The past two years I've been having a problem with grasshoppers. They always eat up most of my plants and seedlings in Summer. I was wondering if there is any way to attract birds to eat them? I'm also curious about other ways to control grasshoppers. Thanks

Mockingbirds are great for this. We have numerous breeding pairs that nest in our 'yard' & we sit on the porch & watch them hunt. We have one that we thought was neurotic, but it was a method of scaring them up that we have never observed before... it would take a few steps & extend its wings to cast a larger shadow to scare them up. Good to see that it is back again this year.

Chickens & Guineas are also very good at keeping grasshoppers under control.

Cameron, one of the best ways to attract birds to your yard is with a water fountain or bird bath.

Some ideas here:
http://www.motherearthnews.com...

Thanks everyone for the ideas. I have a few Mockingbirds in my yard this year, I also see a lot of Mourning doves in my yard. I forgot about a bird bath lol Linda, thanks so much for the link, I learned a lot and I'm going to try a few of those tips. I've heard of Nolo, but I didn't know it effected mantids and crickets. I did some research and I found out its illegal to have chickens here, otherwise I would love to raise a couple of chickens.

Linda, Margaret . Cameron, pretty interesting corner of the world never visited it seems. I think I will hang around a bit longer.
Regards,
Arif.

Hey Arif, glad to see you here. I'm hoping the grasshopper population will be small this year. They're really irritating pest

Arif, I visit lots of forums, I like to see the different birds, flowers, plants, meet nice people.

By the way Arif, I now have threads on Blue Gardens Cubit, where I post my photos.

http://cubits.org/bluegardens/...

http://cubits.org/bluegardens/...

http://cubits.org/bluegardens/...

An old Hill Country rancher swears by flour to control grasshoppers. He says when you first see signs of little white bugs jumping ahead of your lawnmower (or walking in the grass) it's time to apply flour. He prefers self-rising, but I would assume any flour would do. Make sure the lawn is damp and the wind isn't blowing too hard. In about two weeks, you'll have to do it again to kill the new hatchlings.

No, I haven't tried it. If my neighbors don't also do it at the same time, the grasshoppers just fly over the fences. I have little wrens that work very hard to keep my garden free of too many pests.

Thanks Sandi, I'll definitely try that this year. I didn't know flour could do that. I haven't noticed any white bugs when I'm mowing, but I'll take a closer look the next time I mow.

Margaret, Sharon gave the links two weeks back and just now I am in a phase of reading all the backdated posts. Without reading the past posts I will not understand the thread. I like the style of Larry most but the rest also are good. A different generation though and all seem sedate and laid back while I recognize very few.
I would love to visit all the threads but the dozen or so open on my homepage keep me occupied plus I have to have the time available. Sharon is also working hard and somehow I am getting converted to her view point. No empty headed banter allowed, no empty headed conversation allowed, no wandering in dark and dingy lanes and by-lanes allowed. One very persuasive lady . She went and found a female pup to keep her company. They temperamentally seem to get along well.
Cameron, stick around this forum. The knowledge and friendly advise you will get here suits your area and you also.
He is twenty five years old and is busy in setting up a new virgin garden and needs help.
Regards,
Arif.

Arif.

I really appreciate everyone's advice and great tips.

Yes but for them to give you tips you will have to orient them with your garden. Photographs would help then you will have to give details like your house is rectangular single story structure. The long sides are oriented North, South and the main garden is to the North in a strip ? by ?. One third is full sun, one third partial sun and one third is shade. The soil composition is heavy clay and you have a few trees(Cedars) that drip resin and don't allow anything else to grow underneath. Your South side bakes and you would like a few trees to cool it down.
You know stories like that. Now I am going to unwatch this thread, you be the standard bearer. Your garden thread is still on my watch list . Best of luck.
Regards,
Arif.

Thanks for summing up my garden Arif. I'll keep everyone updated on my garden progress and my pest problems.

Purple Martins love to eat mosquitoes!!!

We were at an Easter party this afternoon. I wanted to get a photo of some purple martins that roost at my friend's home. She has dozens of neighbors who volunteer to care for these birds. They've even set up a web cam this year. The lot is next to her home and is usually the parking lot for parties up there. Today it was for the little ones' Easter Egg hunt.

I only got a partial view of all the martin houses. You can see downtown Austin in the background!



And this is it with all the little rug rats running loose!

Your friend has a beautiful yard Sandi, and a lot of the purple martin houses. I've seen those at Lowes. Did you get any rain in your area? It rained quite a bit here, and my plants look so much better lol.

No rain for us, but I'm glad it didn't rain on the party. We may get some this evening. I took quite a few photos of the garden. I'm trying to decide how to post them since they aren't my garden. I did post some of the staghorn ferns she has on the Tropical forum.

I hope you get some rain tonight. I think we may see more tonight through Wednesday. I'll check out the Tropical forum. I had a staghorn fern a few years ago, but I killed it. I've never had any luck with ferns.