From insect hotels to wildflower meadows, there’s a multitude of ways to support, attract and safeguard the insect kingdom and even attract the “beneficial insects” to your garden sanctuary.
The subject of “insect protection” concerns all of us.
“In the past, we have asked one thing of our gardens: that they be pretty. Now they have to support life, sequester carbon, feed pollinators and manage water.”
— DOUG TALLAMY
But for us it’s not about how you can protect yourself from insects, but what you can do yourself to protect bees , beetles, butterflies , lacewings and the like.
One reads again and again that the number of these animals is falling sharply.
The reason for this is, among other things, their living space, which is slowly disappearing due to modern agriculture, road construction and new residential areas.
However, insects are indispensable for the natural balance: They plaster aphids and other pests and, conversely, even serve other beneficial insects such as birds as food.
They pollinate flowers and ensure that plants reproduce and that we can enjoy apples and other garden fruits.
How To Attract Beneficial Insects into your garden
Anyone who provides a habitat for various insects in their garden – but also on the balcony and terrace , provides a diverse range of food and does without one or the other maintenance work – contributes a lot to insect protection.
The possibilities are truly endless. In the following we will give you a few tips on how to support and protect a plethora of wildlife just outside your window.
1. Ensure diversity in the garden all year round
A typical grass lawn does absolutely nothing to protect or support beneficial insects.
If you want to do something good for insects, you should value a natural garden .
Diversity is the key to creating and a vibrant garden wonderland!
Because different kinds of insects like to move into a garden that is planted in many ways.
Create a herb spiral or rock garden.
Plant native trees and shrubs as well as colorful perennials, many of which make excellent foliage for bees and provide a multitude of food sources for many more insects (especially the adorable pollinating ones).
There are even insects like certain species of wild bees that rely on bluebells to sprout.
Native bees for example, like to come when sage are present.
And if you make sure that something is always in bloom, insects will always find a place to spend time buzzing around your back door.
Be sure to plant species and varieties that contain an assortment of flowers, full of a rainbow of colors.
Insects are extremely important to our ecosystem and need our help.
To support the beneficial insects, you can make an important contribution with the right plants on the balcony and in the garden.
2. Create a Wildflower Meadow
Do you want an insect-friendly garden?
How about replacing at least part of your perfectly manicured lawn with a colorful prairie or wildflower meadow or even a medicinal herb spiral garden?
A flower meadow is not only easy to care for, it is a living space and a large buffet for butterflies, bumblebees, hoverflies, dragonflies and many other magnificent insects.
3. Allow Your Garden To Be a Tad Bit Messy
Insects love mess! So save yourself the “cleaning up” in the garden – this way you can offer small crawlers and flying animals a natural habitat all year round.
Let one or the other “weed” bloom and treat the caterpillars of butterflies to a few nettles to feed on.
Do not cut off the seed heads in the perennial bed and do not remove all of the autumn leaves. Rake it up into small piles and let insects like the tree beetle hibernate in it.
Do you have a tree that needs cut down?
Please don’t tear out the tree stump – over time it will be colonized by numerous insects.
You can even help the animals with loose piles of stones, a small pile of wood or cuttings left lying around from the last cut.
4. Build Insect Hotels and Other Shelters
Do handicrafts and build for insect protection – due to the dwindling and shrinking habitat, small creatures are extremely happy to take up refuge in artificially created, manmade habitats.
Note: insects are not as picky as Homosapiens when it comes to finding and sourcing a dwelling to call home.
In an insect hotel you can provide a place for various beneficial insects such as bumblebees , ladybugs, lacewings and parasitic wasps.
The building materials used include dry branches, straw, bamboo and pieces of hardwood with holes.
The great thing is: they work in different sizes.
All you need is a sunny, warm and protected place to set up.
Or how about a nesting aid for sand bees? The insects that live in earth nests enjoy a small sand bed in the garden.
Catchy tunes on the other hand, they go on the hunt for lice in apple trees, for example, and like to hide there in flower pots filled with straw.
5. Provide A Waterhole For Insects
Create an insect and pollinator pond for insects.
Bees, butterflies, beetles and many more cannot survive without a water source.
Especially on hot days and in the city, where natural water sources are rather rare, you can help and build a bee trough yourself – fill a shallow bowl with water and place stones, moss or pieces of wood in it.
They serve as a landing place – of course for other insects as well. A sheltered, sunny and warm place is ideal for drinking troughs.
Maybe you even have a garden pond? Transform it into a pollinator pond sanctuary.
Then provide suitable landing opportunities with stones on the shore or water lilies in the water.
6. Create a deadwood hedge or dry stone wall
If you have the necessary space in the garden, you can create a hedge, also known as a deadwood hedge.
It is not only a good way to sensibly recycle green waste. Numerous animals such as native and migrating birds, lizards, hedgehogs, spiders and even insects benefit from such a lively, attractive wall (along with to many more to count).
This is prime, prime Ritz Carolton habitat for insects, all year long.
It serves as a shelter for them in winter, supplies building materials and, with the flowering plants, also provides food.
Wild bees such as the wooden bee, for example, depend on dead wood.
The dry stone wall is also an ecological asset to the garden.
The small wall spaces are sought-after nesting sites for wild bees, but they also provide shelter for a host of other insects.
It’s also a feeding place during the flowering period, and absolutely essential overwintering grounds for safe hibernation.
7. Commit To Gardening Without Chemicals
It is now well known that the chemical club not only combats supposed pests, but also beneficial insects.
Get rid of chemical sprays from your garden and only use natural pesticides .
For example, you can use nettle manure to strengthen your plants.
A broth made from field horsetail makes it more resistant to fungal diseases and helps with spider mite infestation.
Compost water (tea) can also prevent fungal attack.
If necessary, collect pests from your plants by hand and encourage beneficial insects such as the ladybird, which will definitely be happy about a few extra lice.
Additionally, growing a diverse variety of vegetables, herbs and fruits help your garden and yard achieve more balance and harmony for for the natural world.
Remember, balance is key to a healthy garden ecosystem.