All this news about biodiversity loss around the world is distressing but we can all do a few simple things in the garden to help. Insects and bugs have long been seen as pests but we have to change our attitude towards them because they play a major part in the survival of all species. (Plummeting insect numbers ‘threaten collapse of nature’). Protecting, rather than killing insects, is now more important than ever. Fortunately there are plenty of ways to have an insect friendly garden. For those of you with little spare time you’ll be pleased to hear that having an insect friendly garden can mean a lot less time spent gardening!
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7 easy ways to have an insect friendly garden
1. Make or buy a bug hotel
A really fun and beneficial thing to do is to make a bug hotel. I think this is a great way to get your children interested in all the life you can find in your garden. Making your own bug hotel with the kids should be a very fun and educational exercise. There are many ways to make a bug hotel and I suppose which style you go for also depends on the size of your garden. It’s a good way to reuse and recycle items as well and they look really cool. I made a bug hotel using materials I found in my garden. It’s not the best looking bug hotel in the world but it does the job!
If you want some inspiration or don’t have the time to make your own then there are loads available on Amazon (ignoring all the sponsored adverts for pest killers at the top of the page!). Personally I’d avoid making or buying any painted versions or ones with treated wood.
2. Create a log pile
A log pile is another type of bug hotel, which will attract different types of insect. Beetles, woodlice, centipedes and millipedes all like the dark and damp conditions found in a log pile. These insects will then attract hedgehogs, toads and birds to visit your garden.
Firstly find somewhere in your garden where a log pile won’t be disturbed. Slightly bury some of the logs as some beetles eat the dead and decaying wood under the surface. Then balance a few other logs on top. You can fill any gaps with dead leaves but the nooks and crannies are what will attract insects and small mammals. Here are 3 ways to create dead wood habitats.
3. Don’t mow your lawn
A manicured lawn can look amazing, but it’s a desert for insects. If you don’t mow your lawn you’ll start to see some wildflowers and other interesting things popping up, including stinging nettles (which butterflies love). You can buy wildflower seeds to speed up the process. The variety of plant life you have will increase the variety of insects in your garden and start attracting other wildlife too.
If you like to have a mown lawn then consider leaving a part of it to grow wild to give insects a bit of a safe haven. Even some of the parks in London are letting sections go wild to create bee corridors, so if they can do it, so can you.
Look at how lovely your garden could look.
4. Stop using pesticides and herbicides
Stop thinking of insects as pests and start thinking of them as the amazing creatures they are. If you stop using pesticides you’ll see more ladybirds, butterflies and bees in your garden. If you see aphids on your roses don’t panic and spray them with a pesticide, they feed ladybirds so they’re a good thing. Not using nasty chemicals to kill off insects is one of the easiest ways to have an insect friendly garden. Read this excellent guide to Gardening Without Pesticides from the Pesticide Action Network UK. You could also buy organic food so that you’re supporting farmers who don’t use pesticides.
Herbicides include products like Roundup which contain the toxic ‘glyphosate’. Glyphosate is a non-selective herbicide, meaning it will kill most plants, including ones which are vital for insects.
Your garden should be buzzing with life, embrace the bugs!
5. Don’t tidy the garden so much
Insects love to find places to hide, so you’ll often find them under leaves and twigs. Constantly sweeping up and tidying the garden destroys these natural hiding places for loads of insects. A slightly untidy garden is something to be proud of not sneered at. Being slightly less tidy could attract lots of hedgehogs to your garden too.
Anyone: ‘Your garden is rather mes-‘
Me: It’s a hedgehog hotel. ✋#SavingBritainsHedgehogs pic.twitter.com/m43jA0LfPu— Athena Films (@films_athena) May 8, 2019
Don’t use slug pellets if you have hedgehogs as the poisoned slugs and the pellets themselves can be harmful! There are wildlife friendly alternatives to slug pellets available.
6. Build a pond or create a small water feature
If you have the space for a pond then you should consider having one. Like all living creatures, insects need water too. Most insects will get enough water from their food but other insects breed in water and pond insects feed other creatures. If you don’t have the space for a full pond then you can still provide some kind of water feature in your garden. Note that a wildlife pond is different to an ornamental fish pond. Ornamental fish will eat the pond life, which you don’t want.
A wildlife pond can attract frogs, toads, newts, leeches, blue damselfly, dragonfly and boatmen. (Read more about pond life).
7. Don’t use Leaf Blowers
The German Government has advised people not use leaf blowers as they can kill or seriously harm insects, not only that but they are noisy and ‘heavily polluting’.
“Leaf blowers are fatal to insects and should not be used unless absolutely necessary, the German government has told citizens, days after a disturbing new report warned than an ongoing “insect armageddon” threatens all life on Earth.
The often noisy gardening tools are heavily polluting and pose the “risk that small animals are absorbed or blown and thereby damaged”, the Ministry for the Environment said.” – The Independent
There you have it, some easy ways to make an insect friendly garden, and as you can see it’ll save you a lot of time gardening too. Go searching for bugs in your garden with the kids at the weekends rather than mowing the lawn, killing the weeds and spraying pesticides.
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