Five Ways to Encourage Insects into Your Garden
Support the Local Insect Population by Providing Homes
Jun 30, 2009
There are a large number of bug homes that can be purchased but why buy a bug home when you can create your own? What follows are a few simple ideas that will make your garden bug heaven.
Create a Log Cabin
Place a pile of logs in a quiet corner of the garden and watch the bugs move in. If you are lucky the slow worm may move into the interior of the stack, which is a great eco-friendly way of controlling your slug population. To increase the different types of species which will move in then try to use a variety of different woods.
Create a Home Using an Old Flower Pot
Another easy home to make which is suitable for a wide range of creepy crawlies and a great des res for a bee is a ceramic flowerpot, a saucer (or broken piece of ceramic flowerpot) and some moss. Fill the flowerpot with the moss, dig a hole as deep as the flower pot and place the flower pot upside down then place the earth back round it making sure the hole is left clear. To stop the rain from getting in cover the hole with a saucer or the broken piece of pot, resting on a stone to enable the bee to climb under and into its new home.
A Quick to Make Home For Lacewings
The lacewing is a wonderful insect to encourage into your garden as they just munch their way through those aphids. So to help them survive winter create them a ‘snug.’ All you need is a waterproof container (a wide piece of plastic piping is ideal) and some bamboo or corrugated paper. Simply cut the bamboo to the same length as your container and pack them tightly into it or cut the card to size, roll it up and slip it in. Just before the first deep frost of the winter move the whole thing into a garden shed or somewhere sheltered but unheated to protect from frost. You will find other insects will have also moved in including ladybirds, another gardener friendly bug.
Stinging Nettles are Loved by Many Insects
Nettles may not be on the top ten list of most wanted plants for many gardeners however they are ideal for encouraging all manner of insects into your garden. So if you have a spare patch of ground then let them grow or why not place in pots in a secluded part of the garden. If you do not have any nettles in your garden but know of a family member or friend who does then wearing protective gloves and long sleeves pull up root and all and transplant. Then watch the bugs move in!
Build Yourself a Pond
A pond without fish is a great way of encouraging insects and it’s surprising how little time it takes for pond skaters, water fleas and the like take to move in.
Book Suggestion
If you want to find out more about helping insects then invest in Garden Creepy-crawlies by Michael Chinery, which offers a wealth of help and advice on helping bugs.
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