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Sorry for another image dump guys but I want to populate a new album of insects for 2020, please feel free to browse if you want or just ignore.
My gardenproject of aproximately 4 square meters all done in glass and mirror. The glass birds in the front I also made. Used technique is glass paint and fusing combined.
Sorry for another image dump guys but I want to populate a new album of insects for 2020, please feel free to browse if you want or just ignore.
Sometimes called a hibernation box, butterfly houses are simple, inexpensive, and attractive shelters for critters in your garden. Here’s how to build one for about $3.
The butterfly house mounted over the butterfly garden
Part of maintaining an organic and sustainable garden is attracting insects who do the important work of pollination. Bees are an obvious go-to, and the European honey and the native carpenter and mason bees are both common sights here. Less common, but far more colorful, are the many different types of butterflies native to the area (with the exception of the Monarch, pretty much all the butterflies here in San Diego live throughout North America).
A giant swallowtail butterfly on a calendula <!-- close group --> A green-veined white butterfly on lavender A pained lady butterfly on flowering rue <!-- close group --> <!-- close row -->
We plant a variety of flowers and herbs to attract butterflies and even have a dedicated butterfly garden filled with their favorite foods, but I never gave any thought to where butterflies go when they need shelter, so when my wife showed me something called a “butterfly house” that’s supposed to give them cover from birds and other predators, I was intrigued.
A butterfly house, also known as a hibernation box or insect shelter, is basically a tall, narrow box with slots insects can get in, but birds, bats and larger animals can’t. From what I read, it’s actually not particularly good at attracting butterflies (they prefer the canopy of trees and leafy shrubs), but I read the same thing about Insect Hotels, and the one I built has been quite popular with the local critter crowd. So, I figured, “what the heck, I’ll make one.”
Digging around for instructions on the Internet, I found that a pre-built box can cost $30 or more, but if you build one yourself, it’ll cost only a tiny fraction of that — like $3 and change. Better yet, you can put it together with nothing more than a drill, a hand saw and a hammer in just a couple hours. Here’s how:
Supplies
1 – 5½-in. x 72-in. unfinished cedar fence board
4 – 1¼-in. wood screws
1½-in. finish nails
Wood glue
Instructions
Instructions for a flat roof and peaked roof butterfly house
There are two versions of the butterfly house, one with a flat roof, and the other with a peaked roof. The flat roof is a little easier to build; the peaked roof a little fancier. They both use the same amount of wood, so it’s entirely up to you which one you want to do.
Step 1 – Cut your pieces
Make the following cuts from your cedar fence board:
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4 – 14-in. long (these will be the front, back and sides)
1 – 4½-in. long (for the bottom)
1 – 8-in. long (for the top)
.fusion-body .fusion-builder-column-9width:50% !important;margin-top : 0px;margin-bottom : 20px;.fusion-builder-column-9 > .fusion-column-wrapper padding-top : 0px !important;padding-right : 0px !important;margin-right : 3.84%;padding-bottom : 0px !important;padding-left : 0px !important;margin-left : 3.84%;@media only screen and (max-width:1024px) .fusion-body .fusion-builder-column-9width:100% !important;order : 0;.fusion-builder-column-9 > .fusion-column-wrapper margin-right : 1.92%;margin-left : 1.92%;@media only screen and (max-width:640px) .fusion-body .fusion-builder-column-9width:100% !important;order : 0;.fusion-builder-column-9 > .fusion-column-wrapper margin-right : 1.92%;margin-left : 1.92%;For the Peaked Roof version
2 – 14-in. long (front and back)
2 – 11¼-in. long (the sides)
1 – 4½-in. long (for the bottom)
1 – 6-in. long (half the roof)
1 – 5½-in. long (the other half of the roof)
.fusion-body .fusion-builder-column-10width:50% !important;margin-top : 0px;margin-bottom : 20px;.fusion-builder-column-10 > .fusion-column-wrapper padding-top : 0px !important;padding-right : 0px !important;margin-right : 3.84%;padding-bottom : 0px !important;padding-left : 0px !important;margin-left : 3.84%;@media only screen and (max-width:1024px) .fusion-body .fusion-builder-column-10width:100% !important;order : 0;.fusion-builder-column-10 > .fusion-column-wrapper margin-right : 1.92%;margin-left : 1.92%;@media only screen and (max-width:640px) .fusion-body .fusion-builder-column-10width:100% !important;order : 0;.fusion-builder-column-10 > .fusion-column-wrapper margin-right : 1.92%;margin-left : 1.92%;Step 2 – Trim your side boards and bottom
Once you have the main pieces cut, you need to trim 1-in. off width of the sides and bottom pieces. For the sides of the Flat Roof, that’s two of the 14-in. long pieces; for the peaked roof it’s the the two 11¼-in. pieces.
Trim the edge of the side boards and bottom
(Step 2a – For the Peaked Roof only)
On your front and back pieces, mark the top vertical center of the board (at 2¾-in.), then draw a line horizontally 11¼-in. up from the bottom. Using a straight edge, draw a line from the top center to both edges of the board where you made the horizontal line.
Trim the front and back boards to make the peaked roof
Use a saw to cut off the corners of the board to make your roof peaks.
Step 3 – Cut your slots in the front piece
Mark the location of where your slots will go on the front piece. They need to be at least 4-in. long and no wider than ½-in. (I used a 3/8-in. drill bit to size the holes).
Marking where the slotted openings will go on the front
It doesn’t really matter how many slots — 2 to 4 is fine — bugs aren’t picky, just as long as they’ve got enough enclosed space to hide.
Drilling the holes in the front for the slots <!-- close group --> After cutting the slots in the front <!-- close group --> <!-- close row -->
Using your drill, drill a hole at the top and the bottom of where your slots will go. Then, using a hacksaw, jig or coping saw, cut the slots out between the holes.
Step 4 – Build the box
The sides are cut to fit inside the front and back pieces. Run a bead of glue along the edge of a side piece, align it with the bottom of the front piece, and nail it together with a few finish nails. Repeat for the back piece and the other side.
Butterfly house assembly – side view
Once you’ve got the four pieces nailed together, add a little glue to the edge of the bottom piece, slide it in place and tack it in place with a few more finish nails.
The box with the four sides and bottom
Step 5 – Add the roof
You’ll be screwing, but not gluing the roof on the box. This is so you can remove the top and clean the box out every so often.
Closeup of butterfly house roof(s)
For the Flat Roof version
Align the front and back of your roof piece on the box. Then, using a tape measure, slide the roof over until you have a 1¾-in. overhang on both sides.
Using your wood screws, screw the roof to the top of the box.
For the Peaked Roof version
Align the shorter roof piece (the 5½-in. piece) with the top of the roof peak. Screw one wood screw into both sides to hold it in place.
Now take the longer roof piece and align the long edge (the 6” one) of the board so it overlaps the shorter roof piece you just attached to the top (see the illustration).
Use your other two screws to attach this half of the roof.
Step 6 – Decorate (if you want to)
You can leave the wood unfinished and let it weather naturally, or, if you’re so inclined, paint the outside. Either way, leave the inside unfinished.
My wife felt it was too bland as bare wood, so I made the roof barn red and painted the rest a murky sage green to match our house trim.
The butterfly house after painting
When she felt it was still too bland,she gave me a metal butterfly ornament she picked up at the dollar store and had me attach it to the front (you know, so the butterflies would know the house is for them).
Step 7 – Mount
The butterfly house complete with decorative butterfly
You can mount the butterfly house on a pole or beam. It just needs to be at least 4 feet off the ground. A shady or lightly covered area with water and/or a food source nearby is preferable, as those will draw the butterflies and make the house more likely to be found.
I mounted mine using an “L” bracket and a zip tie on a pole that’s surrounded by a small guava and overlooks a portion of the butterfly and tropical gardens.
Is it working?
In the week that it’s been up, I’ve seen a couple of butterflies near it (a morning cloak today!), but so far, no takers on the free housing — at least as far as I can tell.
No worries, there’s a whole summer and an autumn still ahead, so I think the chances are good that we’ll get residents of one sort or another before winter arrives.
Fingers crossed!
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May 23rd 2013. What a day! In spite of the rain, wind and hailstones, the newly painted blue shiplap cladding was nailed on to the structure. In Scotland today some roads were closed by snow!
In spite of the awful weather,( including heavy rain and hailstones) we've come this far with the build. With the Velux in, it's now dry.
I am imaging being creative there, meditating, reading, having a meal there or perhaps even sleeping down there. Now that would be fun!
May 12th 2012. What an exciting time. All the new walls at the bottom of the garden are built, ready for the new paving in the bottom section and the new shed build that starts 13th May.
The pond is now teaming with life. As well as the four goldfish that survived the cold winter, we have water snails, toads ( help! I've read too many fairy stories) bees drinking, black birds drinking and washing. They're all so busy!
Other birds that are visiting the garden are robins, wrens, thrushes, coal tits, blue tits, long tail tits, feral pigeons, jackdaws, magpies, bullfinches, chaffinches, dunnocks, nut hatches.
So this is it! My new shed plan with Velux in roof and side windows. For the first time I shall have a shed that's insulated and double glazed, so I can work there when the weather gets colder.
24 September 2011. View of architect Peter Zumthor's Serpentine Gallery Pavilion, across West Carriage Drive, Kensington Gardens.
This is the eleventh temporary summer Pavilion. The outside looked more like charcoal grey than black - as we'd expected from reading about it. Maybe it was partly sun-bleached?
In the Daily Telegraph Florence Waters thought Zumthor’s “austere black box” pavilion was “one of the most confident and successful yet”. And that: “the building itself is a modernist take on a medieval monastery".
The Daily Telegraph had a short video of Peter Zumthor looking suitably austere; even a bit monkish. He explained delphically that the pavilion was: "a background, a frame, or a viewing platform. It's all of that. And it could be framing the sky".
Very Zen. The sound of one journalist clapping? No, there are more.
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§ Stephen Bayley: "Peter Zumthor: a master builder at work. (One of the few occasions when I found some of the readers' comments as interesting as the article.
§ Piet Oudolf's garden at the Serpentine Gallery pavilion - review by Joanna Fortnam.
§ Aerial view of where this photo was taken. (Back button returns to this page.)
Noticed this bit of artwork (artist unknown) on a levee wall near the area of the breach that began the soggy fate of the New Orleans lower ninth ward during and following Hurricane Katrina.
Speaking to those who are trying to rebuild this devastated community, I decided that this title would be fitting.
My day in the Lower Ninth Ward blog entry
Follow my travels and photographic adventures at: www.MegapixelTravel.com
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Whilst the two younger men are going the work, the older men are applying their years of experience to what is going on.
Respect the hedge!
This is Elvaston Castle. A lovely place owned by Derbyshire county council and run as a country park. and it's on my way home from work and open till 8 at night this time of year.
Great place for an after work stroll.
April 5th 2013.
I've had my little shed for 25 years. The roof is leaking now and a few of the boards are rotten, so I've decided in my early days of retirement, to treat myself and have a new one made- I'm so excited!
The students learned about transplants and even got to plant a few of the little guys in their new outdoor home.
The garden is finally finished after many years of building and restructuring, I designed the garden so that it is water wise, meaning that it is almost 100% self watering, I have constructed an aquifer underground which collects water during rain periods and provides moisture for the whole garden, only the potted plants require minimal manual watering. Some of the new plants will take a year or two to mature, but the end effect should provide colour all year round, well that's the plan and we all know what can happen to plans, only time will tell. 29 July 2010
April 20th 2013. We are increasing the size of the bottom section of this narrow strip of a garden (13ft wide) in order to fit the new shed ( 10ft x8ft ) We are also building a new terrace and retaining wall. So a lot of preparatory work to do.
28th April 2013. In between hailstones, rain and sunshine the trenches have been dug and some of the new walls (using old bricks) are in place.
April 4th 2013.
I'm experiencing mixed feelings- remembering the times spent here, but full of excitement at the thought of a new shed being built after all these years. I'm full of anticipation at the creative work I'm hoping to do during my retirement. I'm looking forward to looking after the garden through the changing seasons and sketching what excites and interests me.
Watch this space!