Some insects don't bug plants one bit

As someone who maintains several types of gardens, including an organic vegetable garden, perennial and shrub borders, and many types of small fruits, I am no stranger to the damage insects can do. When I first started gardening, I resorted to "chemical warfare" as soon as I saw so much as a bite out of a leaf or an aphid crawling up a stem. Like many other gardeners, I perused the aisles of my local home-supply store, looking for the perfect concoction to keep any and all insects out of the garden.

At first I purchased pre-mixed solutions and powders, but eventually I graduated to mixing my own brews in hand-held bottles and then in backpack sprayers. Eventually, however, after reading enough chemical labels, it dawned on me that if all those chemicals were killing the bugs, they might not be so good for me, either. Duh!

Today, my battle tactics are very different. I have recruited allies in the form of other insects. By encouraging "beneficial" insects to call my gardens home, I am, in turn, waging my own war against the voracious multitudes that want to share in the fruits of my labor. Beneficial insects prey on other insects either by eating them outright or by producing warriorlike larvae that will.

Jessica Walliser, author of Good Bug, Bad Bug (St. Lynn's Press, 2008), a "Who's Who" of the beneficial insect crowd, was a recent guest on my television program, Cultivating Life, and she taught me about how to put several species of "good bugs" to work in my gardens. Her book provides comprehensive information on the best beneficial insects for home garden use. Jessica explained that, before introducing beneficial insects, I should start by identifying what bugs are attacking my plants. Each species of beneficial bug has specific dining preferences when it comes to snacking on "bad bugs." For example:

 

•Lady bugs prefer aphids, but they will also eat white flies, scale insects, mites and mealy bugs.

•Lacewings will eat aphids, whitefly, leaf miner and mites.

•Parasitic wasps love to dine on caterpillars, beetles, saw flies and scale insects.

•Assassin bugs (who wouldn't want these patrolling their garden?) dine on flies, tomato hornworms and caterpillars.

Online companies such as Greenmethods.com are excellent resources for purchasing beneficial insects, and they can assist with choosing the best beneficials for your needs.

Sean Conway is a garden designer, plantsman and co-executive producer and host of the television series "Cultivating Life," which airs on WGN-America at 12:30 p.m. Saturdays. His Web site is cultivatinglife.com.