Beneficial Animals & Plants

Many insects including ladybirds, green lacewings, and parasitic wasps are beneficial visitors to your garden, as are spiders and many birds. They prey on destructive pests such as aphids and cabbage worms, and prevent damage to your vegetable crops and flowers. Certain plants, such as dill and garlic, are also beneficial because they can protect crops and flowers, such as roses.

Plants that attract beneficial insects
You can encourage beneficial insects to visit your garden by providing their favoured habitats and food sources, such as anise hyssop, borage, catmint, comfrey, cornflower echinacea, fennel, feverfew, garlic chives, sweet alyssum, golden marguerite, lavender, mint, and yarrow.

Provide water for helpful insects
Beneficial insects need water to drink, and providing a convenient source will help to attract them to your garden.To provide dry areas for the insects to land, fill a shallow container with rocks and add water, leaving some of the rocks exposed.

Let some of your vegetables bloom
To attract benefcial insects to your garden, let a few of your vegetables bloom, such as salad greens or broccoli, bok choy. kale, and other members of the brassica family.

Protect your brassicas with dill
Plant dill among your broccoli. cauliflowers, cabbages. and other brassicas.The ferry, delicate leaves of the herb attract beneficial parasitic wasps, which keep pests, such as cabbage worms, under control.

Guard your cucumbers with nasturtiums
Plant colourful nasturtiums among your cucumbers to repel cucumber beetles.The broad nasturtium leaves weave among the cucumber vines and also provide a sheltered habitat for beneficial spiders that trap and eat destructive pests.

Protect your roses with garlic
Plant garlic beneath your rosebushes to help ward off the pests that prey on roses.The tall purple pom-pom flowers make an attractive addition to your garden. Other allium family members, such as garlic chives, are equally effective.

Protect your tomatoes with basil
Planting basil with your tomato plants helps to control tomato hornworms. The leaves of the herb also provide tasty garnishes for tomato dishes.

Safeguard your corn with runner beans
Corn and runner beans make good garden companions.Tall corn stalks act as natural supports for climbing runner beans, and the beans repay the favour by attracting beneficial insects that protect corn from pests.

Repel pests with marigolds
Common marigolds will help to repel many insect pests from your vegetable garden.The stronger the scent of the marigold, the more vigorous are the repellent properties. French marigolds also help to repel nematodes in nearby plants. For best results, plant patches of marigolds throughout your garden.

Guard your cabbages with thyme
Plant thyme among your cabbage plants to help deter cabbage pests, including cabbage-white butterflies, cabbage maggots, and imported cabbageworms.

Entice birds to your garden
Birds are wonderful in helping to keep destructive garden pests under control. Provide additional food and water to entice them. A mixture of millet and black sunflower seeds will draw many common insect-eating birds such as wrens, robins, and jays. Set up a birdbath or a shallow dish with water: a birdhouse with the appropriate size entry for the type of bird you want to attract will help to keep residents close to your home.

Attract pollinating insects
Fruit trees and fruiting vegetables, such as cucumbers and squashes, need the help of pollinating insects to produce their crops. You can attract these beneficial insects into your garden with a spray of sweet sugar water.

55g (2oz) sugar
250ml (8fl oz) water
2.5 litres (4 pints) water

Boil the sugar with the cup of water until it dissolves. Allow the solution
to cool to room temperature. Pour it into a pump-type garden sprayer, add the remaining water, and spray on to your garden.

Attract ladybirds with zinnias
Common garden zinnias attract ladybirds, which feast on aphids. Plant zinnias liberally in vegetable gardens to protect broccoli, cauliflower, and leafy greens.

Beneficial Insects

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

Brachonids,Chalcids and Ichneumon Wasps
These small beneficial insects destroy leaf-eating caterpillars. You can attract them to your garden by planting carrots, celery, parsley, caraway and Queen Anne's lace, all members of the Umbelliferae family. These plants are easy to grow, and some should be left to flower. It's the flower that attracts the insects.

Ladybirds/Ladybugs
These common insects consume aphids, mites, whiteflies and scale. They can be attracted to your garden by planting members of the daisy family (Compositae), tansy or yarrow. Ladybugs are also available from catalogues online.

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 avid consumers of aphids, and the larva of hover-flies eat aphids and other insect pests. Like the Lacewings, they are attracted to "composite" 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 centers and through mail-order catalogues, and at the businesses linked below.

Garden 'Mini' Insectary
You can 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