This tip brought to you by our Garden Guru Sheri Ann Richerson
on Feb 06, 2010
To encourage beneficial insects to stay in your garden, avoid sprays or other types of chemicals. Many sprays, including some organic ones, can be harmful to beneficial insects (even in lower doses than recommended). Pesticides are designed to kill, which means they will likely kill every type of insect, good and bad.
When trying to eliminate bad bugs from the garden, allowing nature to take her course is the best bet. In time, the beneficial insects will eat up the bad bugs. In the meantime, if the bad bugs are damaging your plants or bothering you, remove the pests by hand or spray them with a strong stream of water from the garden hose. Pests like tomato hornworm and Japanese beetles can be handpicked easily, but always use gloves (especially for hornworms). To get rid of Japanese beetles, place them in a jar filled with soapy water. Make sure the jar's lid is secure so none of them fly back out.
Only remove pests that are causing damage. While planting sources of nectar for the good bugs will help, don't forget that their main food source is bad bugs. Without the bad bugs as a food source, the beneficial insects will leave your garden.
