'Good pests' are a natural, environmentally friendly, and cost-efficient solution to your pest infestation problems. Here are some that you should welcome with open arms!
Lacewing
These good bugs are bright green or brown and have delicate, lacey wings (the clue is in the name!). Luckily for you, the lacewing is a whizz when it comes to pest control. Adults feed on nectar and lay eggs on the underside of leaves. Leave them to hatch, as the larvae do most of the hard work, feeding on aphids, mealy bugs, thrips, whitefly and more. To attract them and help them stay around, grow flowering plants and herbs such as coriander, dill, and fennel.
Parasitic wasps
Despite its unfriendly name, the parasitic wasp is a type of wasp that doesn’t sting (bonus!). They help to control pests by invading the eggs of their host and laying their eggs on the bodies of pests such as caterpillars, aphids, whitefly, and mealybugs.
To attract parasitic wasps in your garden and help them grow, it is good to have flowering plants such as marigolds, thyme, alyssum, and cosmos.
Hoverflies
Hoverflies, also known as flower flies, feed on aphids and most soft-bodied pests. They look like little bees and hatch eggs. Their larvae gobble up aphid colonies and mealybugs. Plant thyme, lemon balm, alyssum, cosmos, and spearmint to attract them and keep them in your garden.
Ladybirds (also known as ladybugs)
Roll out the red carpet for this one! Ladybirds eat common garden and household pests such as mites, mealybugs, and aphids, including their eggs. As with many other good garden pests, the larvae do a lot of the heavy lifting doing more damage to the bad pests. The ‘fungus-eating ladybird’ also controls the plant disease, powdery mildew.
Beetles
Beneficial species of beetles you should invite into your garden include ground beetles and soldier beetles. They guard your garden from slugs, snails, aphids, caterpillars, and many other insects.
Bees
Finally, while bees don’t actively discourage the bad bugs, they are extremely helpful in the garden. They can be a bit buzzy and a bit stingy, but if you leave them alone, they look for the pollen in flowers, transferring it from one plant to another, allowing the plant to reproduce. No bees = no plants!
Generally, to bring good bugs into the garden, focus on flowers where the pollen is easy to access. These include:
- Calendula
- Passionfruit Marigold
- Chamomile
- Sweet Alyssum
- Cosmos
- Gerberas
- Achillea or ‘Yarrow’
- Lavender
- Borage
- Rosemary
- Daffodils
- Poppies
- Geraniums
- Coriander
- Veggie flowers – let veggies go to seed. Great plants to let self-seed in the veggie patch include parsley, dill, fennel, lettuce, and carrots.
You could also try inviting more birds into your garden, to help control destructive garden pests.
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