Canter Bridge

After a positive experience and subsequent review of a different Gardirect insect hotel, the good folks at Gardirect contacted me and asked if I’d be willing to review a second product. With this full disclosure, I launch upon this review of the most recently arrived product.

I’m impressed.

The Insect Hotel, Bee, and Butterfly House is a solid piece of backyard furniture. Though I have not hung it in its permanent location (we’re moving soon, and I’ll save the for the next home), it has a heavy feel in the hand, like the door of a well-built car. It’s handsome too, even more so than the Gardirect product I originally reviewed. The different woods combine to give it a rustic-cabin look, of the kind of rustic cabins that are well looked after. The ‘tubes’ that house many of the insects who we hope will take up residence are glued firmly in place. I mention this detail because I recently ordered a different insect hotel which, though nice to look at, had wooden tubes that fell on the floor as I examined the product.

There’s a slot in the back where the item can be hung from a nail on a cooperative fence or fencepost.

This little bugger has grown on me during the two weeks it’s been by my elbow awaiting its moment.

If this is the kind of product Gardirect is introducing, they’ll be a reliable source for homeowners like this review who love to combine aesthetic appeal with the natural rhythms of the flora and fauna that are eager to make one’s backyard their home.