The wider the range of plants in your garden, the less they are plagued by pests. A mass planting of a single species—in a rose bed, for example—acts as a magnet for swarms of its very own pest and drains the soil of its favored nutrient, leaving you reliant on ever-increasing amounts of pesticide and fertilizer to maintain the status quo. It is far less trouble to plant a range of species. The plants attract a rich diversity of insects and wildlife that help to keep pests in check.
Mixing native flowers of the area with introduced plants can also help the whole garden by attracting useful pest predators and cutting down the risk of disease. Birds, bees and butterflies add to the beauty of the plants themselves.
A few logs provide a harbor for beneficial ground beetles, which eat slugs and snails. If you rent a shredder, you can grind the wood down to go onto the compost heap or to be used as a weed-smothering mulch. A bird feeder completes the natural idyll.
Try these plants in your garden to attract birds and insects that will help control unwanted pests:
- Lime, flowering linden (Tilia cordata)
- Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea)
- Ivy (Hedera helix)
- Comfrey (Symphytum officinale)
- Herb Robert (Geranium robertianum)
- Forget-me-not (Myosotis sylvatica)
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The seeds of lime, or flowering linden, trees will attract birds and small mammals.
