Beneficial Insects

Well folks with spring in the air one will soon or should be out working their gardens in abundance soon.  Below is a few of the insects that will help your garden immensely if allowed to live and not killing them with pesticides.    There is no need to put pesticides on your gardens or anything for that matter.  Nature will look after you as long as you look after it, simple as that.  Take A look and happy gardening.

Beneficial insects are insects which you can attract to your garden, or buy from catalogues, which prey on harmful insects or their larvae.

All Wasps & Bees
These small beneficial insects destroy leaf-eating caterpillars. You can attract them to your garden by planting carrots, celery, parsley, caraway.  These plants are easy to grow, and some should be left to flower. It’s the flower that attracts the insects.

Ladybugs
These common insects consume aphids, mites, white-flies and scale. They can be attracted to your garden by planting members of the daisy family, tansy or yarrow. Ladybugs are also available from catalogues online. Or look under logs they like to hide there.

Lacewings
Lacewings are avid consumers of aphids, and their larva eat aphids and other varieties of other insect pests. They are attracted to “composite” flowers, such as yarrow, goldenrod, black-eyed susan’s and asters. Lacewings can also be purchased online at the sources listed below, and released directly into your garden.

Hover-flies
Hover-flies are  consumers of aphids, and the larva of hover-flies eat aphids and other insect pests. Like the Lacewings, they are attracted to  flowers, such as yarrow, goldenrod, black-eyed susan’s and asters. Seeds for these flowers are available online, or at most garden centers.

Praying Mantis
These large insects have an appetite for most garden pests. Praying mantis eggs are set out in the garden where they hatch and quickly grow to adult size. The eggs are available through mail-order catalogues, some of which are listed below.

Nematodes
Effective against cutworms, a common pest which destroys sprouts before they can grow into seedlings. Nematodes are also effective against beetles and root weevil larvae.
Nematode eggs are microscopic and come in a small sponge a million at a time. These are mixed with water and applied to the soil, where they hatch and go to work. If they get on foliage, wash them off to the ground.
Nematodes are harmless to humans and pets. They are available in some garden centres and through mail-order catalogues, and at the businesses linked below.

Insect Garden Made Easy- You can also set aside a small garden plot of flowering plants designed to attract and harbor beneficial insects. These ‘good’ insects prey on many common garden insect pests, and offer the gardener a safer, natural alternative to pesticides.

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