When growing a garden, the fight against pests starts with beneficial insects and animals. Rather than trying to fight nature alone, call for help! Before we get into it; the most important thing you need to know before inviting these friends into your garden is: do not use pesticides, insecticides or herbicides of any kind. So without further ado..

Here are 9 beneficial insects & animals that you want to attract in your garden. We will take you through who they are, why you want them there and how to attract them.

Lacewing

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What lacewings are

Lacewings are a small, green flying insect that has nearly invisible wings (hence their name). Lacewing lay either single eggs or in clusters. The eggs are unusual as they are a small white egg on the end of a “hair”. The “hair” is attached to the leaf and at the end of it is the egg (photo below). If you see these in your garden, make sure not to touch them.

Why you want lacewings in your garden

Lacewing larvae feed on soft bodied insects such as aphids, thrips, and spider mites, among other insects. Aphids are a common pest in the vegetable garden. They suck the sap from plants and slow down their growth, which is why you want to find solutions to this problem.

How to attract lacewings to your garden

Adult lacewings feed on pollen and nectar so planting flowers in your vegetable garden can help attract lacewings to your garden. Plants that attract lacewing include; cilantro, dill and yarrow.

Ladybugs

What ladybugs are

Ladybugs are small beetles that are very common in the garden. There are many different species that you can find in the Canadian garden from ones with spots, others that are almost completely solid with one spot, and even square patterns like the Fourteen Spotted beetle pictured above.

Why you want ladybugs in your garden

Ladybug larvae are ferocious eaters. They look nothing like their adult counterpart, so it’s important to get familiar with them (pictured above). The larvae of ladybugs will eat loads of aphids as they grow into adulthood. Adult ladybugs also eat aphids, however the larvae have a larger appetite.

How to attract ladybugs to your garden

Ladybugs feed on pollen, so including flowers in your garden will help bring these beneficial insects in. Ladybugs specifically enjoy flat-topped flowers such as yarrow, dill and orlaya grandiflora. To help keep ladybugs in your garden year after year, include bug hotels in your garden for them to overwinter in.

Parasitic Wasps

What they are

Parasitic wasps are small wasps that don’t sting humans, but rather use their stinger to lay eggs on their host. The larvae hatch, go into their host and then eat the host from the inside out before starting the next stage of their life in a cocoon.

Why you want parasitic wasps in your garden

Parasitic wasps target common garden pests such as the tomato hornworm. If you ever see a tomato hornworm with white cocoons on the outside of it, those are the cocoons of the parasitic wasp (pictured above). The hornworm is essentially dead at this point, so leave the caterpillar where you found it to allow the wasps to finish their lifecycle.

How to attract parasitic wasps to your garden

Adult parasitic wasps feed on the pollen and nectar of flowers. Planting flowers such as alyssum, dill and Queen Anne’s lace will attract these small wasps to your garden.

Bees

What they are

Bees are the most familiar and loved garden insect. Unlike honeybees, most native bees in Canada are actually solitary. What this means is that they don’t build hives, and aren’t part of a larger group of bees.

Why you want bees in your garden

Bees pollinate your vegetable plants. Many vegetables require a pollinator in order to set fruit, and bees are one of the best at this job. Plants such as zucchini and cucumbers require pollinators, and other plants such as tomatoes don’t need pollinators, but studies show that the fruit tastes better when pollinated by insects.

How to attract bees to your garden

Planting flowers in your garden will help feed the bees. They love coneflowers, sunflowers and rudbeckia. Make sure to plant flowers that are single petal, and not doubles, as bees can’t reach the pollen well. Including bee hotels in your backyard gives solitary bees a place to lay their eggs in order to have bees season after season.

Continue growing your garden knowledge

• 6 Spring Garden Pests You Should Know
• Are Organic Chemicals Safe To Use in a Home Garden?
• Save Your Lawn: How to Control Lawn Grubs
• Seedlings Randomly Die? Damping Off Could Be the Culprit
• How to Manage Aphids in Your Garden

Butterflies

What they are

Another famous garden insect is the butterfly. The most familiar and famous is the monarch butterfly, which was listed as endangered in Canada. Butterflies come in different sizes, from the Common Branded Skipper to Monarchs.

Why you want butterflies in your garden

Butterflies are pollinators, similar to bees, however they are better pollinators for seed production, vs fruit production. This includes plants like dill, lettuce, or brassica that flower when going to seed. If you want to save your own seeds (which you should!), you’ll want butterflies in your garden

How to attract butterflies to your garden

Grow host plants so the butterflies want to come to your garden to lay their eggs. This includes common milkweed for monarchs, and plants from the celery family (such as dill, parsley or fennel) to attract swallowtail butterflies. Keeping water out in a shallow bowl with bright colours will also help attract butterflies.

Hoverflies

What they are

Hoverflies are exactly what they sound like, they are flies seen hovering and flying around the garden. Hoverflies look like small wasps and use this mimicry to trick predators from eating them. The best way to tell them apart from bees or wasps is both how they hover, but they also have large, red eyes.

Why you want hoverflies in your garden

The adults feed on pollen and nectar, while the larvae eats different things. Some species eat decaying matter in the soil, while other species eat aphids.

How to attract hoverflies to your garden

Since hoverflies feed on pollen and nectar, planting flowers in your garden will help attract them to your garden.

Other Garden Friends

Bats

What they are

Bats are a night-flying mammal that feed on insects. There are 18 species in Canada that can be found from coast to coast.

Why you want bats in your garden

Bats eat insects, which can help control the population of mosquitoes, so you can enjoy your yard at any time of the day or evening!

How to attract bats to your garden

If you don’t already have bats flying around your yard, then getting a bat house is your first step to invite these insect eating animals to your yard. There are particular rules to follow when installing a bat house, from the height to the direction the house is facing. It’s important to leave out water in your yard to allow them access to it, and don’t put your bat house near bright lights (like an outdoor light).

Birds

What they are

I think we all know what birds are! They are our feathery friends that wake us up in the morning to song, and if we’re lucky, allow us to be a part of their family story by making nests around our houses.

Why you want birds in your garden

Many birds eat insects! Those insect eating birds will eat mosquitoes and keep other annoying pests at bay. If you are having a problem with slugs or earwigs, call over your neighbourhood robin or blackbird and they will take care of that issue for you.

How to attract birds to your garden

Having safe spaces for birds in your garden is a great way to keep them around. Providing shelter in the form of a tree or bush, and having water out are two important needs for birds. Include bird baths around your property, placing them in areas that are sheltered so the birds can bathe and dry off safely.

Hummingbirds

What they are

Hummingbirds are small birds, named after the sound their wings make. There are only 5 species in Canada, and only one in Eastern Canada (the ruby-throated).

Why you want hummingbirds in your garden

The main reason you want hummingbirds in your garden is because they are beautiful and special! They also are excellent pollinators for deep flowers.

How to attract hummingbirds to your garden

There are two ways you can attract hummingbirds to your garden. The first is to have a hummingbird feeder filled with sweet water that you can make at home. Be aware though that you need to clean your feeder miltuple times a week, so you have to be ready for the commitment if you put one up. The second is to plant flowers that hummingbirds specifically like; such as honeysuckle, bee balm and lupines.