At La Martais, we love to welcome everyone. Families, friends, dreamers passing by... but also the little ones we don't always see at first glance. Those who fly, buzz, chirp, or scamper silently among the garden's grass.
It is for them that three new shelters have been built in recent days.
First, a nest box was securely attached to the trunk of the cherry tree. Discreet and well-positioned, it awaits its first feathered occupants. Chickadees, robins, or perhaps a pair of nuthatches will find refuge there to build their nests and raise their chicks in peace. The cherry tree is a tree that birds love: it offers shade, height, and sometimes even a few cherries in summer.
A little further on, two insect hotels have been installed: one behind the swing, sheltered from the wind, the other near the vegetable garden. Made from natural materials—wood, hollow stems, pine cones—they provide ideal hiding places for solitary bees, ladybugs, and many other small garden allies.
These shelters are not just decorative. They play an essential role in maintaining biodiversity. :
🌿 Birds regulate pest insect populations and delight mornings with their songs.
🌼 Pollinating insects promote the growth of vegetables, flowers and fruit trees.
🐞 And garden helpers, such as earwigs and lacewings, help to preserve the natural balance without any chemicals..
These installations are part of our approach to making La Martais a vibrant place, respectful of the rhythm of the seasons, welcoming to all forms of life – large or tiny..
And as is often the case, we suspect that Diben, our little korrigan, is not a stranger to all this. We haven't seen him tinkering, of course... but the footprints in the fresh earth and the rolled leaf on the roof of the nest box leave little doubt.
Diben's chronicles continue, and the garden of La Martais becomes, day after day, a refuge for humans as well as for their discreet neighbors.
🐝 New small houses in La Martais