The Good Bug Guide for Your Garden

As we all know, there are bad bugs that cause destruction in our gardens. There are also good bugs too. Bugs that you will want to encourage to make a home and feed in your garden. What are these bugs, and how do you attract the good bugs into your garden?

Some of these beneficial insects are Lacewings, Lady Beetles, Scale predator Beetle, Aphid Midge, Braconid Wasp, Predatory Mite, Dragonflies and Damselflies, Syrphid, Tachind, and Robber Flies. Lady Beetles control pests such as aphids. Scale Predator Beetles are best in a greenhouse or on house plants. Aphid Midges feed on Aphids and are good in orchards, gardens, greenhouses, and rose gardens. Braconid Wasps have a liking for green peach and apple Aphids. Spider Mites are a favorite food of the Predatory Mite. Believe it, or not the Dragonfly can eat 40 house flies in two hours. Having a pond in your back yard will attract Dragonflies and their close relative the Damselflies. Flies and mosquito's are a common food of these insects. Lacewing larvae are particularly beneficial to the gardener. They have an appetite for all sorts of garden bugs such as mealybugs, mites, thrips, aphids, leafhopper's, moth eggs, white flies, and other not so good for the garden bugs. Syrphid, Tachind, and Robber Flies live on flower nectar and honey dew. Their larvae control bugs such as aphids, soft bodied bugs, and other scaled insects.

How do we encourage good bugs to be in our garden? Planting flowers and plants that these bugs are attracted to will obviously encourage them to visit your garden. Try planting plants that will last for as many months of the year as possible. Some plants that encourage beneficial bugs into your garden are Angelica, Buckwheat, Daisy, Dill, Evening Primrose, Rue, Sunflowers, and Thyme. The more food and shelter you provide in your garden, the more beneficial bugs you will get. Determining what bad bugs you want less of in your garden will in turn determine which good bugs that you want to introduce. It will take time for the good bugs to eliminate the bad bugs. Provide them with shelter and water your garden regularly. Generally keep the good bugs happy, and eventually they will keep your bad bugs under control. Of course the use of pesticides are out in order to keep the good bugs alive. Also, make sure there is an abundance of flowers, such as Marigold and Sunflowers that the adult bugs can feed on when they can't find a good source of bad bugs to eat. A source of water like a bird bath will also attract these bugs. Make sure you change the water every couple of days to ensure you keep the level of mosquito's down. A rock placed in the water lets the bugs drink better.

Keep in mind that most gardens contain more beneficial bugs than bad bugs. This method of pest control is much healthier for you, your family, and the environment. Here are some tips for good healthy pest control methods. Modify the way you plant and what you plant. Use barriers, screens, caulking or netting to protect your plants from bad insects. And finally, as we have discussed eliminate bad bugs by introducing good bugs into your garden, thus eliminating the need to use harmful pesticides.