Garden: Are you welcoming good bugs to your garden?

Many people believe that all insects are harmful pests, but the fact is that most insects areharmless and some are actually beneficial.

There are nearly one million known species of insects on the planet and less than 1% are harmful to humans, livestock or plants. Unfortunately, the harmful bugs are the ones we talk about the most.

Think mosquitos, termites, ticks, bed bugs, cockroaches, fleas and others in the rogue’s gallery of bad bugs.

Value of insects

The value of insects as pollinators is well known, but less recognized is their importance in decomposing plant debris and wood in forests and parkland, the decomposition of dead animalsand their value in cleaning flowing water.

Insects have been key to medical and biological research and provide useful products such as honey, silk, dyes and food. Insects are also critical components in the food chain as they feed on weeds and harmful insects, keeping populations of these pests in check.

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Insects also serve as food for birds, reptiles and mammals.

Know the good garden bugs

Good garden bugs are those predator insects that eat other insects at some point in their life cycle. These predatory insects and their spider cousins patrol gardens and landscapes in order to sustainthemselves, to feed to their young or to lay their eggs in, on or near those places.

Good garden bugs provide free natural pest management in the garden and contribute to garden biodiversity. Good garden bugs include lady beetles, which feed on aphids, thrips and whiteflies; green lacewings, which feed on aphids, scales and mites; hover flies, which are voracious feeders of soft-bodied insects; and wasps, such as paper wasps, which feed on larger insects such as armyworms, hornworms and cutworms.

Invite good garden bugs to your garden

In addition to feeding on other insects, most good garden bugs need nectar and/or pollen to survive. To provide this food for insects, gardeners can include an assortment of flowering plants in the garden and landscape.

Different flower shapes, sizes, colors and bloom times will invite many beneficial insects to the garden, including predators, pollinators and parasitoids.

Many good garden bugs have short mouthparts that can’t reach deep into flowers for nectar andpollen. Include plants in your garden and landscape with shallow flowers, such as dill, fennel,Queen Anne’s lace and parsley, all plants in the carrot family.

Many flowers in the mustard, daisy and pea family also provide easy-to-access food for good garden bugs. Allow a few stems of herb and vegetable plants to flower after the main harvest is complete.

Basil broccoli, lettuce, onions, mustard and other edible plants offer nectar and pollen when flowering.

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Consider tolerating some pest activity in order to provide a food source for good garden bugs. A bunch of bad garden bugs, such as aphids, will attract and support a population of good gardenbugs, such as hover flies, ladybird beetles and lacewings.

Likewise, tolerating a few weeds with nectar and pollen-rich flowers, such as white clover, Queen Anne’s lace, dandelion and others will support populations of good garden bugs.

OSU Extension has developed a Plant by Numbers Garden plan designed to support good gardenbugs using native flowering perennials and grasses in a 6-by-10-foot garden bed. The planincludes plants with a sequence of flowering throughout the growing season.

The plan includes plants which provide good garden bugs with a source of nectar and pollen, lure aphids and other insect prey into the garden bed and provides habitat and overwintering sites for good garden bugs.

The plan and plant list for this garden bed can be found at u.osu.edu/plantbynumbers/good-garden-bugs/.

Use pesticides sparingly

Most pesticides kill both harmful and beneficial insects, so limit use of synthetic pesticides inorder to conserve beneficial insects.

Practice what is called Integrated Pest Management, or IPM, which is a strategy that relies on the use of biological and cultural control strategies before chemical pesticides are utilized.

Mike Hogan is Extension Educator, Agriculture and Natural Resources and associate professor with Ohio State University Extension.

[email protected]

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Garden: Knowing the importance of good bugs in the garden