In the past few years, the use of beneficial insects in the garden has become common and quite inexpensive. This is great news for those of us who are weary of watching pests such as Japanese beetles devour our favourite plants, or who have struggled to get good yields on our fruiting plants due to an absence of bees. Van Luyk’s offers several different beneficial insects as an alternative to pest control products.
Nematodes For Grub Control
Most of us are aware that nematodes are very effective at killing grubs in our lawns. However, there’s an added bonus: grubs are the larval form of other common garden pests, including Japanese beetles and June bugs. When we kill grubs, we also reduce the Japanese beetle population in our yards. A single application of fresh nematodes covers 2000-3000 square feet, and for greatest effect should be used twice a year: once in the spring and once in the fall. Learn more here.
Mason Bees
Mason bees are incredible pollinators for spring-flowering fruit and nut trees as well as berries and flowers. They are harmless to humans — they rarely sting (in fact, males have no stingers), and stings are similar to a mosquito bite. A single mason bee visits around 2,000 blossoms each day! If you have a fruit tree that is struggling to produce, mason bees are here to help. Learn more here.
Leafcutter Bees
Like mason bees, leafcutter bees are gentle and generally harmless to humans. They can be used to pollinate plants that bloom later in the season, as they emerge from their cocoons in mid to late July. Leafcutter bees create crescent-shaped holes in the leaves of nearby plants, but never enough to cause real damage – they take only enough leaves to help line the nests they make for their young. Learn more here.
Praying Mantis
Praying Mantis are predatory insects that feed on an assortment of garden pests, including aphids, some beetles, caterpillars, hornworms, leafrollers, thrip, whiteflies, and just about anything else they can get their forelimbs on (including other praying mantises)! They can be incubated in special egg cases, requiring warm temperatures and a daily misting until they hatch, at which point you can unleash them in your garden. The life cycle of a praying mantis, from egg to death, is a fascinating process to watch!
Consult our Pest and Disease Control resource to learn more about beneficial nematodes and pest control.