In addition to plants, there will also be a large number of animals in your garden. We consider many of them harmful to our plants, but we should pay attention to those that are good for our garden. Also, most of them can serve as a biological method of pest control and help you control unwanted visitors to your garden.
Beneficial invertebrates for the garden
You won’t be able to spot a large number of organisms useful for your plants right away, but they are almost always present. Below is a list of useful invertebrates for your garden.
Gujavica
Earthworm (Lumbricus terrestris), which we often call earthworm, is of great importance for the soil of our garden. Namely, with its action, it decomposes plant materials such as fallen leaves. You must have seen them during the rainy season when, without fear of high temperatures, they come to the surface of the soil. They feed on fallen leaves that start to rot.
If you have ever noticed in your garden on the very surface of the soil mounds of strange shapes, then you can be sure that there are spider mites in your garden. These piles are the digested material and soil that the caterpillars leave on the surface and thereby enrich the soil.
Bugs
The most desirable invertebrates in your garden are insects. Insects are also important pollinators that will help plants reproduce. Insects are also important as predators of other insects that will harm your garden.
Bees, in Latin Apis mellifera, in late spring and summer, in search of pollen and nectar, will visit the plants of your garden and thus pollinate them. Also, the preferred pollinators are solitary bees, which can start pollinating your garden as early as March. You can easily make reed houses for them and provide them with a permanent residence in your garden.
Bumblebees (Bombus terrestris), which you can recognize by their hairy, black body larger than bees, are also very good pollinators.
Ladybug
Ladybugs or ladybugs (lat. Coccinellidae) are a family of insects that are of great importance in your garden. Namely, the larvae of these insects feed on plant pests, aphids, which are not welcome in the garden because of the great damage they can cause. They can develop in 3 to 5 weeks, and eat 20 to 30 aphids per day.
Stinging nettle
Stinging nettle (Urtica dioica), which we often treat as a weed and remove it from the garden, is a very important part of the diet of beneficial pollinators from the Lepidoptera family, i.e. butterflies. The caterpillars of the beautiful-winged admiral (Vanessa atalana) and the yellow-winged admiral (Vanessa cardui) feed on nettle leaves before they transform into adults. Butterflies are important for the pollination of certain types of flowers because they have specially adapted beaks with which they feed on the nectar of flowers and thus pollinate them.
The pine cone fly
Another type of insect, whose food is aphids, is the pinfly (lat. Aphidoletes aphidymza) from the Diptera family. They inject poison into the aphid to paralyze it and then eat it. They feed on aphids that are even bigger than themselves, and they kill more aphids than they eat. Because of this characteristic, they are considered one of the most important insects for biological control, and are most often used in greenhouses.
Run
Beetles can run fast and mostly live on the ground. They are excellent predators of pests such as snails, caterpillars and cabbage flies. They find a home in perennial plants, and by planting, for example, clover, you can provide them with a safe habitat.
To attract as many pollinators to your garden as possible, leave weeds growing as they will attract these beneficial animals and thus help your plants. Also, do not use insecticides to control harmful types of insects, as you are simultaneously controlling pollinators that do no harm but can only help plants.
Useful vertebrates for the garden
We also benefit from vertebrates in the garden. Below, find out from which vertebrates your garden will be naturally preserved.
Frogs
If you have a lake, pond or some kind of pool in your garden then you can provide a habitat for frogs. Frogs are useful because they feed on insects, even mosquitoes, and thus also help in the biological destruction of harmful species.
Hedgehogs
Hedgehogs, which we all love, are very useful for the garden. They feed on various types of insects, snails, mice, snakes, and can eat very large quantities. They like to eat some roots and berries, but they do more good than harm, so they are welcome in the garden. Hedgehogs will most often visit your garden at night in search of food. It is important to keep the garden free of poison, and they need a quiet corner under bushes with fallen leaves to find shelter in it.
Sljepic
Sljepic, which we often think is a snake, is actually a very useful legless lizard. It spends its time burrowing through the soil, but can sometimes be seen catching the sun’s rays on the surface of the soil. It is a carnivore, and an important part of its diet is insects, worms and slugs.
Birds
Important garden helpers are birds. Although we often think of them as harmful in the garden because they feed on the seeds and fruits that we care so much about, they are actually very useful because they feed on large quantities of worms, insects and caterpillars. Sparrows, in addition to liking insects, also like to eat weed seeds, so they will help you control unwanted types of plants. During the summer, one arboretum can eat up to 30 kg of caterpillars.
Other useful birds are: blackbird, starlings, finch, robin and red-tailed godwit. To provide a habitat for birds, you can set up houses for them, and they will make a nest in bushes or hedges. In order to help them and keep them in your home, you can also install a feeder or a small pool for birds.
Moles
Moles destroy lawns and vegetable gardens with their mounds, thus leaving a bad impression. On the other hand, they are very useful because the soil from the mound is excellent for planting, and they feed on insects, insect larvae, worms and slugs.
Not all animals harm our garden, some are very useful. Provide them with safe habitats to help you control unwanted species and reduce the use of harmful chemicals. It is important to recognize useful species, as this will ensure a natural balance in your garden.
Photo: Myriams-Fotos/Pixabay