Ornamental Gardening

True Garden Friends - Beneficial Visitors of the Garden

Last Update :October 14, 2022

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There are friendly visitors in your garden who give more than they take. These visitors from the animal kingdom are your true garden friends. Some help to pollinate your plants, some make the soil superior for planting while others protect your garden from pest attacks.

Let's meet our friends & learn about their importance:

1. Earthworms:

These iconic creatures are still at the top of the list. There is no artificial replacement for worms ability to convert unplantable and non-fertile lands into well prepared fertile soils. Earthworms are the bio-machines, genuinely designed for the sole purpose of soil improvement. The best friends of farmers and the best friends of gardeners.
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Earthworm: helpful insects

2. Millipede:

The most misunderstood friend of a garden. Millipedes are feared or hated for their appearance, but they are harmless and in fact very beneficial. Millipedes are like allies of earthworms who feed on dead and decaying organic matter. They help in humus formation, and because of being fast movers they also support make the soil well aerated.
beneficial garden bugs

3. Ladybird beetle:

These are wrongly identified with their favorite common name ladybugs. As beautiful as they are, ladybirds are equally useful hunters. They prey upon some of the most dangerous garden pests like aphids, scale insects and mealybugs. Presence of ladybirds in your garden means specific control of infestations.
ladybug insect

4. Praying mantis:

These majestic insects look like a character of aliens or robots from sci-fi movies. Mantis is ambush predators who hunt down insect pests of your garden. Thus they act as natural pesticides for controlling an extensive range of insect pests like caterpillars, worms, stem borers, moths, Jassids, aphids, hoppers etc.
beneficial insects in agriculture

5. Bees:

Bees play an essential role in pollinating flowering plants and are the primary type of pollinator in many ecosystems that contain flowering plants, including your vegetable garden. It is estimated that one-third of the human food supply depends on pollination by insects, birds and bats, most of which is accomplished by bees, whether wild or domesticated.
Read More About Creating a Bee-friendly Garden!
friendly insects

6. Birds:

We are all familiar with the concept of using scarecrow in agriculture to stop the birds from eating the crop production. However, there are many bird species which are beneficial to our gardens and orchards.
Small birds like flowerpeckers and sunbirds help in pollination. Birds like Common Myna, owls, bee-eaters, flycatchers, swallows, larks etc., protect your garden from pests by preying upon them.
Read More About How to Attract Birds in Your Garden!
Birds: Beneficial garden insects