Why (And How) You Should Attract Beneficial Insects to Your Garden

As an avid gardener, you no doubt face various challenges. Your flowers and plants could be preyed on by pests such as aphids and cutworms.

Controlling them with chemicals isn’t advisable because they’re harmful to the environment and costly. Pests are also increasingly showing immunity to chemicals. The only feasible solution is to use organic means.

Why Your Garden Needs Beneficial Insects

Beneficial insects include ladybugs, praying mantis, spiders, damsel bugs, aphid midges, and ground beetles. They protect your garden by preying on harmful pests such as whitefly, aphids, mites, and fleas.

As opposed to chemicals which kill indiscriminately, beneficial insects target only harmful pests. This organic solution not only helps your garden but the entire ecosystem as well.

 

How to Attract Beneficial Insects to Your Garden

Before deciding on which beneficial insects to attract;

• Know the kind of harmful pests in your garden. You can do this by visual inspection and researching on harmful organisms that are likely to get attracted to your plants and flowers.

Knowing details such as their life cycle and suitable weather conditions is an added advantage.

• Attract beneficial insects by having certain host plants in your garden. These include sunflower, basil, parsley, marigolds, and cosmos. Most of them are herbs that grow harmoniously alongside your garden plants. An added benefit of host plants is that they attract pollinators such as bees and butterflies.

Most garden supplies have various products that attract beneficial insects. Examples are ladybug lures and nesting blocks for pollinators.

• If you think growing host plants will take longer, you can buy beneficial insects and release them into your garden. They include aphid predators, fly parasites, pirate bugs, and lacewing larvae. Be sure to note the results you observe, so that future attempts are handled more smoothly.

In the absence of harmful pests to prey on, beneficial insects can survive on pollen. This is why pollinators also play a star role in your garden’s health.

Most of these solutions have helpful guides to show you how to implement. You can also get online guides as well as help from your local garden supplies store.

Looking for Organic Solutions to Your Gardening Problems?

With over three decades of experience, Fox Hollow Landscaping & Design has mastered turning outdoor living spaces into elegant, functional works of art. Our highly educated and skilled staff is always at hand to implement your suggestions.

If you’re in New Jersey, book an appointment today for more information on our organic gardening solutions.