Golden Orb Spiders in the Garden
When I was growing up I had a fairly acute case of arachnophobia. If I saw a spider, my first instinct was to run away screaming and my second instinct was to kill it!
I don’t know when it finally dawned on me that, with a few exceptions like funnel webs, these poor creatures didn’t mean me any harm.
In fact, like many insects they can be a gardeners friend.
I now encourage spiders, especially the Golden Orb spiders to spin their webs in my garden. They do a fabulous job trapping mosquitoes, white cabbage moths and grasshoppers. And they help keep the garden in balance naturally.
Golden Orb in the Garden
The interesting thing that I have learned about this is how many people suffer from my previous fear of spiders! Even big burly tradesmen who come to the yard to do some work will ask if I can remove all the Golden Orb spiders and spider webs before they start work!
The other morning I happened upon a Golden Orb that was happily spinning a grasshopper into a cocoon for later consumption so I took a photo.
I hope you can appreciate it, even if you suffer from a fear of spiders!
Happy gardening 🙂
Rohanne, your Personal Gardening Expert
