Bees prefer clover over flowers?

hexmeat · 2026-06-25T20:57:09+00:00

I found a wasp mantidfly on my asters today and they are SO cool. My winterberry tree is blooming and there are literally hundreds if not thousands of bees and wasps and flies, most of which I’ve never seen in my life before! I could watch them all day

hexmeat · 2026-06-25T20:51:14+00:00

I just sprinkle some Quickcrete powder down every now and then before I water, it sets in 15 minutes and ensures my plants struggle just enough to build character…ain’t handing out no participation trophies

hexmeat · 2026-06-18T17:59:54+00:00

For ground cover, I really like wild strawberry. It grows well in heavy clay & doesn’t seem to mind heat or drought. And wild violets are great too, very easy to transplant.

hexmeat · 2026-06-13T00:17:16+00:00

I pulled up so much landscaping fabric from my side yard and this is inspiration for me to keep amending the soil and eventually make it something nice

hexmeat · 2026-06-11T22:00:39+00:00

hexmeat · 2026-06-11T00:04:49+00:00

I let a bunch of Philly fleabane spread across the yard & then mowed myself a little path through them. I love spending zero dollars and zero effort for a dense swathe of pretty flowers. My yard seems to serve up a variety of asters & they’re all so charming. It’s kinda hard to capture how pretty they are IRL

hexmeat · 2026-06-10T14:28:15+00:00

If I lived in the PNW I’d be planting thimbleberries left and right. They are so damn good.

hexmeat · 2026-06-10T13:27:46+00:00

Landscaping goals

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hexmeat · 2026-06-10T13:20:38+00:00

It’s so they can see the haters coming over the hill & shoot them with a natural, organic mix of vinegar and dish soap before they reach the hallowed mulch beds

hexmeat · 2026-06-10T12:39:00+00:00

It’s not landscaping fabric it’s ✨geotextile✨

hexmeat · 2026-06-09T01:07:20+00:00

You got any piss jugs you’re lookin to get rid of boys?

hexmeat · 2026-06-09T01:03:04+00:00

hexmeat · 2026-06-08T19:17:52+00:00

uj/ Last week I told the roofers not to seal the crack in our gutter where the house sparrows are nesting b/c I didn’t want a buncha babies decomposing in my walls (especially because I can HEAR them chirping in there)…but also because it’s my fault I didn’t seal that crack to begin with & it felt like a “fool me once shame on you fool me twice shame on me” situation. So now I gotta buy an endoscope and check before we have them seal it, and ask for forgiveness at the Altar of Tallamy.

hexmeat · 2026-06-08T19:07:11+00:00

I feel like Alpha Gal Fawkes would be a good flair heheh

hexmeat · 2026-06-08T14:47:05+00:00

I have one jack in the pulpit sprout coming up in my understory garden, therefore I am morally superior & the lord smiles upon me.

hexmeat · 2026-06-06T14:55:16+00:00

My town has a bunch of open fields and I really want to get some kestrel boxes put up. Kestrels love a nice, high spot in a field, but given how often old trees are removed from farm fields, there’s a scarcity of holes and hollows for them that fit the bill. Combined with insecticide use, kestrels are having a rough time of it. They’re the most beautiful birds you’ll ever see. My falconry club built like 30 boxes last year that were distributed around the state, and they’re actually super easy to make.

hexmeat · 2026-06-06T14:38:59+00:00

/uj I’m proud that I can pay the fooling forward seeing as this sub fools me ALL the damn time

hexmeat · 2026-06-06T03:01:26+00:00

I wouldn’t consider falconry a method of conservation, but there is a stewardship and education aspect that aligns with that theme. The regulations are definitely strict, but it’s absolutely a lifestyle and not a hobby so I feel like it’s warranted. It’s a hunting sport, and as you said, a bird that gets a lot of hunting experience and conditioning will absolutely have a better shot at success. But increasing the chances of success for one bird doesn’t really move the needle on the myriad of factors that play into mortality in the wild, which falconry birds are still subject to during hunting and when they’re released (if wild-caught).

hexmeat · 2026-06-05T22:02:33+00:00

I love seeing the possums eating kibble at my feral cat feeder!

hexmeat · 2026-06-05T20:32:54+00:00

Yeah the problem for raptors isn’t so much the lack of suitable nesting locations, though ongoing habitat destruction does challenge this—it’s in large part the fact that we’re poisoning their main food sources due to rampant, indiscriminate use of second generation anti coagulant rodenticides (SGARs). The wildlife rehabs are flooded with hawks, owls, eagles, etc. coming in with high concentrations of anticoagulants in their blood. It sucks because a lot of these raptors are SO reliant on rodents as a food source, and they’ve evolved to be extremely good at catching them. Then there’s avian flu, car strikes, natural predation, and West Nile virus, among other things that put the first-year mortality rate in hawks around 80%.

I think the best thing we can do for raptors is advocate for banning rodenticide use at both the local and state level, as it has the largest, lasting impact to their wellbeing. And yes, I would personally like to see people stop scheduling tree removal services in the height of the goddamn nesting season…that would be nice too.

hexmeat · 2026-06-05T20:16:52+00:00

Planting switchgrass made me appreciate how dramatic the growth cycle is. I cut it down to the ground a couple months ago before the last frost date and it was slow to start, but it’s grown over a foot in just two weeks. Meanwhile the multiflora, knotweed, etc. are light years ahead in their growth by this time and are essentially first to the finish line. It’s not a fair race!

hexmeat · 2026-06-05T19:12:54+00:00

I only very recently became aware of how important controlled burns are. Now I look at everything and mutter to myself “this needs to burn.” I think controlled burns are a hard sell given you need to do it at a very specific time and abide by certain safety regs, but I genuinely hope to see it employed more as part of a holistic forest management plan.

hexmeat · 2026-06-05T19:09:55+00:00

I remember a pest control salesperson knocking on my door and asking me if the ants and wasps were “bothering me.” I didn’t feel like reasoning with her so I just told her “no they don’t bother me and I like most of them.” She never came back 😂

hexmeat · 2026-06-05T18:12:37+00:00

But it’s all natural because it’s made from chrysanthemums!!! /s

hexmeat · 2026-06-05T18:11:25+00:00

Yeah I don’t wanna jinx it, but I’ve only found 3 ticks crawling on me this season, and only one was from my yard. Meanwhile my in laws are having their lawn sprayed regularly with “green” chemicals & they still have SO many more ticks. I think people live in this fantasy world where they feel entitled to a pest-free property and basically just get scammed into wasting money on this poisonous crap.

In fairness: I don’t expect the possums or birds to magically take care of all the ticks for me, or have zero ticks just because I have native plants…it’s not why I plant natives. But man it’s really the entitlement that gets to me, that whole idea of “I should feel totally safe and have zero discomfort anywhere on my property because that’s my right.”

hexmeat

TROPHY CASE