How to make one homemade capture trap

MATERIALS:

STEPS:

Asian Predatory Wasp (Vespa velutina)

The vespa velutina, usually known as Asian predatory wasp, was detected near our zone in Gipuzkoa in 2010. But Iparralde’s beekeepers were suffering them, few months before.

Year after year, they keep expanding and they have already colonized the north of Spain. There are now at Galizia, Cantabria, Basque Country, Aragon, Catalonia… The experts doesn´t reject that in a near future the wasp will colonize the entire peninsula although this specie adapts better to a mild and wet weather, as in the north of Spain.

Since then, authorities, beekeepers and other organizations are fighting against this wasp, as it is an aggressive predator for the native honey bees.

The Asian predatory wasp comes from Asia and came into Europe in 2004. Apparently, they came on a container full off pottery or wood imported from China through Bordeaux harbor. The concern has been increasing since then.

Ecological, Organic Gardening

Organic gardening is the one that uses the means of the nature itself. It is the way for the respectful gardening with environment. The problems that have been caused by the abusive use of chemicals, and the bigger consciousness raising by the current society on ecological matters, has cause an increasing demand of organic gardening.

To meet the organic gardening parameters, the first step is to be conscious with ourselves. This gardening is going to provide benefits to us, and, furthermore, we make our contribution on the environment conservation.

So it is easy to understand what is necessary for being an organic gardener:

- Save natural resources: Don´t waste water
- Reuse garden residues

- Avoid the chemicals’ use. Search ecological options instead.

- Think how to favour our flora and fauna.

The Purchase of the Plants

The price of the trees and shrubs can vary depending on its size, on where we buy it, on the plant´s exoticism, or on its life (annual, biannual or perennial).

It is possible to get interesting prices if we search for bargains even in garden centers near our city or searching by internet. You can gent plants in online shops of garden centers and also buying to particulars.

The Fight against Weeds

The weeds

A weed is a plant considered undesirable in a particular situation. Some common examples are plants unwanted in human-controlled settings, such as farm fields, gardens, lawns, and parks. 

The term is also applied to any plant that grows or reproduces aggressively, or is invasive outside its native habitat. More broadly, "weed" is occasionally applied pejoratively to species outside the plant kingdom, species that can survive in diverse environments and reproduce quickly; in this sense it has even been applied to humans.

The Weed Science is a relatively modern science that studies the weeds.

The science, gardeners, etc., are nowadays trying to refuse the bad adjective to a living being. They call this herbs, adventitious  or no wanted herbs.

The weeds are characterized with high capacity of spread, great persistence, high resistance to plagues and diseases, and for being competitive. They reduce the efficacy of the farming and interfere with the agrarian works.

Black Mulberry

Name: Black Mulberry

Latin name: Morus nigra

Foliage:  Deciduous

Mature height: Robust tree from 32ft to 49ft lenght.

Description: It´s a tree belonging to the family Moraceae, native to southwestern Asia, where it has been cultivated for so long that its precise natural range is unknown.

Garden Curb (WITH SOFT-DRINKS’ CANS)

In our current society any effort to achieve the Three  R´s; reduce, reuse and recycle is laudable. End even more in this context of crisis, where the domestic economies are trying to reduce the expense of money to reach  the end of the month.

In moments of crisis ingenuity must be increased in order to find new ideas permitting us to solve our necessities. And if we do with domestic and reused materials much better.

Aloe Vera

Name: Aloe Vera, Aloe

Latin name: Aloe vera, Aloe barbadensis

Foliage: Perennial.

Mature height: It can reach 1.64 ft high

Description: Originally comes from Eastern and Southern Africa. More than 250 varieties of aloe are known, some very similar to Aloe Vera; but, only the Aloe Vera and four or five varieties more have therapeutic properties.

The species of the aloe´s genus are mostly woody plants, with long, big and thick leaves, almost triangular. They are rosette-shaped and with smooth edges or with pointed teeth.

Thuja Plicata, Red Cedar

Name: Thuja plicata, Western or Pacific Red Cedar, Giant or Western Arborvitae, Giant Cedar or Shinglewood

Latin name: Thuja plicata

Foliage: perennial

Mature height: 30m or 98.4ft.

Description: The Thuja Plicata, or Western Red Cedar, is one of the most important forest trees of North America, especially in the West.

How to create a Road on the Garden?

Introduction:

In this work the customer demanded us a project to make nicer the way to the outside hanger: one simple design, functional and not so expensive.

We decided to build one paved road to the hanger, because in our climate zone, showers are abundant during all the year. Waterlogged soils were usual in the way to the hanger and many times it was necessary to wear rain boots, making this a bit uncomfortable.

Queen of the Night, Cestrum Nocturnum

Name: Queen of the Night, Night-blooming Cestrum, Hasna Hena, Lady of the Night, Night-blooming Jessamine and Night-Blooming Jasmine

Latin name: Cestrum Nocturnum

Foliage: It is a perennial shrub, in winter it maintains most of his leafs. We need to take care of frosts because it can cause the death of our plant.

Mature height:  the Queen of the Night can reach from 4 feets to 13 feets.

Compost: Your Elaboration

1. What is compost?

Compost exists since there is life on Earth, anything live to die if left in the ground will rot in aerobic way (with the presence of oxygen). More effective agents of decomposition are bacteria and other microorganisms. Already at a macroscopic level are the worms of the Earth, ants, snails, slugs, millipedes, Woodlice, etc. who consume and degrade organic matter.

The compost is used as fertilizer for the soil in agriculture and gardening; and helping to control the erosion, as coatings and recovery of soils in landscaping.

Composting is an activity that requires some effort when it comes to emptying our composter, but it is gratifying seeing your garden’s soil improvement. It is an ecological activity because you recycle part of the waste produced in our homes. Furthermore, you make the most of your wastes possibilities, that otherwise would go to less sustainable wastelandfills, incinerators, etc., means little sustainable waste valorisation.

Kiwi, Kiwifruit

Name: Kiwifruit, Kiwi, Actinidia

Latin name: Actinidia chinensis, Actinidia deliciosa.

Foliage:  Deciduous

Mature height: this healthy woody bot can reach 29,53ft. length, gives the Kiwi fruit, and reaches shrub appearance using stakes and guiding systems for the fruit production.

Description: it is a climbing plant native from the Himalayan foothills, in the south of China, introduced in New Zealand in 1904 and since then, cultivated in many temperate regions for its edible fruit.

Liquidambar, American sweetgum

Name: Liquidambar, American sweetgum, sweet-gum

Latin name: Liquidambar

Varietys: Liquidambar changii, Liquidambar formosana, Liquidambar orientales, Liquidambar styraciflua (Burgundy, Aurea, Festival, Rotundifolia, Worplesdon)

Foliage:  Deciduous

Mature height: Tree that can reach 82-98 feets even 40 feets

Description: It is a big and conical tree that can be confused with one maple. Not much trees become such spectacular in autumn like the Liquidambar. One specie native of the East of North America, that today shows her beaty in our parks, gardens and streets.

Lobed leafs with 3 to 7 points or lobes, normaly 5, with balsam odor when you squezze. The leafs are soft with brilliant green colour turning reddish in autumn.

Plum Tree

Name: Plum Tree

Latin name: Prunus domestica

Foliage:  Deciduous

Mature height: This tree can reach 32,8ft (10m) hight. The top is opened and irregular.

Description: The term "Prunus" comes from latin and is the name of the generus, the word "domestic" refers to native from a place. It is a fruit of the Rosaceae family tree, is native to Europe and Asia, sowing for more than two thousand years in the countries that border the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea, specifically in the Caucasus, Anatolia, and Persia.

The trunk is straight and narrow, and the skin is smooth and brown. The young shoots are green and pubescent; the old branches on the other hand, are smooth and brown, sometimes spiny.

The leaves are oval and serrated.

The flowers appear before the leaves, as green brownish and arise in small groups. Its fruit is the plum, round or elongated, of yellow, red, purple or green colors.

The Topiary Art

Definition:

The topiary art is a gardening practice that consist on giving artistic forms to the plants by cutting with pruning scissors. We have nearly infinites options to give particular forms to plants.

 The artistic pruning is as old as our civilization and goes back in time to the Romans’ time. The name comes from the Latin word topiaries  “gardener-ornamental landscape” creator of topia or “places”; a Greek word that the Romans applied too to interior sceneries painted at fresco.

Its origin is in roman gardening where roman villas owners used to walk through their gardens surrounded by sculpted figures in shrubs, and continued during the Italian Renaissance. In the XV century, Italy became the birthplace of the European Renaissance. His artists looked toward the past and inspire on the classic culture to develop their creations. The gardeners were not ignorant about this trend and, the tidy gardens with corridors and very pronounced figures, majestic arches and geometric volumes as never seen before, became fashionable again.

Christmas Flower, Poinsettia

Name: Christmas Flower, Poinsettia

Latin name: Euphorbia pulcherrima

Foliage:  Deciduous

Mature height: Shrub or small tree which can reach until 1ft 11^5⁄8inch with big leafs of smooth edge of dark green color (2^3⁄4-6^19⁄64inch) and little yellow inflorescences.

Description: Commonly known as pastora, pascuero, christmas flower or ponsetia, is a plant of the Euphorbiaceae family, native of Central America. Is frequently used on gardening as shrub, but mainly on flower-growing as interior plant in Christmas.

Flowers in winter.

The showy bracts that form the upper part of the plant, of red colour, pink, white greenish or white yellowish are often confused with flowers.

Norway Spruce

Name: Norway Spruce

Latin name: Picea abies

Foliage: Perennial

Mature height: It reaches 164-196 ft, but it can reach until 230 ft.

Description: Despite of being called Norway spruce or Christmas spruce it doesn´t belong to the Abies genus; it is a conifer of pinaceae family.

Native of all Europe, from Nordic countries to the Balkans, normally they form forests on altitudes higher than 2625 ft.

It becomes a big tree, with green dark foliage and brown leaf buds. The shoots that sprout in spring are green/yellow colored and last two months. Later on, the color standardizes.

The fruits of the Picea are hanging pine cones, while in Fir Trees grew straight on the branches. They have oval shape about 3^15⁄16 – 6^19/64 inches length. The color is green and, later brown.

Laurel

Name: Laurel

Latin name: Laurus nobilis

Foliage: Perennial

Mature height: Planted on the garden, usually we should see as a shrub but with the years if we let it growing alone without pruning it will rich to 49 ft. tree height or it can form a dense shrub with the shoots that sprout from the base of the plant

Description: The Laurel is native from mediterranean zone where it grows wild in many places.

Apart of his green dark foliage, perennial and attractive, his leafs and flowers are very aromatics. Flowers appears in spring yellowish, that in female plants converts in black berrys.

Out of the mediterranean climate it is very sensitive to the frost and strong sun can burn his leafs.

Holly

Name: Holly

Latin name: Ilex

Varieties: Ilex aquifolium, Ilex aquifolium (Argentea Marginata, Pyramidalis, Golden Queen), Ilex altaclarensis (JC Van Tol, Golden King)

Foliage: Perennial

Mature height: Over the years can reach 32.8ft.

Description: Its dark green spiny leaves and red berries makes this tree a characteristic one. It is valued as an ornamental shrub. There are some varieties that differ from common Holly, on both the color of its berries, and their leaves.

Generally, it is a slow-growing shrub, being slow reaching tree proportions.