If you are looking at enrolling your children into an International School, be very careful what you're getting.  We thought our kids were enrolled in one (And therefore accountable to the International Schools Association) and have since discovered that in spite of it's name, it is actually an International Department of a Dutch school.  Our kids are NOT taught according to the curriculum that was promised prior to enrollment, and I believe that in comparison to Dutch schools, they are falling a long way behind academically.  There are other areas of concern that have not been satisfactually resolved and I am considering removing my children.

Thanks for your advice - definitely going to take the birds and other animals into consideration. The property backs onto a tiny wetlands/nature reserve, so that's why I want to remove the invasive plants and swap for natural, nature-friendly ones. Also excited about hedgehogs. Only read about them in kids' books when I was little. Nice to see them in real life!

I'm from Australia - totally different climate, different plants, etc and only 1.5 seasons, if you ask me. Anyhow, we've finally bought a house here, and I want to go and play in the garden. Can anyone suggest any really BASIC gardening books (when to plant what, etc) with Dutch plant names (if possible) that would help me out here? Another idea which might be easier - but even though it sounds stupid - I simply don't know...... Can you tell me if English gardening books would translate well? If I'm right, the weather's pretty similar. I guess I could hunt down some English-speaking gardening enthusiasts here, but my Dutch is too crappy to start to ask!
Thanks!!!
Justine

BTW - just to be a cliche - had a bird-eating spider in my car once. Nearly killed myself crossing four lanes of traffic to pull over and get the hell outta there. (True story - should have seen the faces of the road workers who came to my rescue to tell them that that spectacularly bad driving was because of a spider - then again when they saw it!)

Hi Sandr -
I'm an Aussie, so don't find the spiders here particularly gruesome - although a building inspector told me there are over 160,000 in the average house....
Lemon oil deters them. Don't know why. Read it somewhere, and although dubious, I figured that since I quite like the smell, I'd give it a go. You have to spray them, get rid of the eggs, cobwebs, etc with the vacuum and spray or wipe lemon oil everywhere - especially windows, doors, ceilings - spider hang outs. (A broom with a damp cotton t-shirt held on with rubber bands is a great way to do the ceilings - just a couple of drops of oil on the shirt)
Good luck