource for woodland gardeners looking to better understand the importance of native plants in our environment and the dangers of using exotics. It is a comprehensive blueprint for how gardeners can use native plants to sustain wildlife
Three of the best ornamental grasses for sun and shade
Nothing says Fall quite like the gentle swaying of late-summer grasses blowing in the gentle breezes. Gardeners looking for a more natural environment are turning to grasses to give them the architectural interest they are looking for, especially in smaller urban gardens. Here are three of my favourite, including one each for full-sun, part sun and full shade.
A little love for the Black-eyed Susan
As late summer approaches the Black-eyed Susans begin to come into their own with their bright cheery yellow flowers standing strong in our gardens and in our meadows. Let’s give a little love to these tough, hard-working native plants.
Six best buys to attract birds (A few of my favourites)
When it comes to attracting backyard birds, you can never have enough feeders, birdbaths and bird houses but here are five best-buy items for backyard birders.
One of my favourite things: A small blue-tooth speaker
These mini blue tooth speakers are the perfect way to add a little music to your garden patio whether to drown out noisy neighbours or just to enjoy your favourite tunes with a glass of wine.
Welcome the urban fox: The ultimate rodent controller
Urban foxes are common throughout North America and are important predators in the control of rodents in our woodland gardens. Here are tips to help gardeners encourage them and help them survive and prosper in our gardens.
Are hummingbird swings worth buying?
Adding a hummingbird perch close to a favourite feeder or nectar-rich plant provides the perfect resting place for hummingbirds and an ideal place to photograph the little guys when they are not flitting about.
Why do foxes steal from our garden? Fox got my Croc
Somewhere in my neighbourhood is a lost and lonely Croc. It disappeared during an overnight crime spree carried out with great stealth. Our dog saved one by her barking. I am worried about the other.
Tips and ideas on how to de-skunk your dog
It all happened so fast. And it can happen to you and your dog if you are not careful. Here are some tips to deal with a skunking and ideas to help stop if from happening again.