Garden Pests, Diseases & Good Bugs

Garden-Pests-Cover-Image-finalThe  ultimate illustrated guide for Australian Gardeners

For me, the best part of this book are the photographs. For someone who wanders around gardens, closely inspecting the insects and other micro fauna, as well as the plants, it is wonderful to have a book that I can turn to in an attempt to identify what I am looking at. The text is excellent too, with careful and clear explanations to aid identification, explain life cycles and suggest controls.The three main sections cover Beneficial organisms, Pests, and Diseases, disorders and deficiencies.
There’s also tables near the beginning that list common pests and diseases by plant group. So if  something weird is happening to your tomatoes, under Solanaceous plants you’ll find all the pests and diseases that affect this family. Its a bit disheartening that there 45 altogether for just this one group! But it does help to narrow it down and point you to the page and picture to help you work out what it might be. Highly recommended for anyone who loves to garden and wants to understand the other creatures that live in their garden. Denis Crawford has 35 years of experience  with this subject and his expertise shines through in the book.

If you want a copy then pick it up at your local independent bookshop, or borrow it from your library.

by Denis Crawford
PB 464pages, ABC Books, HarperCollins Publishers, ISBN 9780733331886 $39.95

The Burren

The Burren, showing clints and grikes

The Burren, showing clints and grikes

This beautiful wild region of Ireland is unlike anywhere I have seen before. Located in the north-west corner of County Clare on the west coast, even its Irish name boireann signals the topography, as it means ‘place of rocks’. Covering 250 square kilometres, the exposed limestone is in some places up to 780 metres thick. Since being laid down progressively up to 340 million years ago, these great slabs have been gradually worn away in places, mainly by glacier movement, creating ‘grikes’ (the cracks in the limestone) and ‘clints’ (the blocks of limestone left behind). At the same time, the glaciers deposited rounded boulders in random positions, these are known as ‘erratics’ (see the last photo for and example). I love the names!  This region is dotted with ancient ruins and tombs as well as being a natural paradise.
Read more

  • All words and images © Copyright Penny Woodward 2024.
  • Back to Top ↑