How to attract ladybirds to the garden and keep them there
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The aphid control that turns up on its own
Ladybirds work through aphids and scale at a rate no spray really matches, and they do it for nothing, all season, without you having to remember anything. The whole job is making the garden somewhere they want to be, because the beetles are already in the district and what decides whether they stay is whether there's food and shelter once the aphids run out.
Plant things that flower
Adult ladybirds eat pollen and nectar as well as insects, so a garden with flowers in it holds them through the lean stretches between aphid outbreaks. Alyssum is the standout because it flowers for months and the tiny flowers suit small insects, and marigold, dill and nasturtium all earn their spot for the same reason. Tuck them through the veggie beds rather than putting them in a separate flower patch, since the point is having them where the pests are.
One plant I'd steer you away from, and you will see it recommended constantly on overseas gardening sites, is fennel. It's a serious environmental weed in South Australia and it gets away in a heartbeat here, so whatever it does for insects elsewhere, it isn't worth it in this state.
Learn what the larvae look like, because this is where most people go wrong
A ladybird larva looks nothing at all like the adult. It's a small, dark, slightly spiky thing shaped a bit like a tiny alligator, usually grey or black with orange or yellow markings, and it crawls about on the leaves where the aphids are. Plenty of gardeners squash them on sight because they assume anything unfamiliar and crawling is a pest, and the larvae actually eat more aphids than the adults do, so that one mistake costs you the best part of your workforce.
And know the two that are not on your side
Not every ladybird here is a friend. The 26 and 28 spotted ladybirds are leaf eaters, and they're the ones chewing pale scalloped patches into potato, tomato and pumpkin leaves. They look duller and slightly furry compared to the glossy shine on a predatory ladybird, and they have a lot more spots. Worth knowing before you go out congratulating yourself on how many helpers you've got.
Tolerate a few aphids
This is the part that takes some nerve. If you wipe out every aphid the moment you see one, there's nothing for the ladybirds to eat and they'll move on to a garden where there is. Leaving a light population on something you don't mind sacrificing, and nasturtiums are perfect for this because aphids love them, keeps the predators fed and in the area for when something you do care about gets hit.
Go easy with the sprays
Broad spectrum insecticides don't read labels, and they'll take out the ladybirds along with the aphids, which leaves you worse off than before because the pests bounce back faster than the predators do. Where you have to spray, spot treat the affected plant rather than the whole bed, use the softest thing that'll do the job, and go out at dusk when fewer beneficial insects are about.
Leave somewhere untidy
Ladybirds need a spot to shelter through the cold months, and a corner of the yard that never gets cleaned up does that better than anything you can buy. Leaf litter, a few old logs, a bundle of hollow stems left standing, or just some long grass along a fence will do. A perfectly tidy garden is a garden with nowhere for anything useful to live in it.
Shop related products
- D.T. Brown Alyssum Seed. The best value flower you can put through a veggie bed for beneficial insects.
- D.T. Brown Marigold Sparky Mixed Seed. Long flowering and happy in the heat.
- D.T. Brown Dill Seed. The flower heads bring in small predatory insects, and you get the herb as well.
- D.T. Brown Nasturtium Jewel Mixed Seed. The sacrificial plant that keeps a few aphids around for the ladybirds.
Did you know we carry seed varieties in the shop that never made it onto the website, including Alyssum Carpet of Snow and Marigold Crackerjack. Give us a ring on (08) 8536 4333 and we'll tell you what's in the rack.
The garden centre has the seed and the softer sprays for when you do need one, so have a look through the garden range or the pest control range.
Read next
- How to get good bugs into the garden and keep pests down
- Which garden insects are worth keeping around
- How to control garden pests without hurting bees
If you've got a way of keeping ladybirds in the yard that beats planting alyssum everywhere, come and tell me, because I'd genuinely rather know than be right.
Cheers,
Candeece
