The ladybug is the friendliest garden insect you can host, with the lacewing and the hoverfly close behind. All three hunt the pests that chew your plants, and none of them bites or stings you. They sit at the top of the list of beneficial garden insects because they protect your crops while asking for almost nothing in return.
On a still summer morning I noticed the froth of sweet alyssum edging the border by the hedge corner come alive. Two ladybugs crawled the white blooms while a green lacewing rested on a stem just above them. A hoverfly hung in the air over the same patch, dropped to a flower, then lifted off again. Three different friendly insects, all working one small clump of flowers. The same sweet alyssum I planted there years ago still pulls them in every June.
What makes these three so useful is their appetite. The trio of ladybugs lacewings hoverflies all eat aphids and other soft-bodied pests like mites and scale. A single ladybug can eat up to 5,000 aphids over its life. Lacewing larvae are so hungry they earned the nickname aphid lions. The young hoverflies clear out whole colonies before the adults move on to flowers. One healthy population of these hunters can keep a vegetable bed clean without a drop of spray.
None of these insects harm you or your plants. The adult hoverfly drinks nectar and moves pollen from bloom to bloom, so it works as a pollinator too. The ladybug and the lacewing spend their days hunting the bugs that would ruin your leaves. They eat the trouble in your garden, not the garden itself. You can pick any of them up and they will not bite or sting your hand. Kids can watch a ladybug crawl across a finger with zero worry.
It also helps to know what you are looking at so you do not swat a friend by mistake. The ladybug has its round red shell and black spots. The lacewing is slim and pale green with clear lace-like wings. The hoverfly wears black and yellow bands that make it look like a bee, but it has no sting and hovers in one spot. Once you spot all three, you will see them as the helpers they are.
Let a few aphids stay on a sacrificial plant. That small food source draws ladybugs and lacewings in and gives them a reason to lay eggs nearby.
A garden with lots of different flowers feeds all three at once. The flat clusters of sweet alyssum, dill, fennel, and yarrow give them easy landing pads and shallow nectar they can reach. Mix in marigolds and cosmos and you keep the buffet open from spring through fall. The wider the spread of blooms, the longer these friendly insects stay and breed near your beds.
A bit of shelter helps too. Leave a small patch of the garden a little wild, with a few seed heads and some leaf cover, and the adults have a safe place to wait out cold nights. Lacewings and ladybugs often tuck into that messy corner to lay the next batch of eggs. A tidy garden looks neat, but a slightly rough edge keeps your hunters at home. A shallow dish of water with a few stones to land on gives them a drink on hot days as well.
Skip broad-spectrum sprays if you want them to settle in for good. Those products kill the ladybug along with the aphid, and they wipe out the eggs and larvae you never see. Spot-treat a bad outbreak by hand or knock the pests off with a strong jet of water instead. Plant pollen-rich flowers, hold off on the sprays, and the friendliest garden insect will find you on its own and stay all season.
Read the full article: Ladybug Garden: Attract and Keep Them
