Gardens, attention to detail, Sawfly larvae

These larvae appear in summer between November and January and attack in large numbers some species of grevillea. They can strip a bush in days.

Sawflies are ancient, thought to be closest relatives of the ancestral form that all ants, wasps, bees and sawflies evolved from. What a wonderful success story they are. Gardeners like to work. I have been killing these wonderful creatures, so the grevilleas survive for the birds. They have a nasty sting in the tail too.

Ross Gibson describes gardens as, ‘comprehensible and pleasurable versions of the messy contemporary world—interactive, delicate, hard work, generative, social, beautiful, requiring constant care and co-operation.’

Gardens offer accessible natural beauty and wildlife and are how most children first encounter nature. Gardens are becoming important for biodiversity, and important for paying attention to nature now that most of the world is urban, and Australia 90% urban.