Mosquitoes and other flying insects can easily ruin time spent in your garden or backyard on hot, summer nights. In lieu of dousing yourself or your yard with chemicals, here’s an all-natural and stylish way to keep those bugs from ruining any of your evenings outside. More information after the jump!
posted originally from: AT:LA
Purple Martin gourd nests not only look beautiful, they invite these desirable birds to spend time in your yard, eating up to 2000 insects per bird every day, especially mosquitoes and wasps. This chemical-free insect control option also comes with great bird songs.
In Austin, Purple Martin Propagators sells several versions of Purple Martin nests, from 12 gourd systems priced at $650 to huge Purple Martin compounds featuring 24 gourds for $1150. The Native Americans were the first to introduce the gourd nests to Purple Martins by carving out holes in dried-out gourds. For a more DIY approach to Purple Martin nests, check out this great online tutorial on how to create your own Purple Martin nests.
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Comments (2)
I know this is a very old post, but I just had to comment. My grandfather had an awesome garden. I have such vivid memories of sitting under their pecan tree snapping the ends off of butter beans. They have one of these type of birdhouses. It's been a while since I've really looked at it, but I think there are about 12 gourds. I think it may have been diy, but I know for sure he wouldn't have paid $650 for it.
I think this will be an addition to my newborn garden this year or next.
Purple Martin Propagators - www.BirdHouseInfo.com - (512) 825-4712
Thank you Adrienne for posting the information about our purple martin housing systems. And, even though it is still December, it's time to start thinking about putting up new housing systems and getting the established houses ready for the next season. Here in Austin, the martins will be coming back in exactly 2 months.
We do want to make previous martin landlords aware of the problem we are having in Texas with the metal martin houses. Records from the past 3 seasons of very hot springs and summers show that 40-50% of the eggs laid in those metal houses are not even hatching because they are getting cooked inside the "oven-like" compartments. Please change metal houses out for the newer plastic gourds that stay much cooler and are larger on the inside, thus giving the martins a chance to raise more babies to the fledgling (flight) phase of life.
The posting from "pureevil" above makes a comment about our prices: the housing systems sell for the listed prices because they are made to last not just 7-9 years like those bought at a store, but 8-10 decades. The poles are made from aircraft aluminum that will withstand 95 MPH winds and all the hardware is stainless steel so it will never rust out. Also, we will even come out and do the complete installation of our systems (which no other company to date does). We are available to answer any questions you may have about purple martins or becoming a purple martin landlord.
Thanks,
Danny Sinclair - Owner - PMP