Ruud Kleinpaste: Plants favorable to pollinators and beneficial

It’s a good weekend to get into the garden and plan ahead for crops and fruits … and free pest control.

Fruit trees and crops need pollinators. It pays to always have a mix of useful pollen and nectar sources in bloom when you want to attract pollinators to your garden. The idea is simple: have a small “meadow” of flowering plants that anchor native bees, flies, beetles, butterflies and moths to your plot. Insects have a “memory” of where the best meals are: pollen (protein) and nectar (sweetness of energy).

But wait, there is more! Many of these insects are also good pest control for the little sap-sucking and crushing creatures on your crops, shrubs, and trees. What they do is passive biological control. It’s a good strategy: instead of having to spray against different pests on your plants, why not let natural predators and parasites do it?

The animals you would like to attract to your home are of course insectivorous birds, such as silver eyes. But they can’t do much, they are often quite omnivorous and feed on a whole range of insects: both harmful and beneficial! How about taking specific parasitoids on board? small parasitic wasps which will lay their eggs inside harmful caterpillars, in cochineals, scales in sects and aphids. These parasitoids must feed like adult insects before they can mate and lay their eggs. Flowers with just the right mix of pollen and nectar will do the trick: they fatten up parasitoids and keep them in pristine condition.

Some of the predatory insects (like hoverfly larvae, ladybugs) are also helpful to have by your side. They too feed on pollen and nectar, especially in the adult stage! See the attraction?

My friends at Kings Seeds have come up with a wildflower blend called Beneficial Insect Blend which contains Phacelia, Borage, Buckwheat Anise, Cilantro, Bishop’s Flower, Anise , alsysum, cosmos, bergamot, anise hyssop and crimson clover. Some of them are real heroes when it comes to attracting pollinators and beneficial insects.

Phacelia (blue Tansy) is ideal for predatory flying flies that devour aphids. Sow the seeds now, but be careful if this plant gets a little bad in certain environments.
Buckwheat is asmall ice plant with white flowers. It fits in empty spaces and under fruit trees, in productive berry gardens and vegetable plots, and feeds on parasitoids.
Umbelliferous flowering plants like vsorriander attract a wide variety of beneficial insects. Alternatively, you can leave your parsley go to flower and “sow”, carrot blossoms, Queen Anne’s lace and such beautiful flower umbels, are usually full of parasitoids and predators. Anise, alyssum, bergamot do exactly the same. Likewise: try some dill and fennel.

Finally, there is a bunch of native flowers that seem to attract the beneficial ones. Hebe is such a flower, but also Manuka and Pohutukawa. It’s not something you would be and use in a matter of weeks or months, but it’s worth considering for long term planting to make free pest control easier!

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