Companion Plants to Encourage Beneficial Bugs Into Your Garden

Planting a diversity and variety of different plants in your garden can not only add colour and life to your garden, it can also encourage useful and beneficial bugs. These bugs can help to pollinate and also control unwanted insects.

Bumblebees: are the most effective and natural pollinator in your garden. To encourage bees into your garden you need to plants species that are high in nectar and pollen. the following is a very small example, choose a wide variety of plants in different vivd colours:

 

Ladybug Beetles: will eat up to 5 000 aphids in it’s lifetime, they also help to control asparagus beetles. Encourage ladybug beetles into your garden, by planting:

 

Green Lacewings: Adult lacewings and their larvae eat aphids, caterpillars, mealybugs, scales, thrips and whiteflies. To encourage these pretty little bugs into the garden plant:

 

Trichogramma Parasitic Wasp: help to control asparagus beetles, and cabbage worms. These wasps don’t sting and won’t bother you while having your a BBQ. Plants to encourage these helpful wasps into your garden:

 

Damsel Bugs: feed on aphids, small caterpillars, leafhoppers and thrips. Plant alfalfa over the winter to encourage them come back year after year. Plants that will help to bring them into your garden include:

 

Ground Beetles: The nocturnal ground beetle is a voracious predator of slugs, snails, cutworms and cabbage worms. Plant perennials like:

 

Minute Pirate Bugs (Orius): these black-and-white bugs will attack almost any insect. Plant:

 

Soldier Beetles: feed on aphids, caterpillars and other insects. A little word of warning though they may also feed on including harmless and beneficial species. Attract them by planting: