Think before you spray a pesticide - you may kill the very insects that are helping keep your pests in check, which means you will just have to spray even more in the future.
Natural predators, such as lady bugs, green lacewings, and parasitic wasps can help control pests. You can buy many of these predators, but it's probably cheaper and more effective to encourage the ones already in your garden.
Many beneficial insects need to sip flower nectar to survive, so plan your garden to include a variety of plants that remain in bloom for as many months of the year as possible.
Birds are also very helpful with controlling pests in your garden. Trees, shrubs with berries, birdhouses and water features all encourage birds to frequent your garden.
Some ways to help your natural helpers:
- Plant nectar-producing flowers to further increase the food supply.
- Plants in the cabbage, carrot, sweet potato, and sunflower family are especially attractive to beneficial insects.
- Control ants, which may prevent predators from controlling pests.
- Don't use persistent, broad-spectrum, contact insecticides. These provide only temporary pest control and are likely to kill more of the natural enemies than the pests. When their enemies are gone, pest populations may soar and become more of a problem than before they were sprayed.
Some plants that attract beneficial insects: (Adapted from Organic Ag Advisors, Colfax, CA.)
Angelica, bee balm, buckwheat, calendula, candytuft, ceanothus, chervil, cilantro, clover, Daisy, dill, erigeron, evening primrose, fennel, goldenrod, gypsophila lovage, parsley, Queen Anne's lace, rue, snowberry, sunflower, sweet alyssum, sweet cicely, thyme, valerian, and yarrow.
Learn more about beneficial insects here:
