Information About Beneficial Garden Friends

We bet you didn’t know that caterpillars make noise. Read about how their squeak and scream scares birds away.

Have you ever wondered how bees see? Click here to find out.

Learn how to determine the differences among nests made by bees, wasps and hornets. It might save you a nasty sting.

Not all plants are great for bees and other pollinators. Learn which 7 to avoid in your pollinator garden.

Not as pretty as butterflies, moths are pollinators, too. Learn about different types of moths in your garden.

Beavers are a beneficial part of a wildlife ecosystem. Here are tips on how to support them.

Learn about garden spiders and how they play a part in keeping your garden free of pesky bugs.

Important pollinators that add beauty and a sense of peace in the garden, here’s how to welcome wild birds.

It's easy to welcome bees to your garden space with plants, water and a safe habitat. Read on to learn how.

If you see a hungry possum wandering around, you may wonder what kind of food it’s seeking. Read on to understand the appetites of opposums.

Not all of them will sting you, but it’s good to know which bees, wasps and other flying insects to watch out for.

Learn how plants and pollinators adapt for their mutual benefit.

What are the best plants for swallowtail butterflies? Click here to find out.

Our astonishing honeybees certainly deserve a day of their own, considering what they contribute to humanity and to our planet. All hail the honeybee.

Pollinators and climate change don’t mix. Click here to keep reading to learn more about bees and climate change.

Daddy longlegs, despite their strange appearance, aren’t harmful. Read on for the truth about these gangly creatures, also called harvestmen.

To have a more successful vegetable garden, try planting companion flowers for vegetables to attract pollinators. Read on for more.

Once the temperature turns cold and the snow begins to fly, where do pollinating insects go? What can gardeners do to help them? Read on for more.

If you’ve ever noticed white squirrels in your garden, you've witnessed an interesting natural phenomenon. Read on to learn why.

There are plenty of beautiful drought resistant plants and a slew of native plant garden design options to optimize the pollinator garden.

Shapes of flowers can actually impact which species of insects visit the garden most often. Learn more about flower shapes and pollinator preferences here.

You can’t stop cats from killing birds entirely, but there are some things you can do in keeping garden birds safe. Click here for tips.

Do beetles pollinate? The story of beetles and pollination is a fascinating one that you can read right here. Click to learn about beetles that pollinate.

The hummingbird moths are unique creatures that gain attention once sighted bouncing about the flower beds. Learn how to attract them here.

Plants aren’t the only thing bees like. The inclusion of a bee bath is an excellent way to ensure bee needs are being met. Learn more in this article.

Spider wasps are not uncommon in the garden, as they eat nectar and prey on spiders. Learn whether or not you need to control them here.

What is a mealybug destroyer and is it good for plants? Learn about mealybug destroyer beetles and how to tell them and mealybug pests apart here.

There are many reasons to begin keeping backyard bunnies, but you’ll have to provide for their specific needs. Learn how you can keep rabbits outdoors here.

It is important to be familiar with the appearance of a garden snake so that it doesn’t frighten you. What does a typical garden snake look like? How many types of garden snakes are there? Learn more about garden snakes in this article.

Bluebirds are a harbinger of warmer weather that is usually just around the corner. Learn about attracting bluebirds in the garden here.

In recent years, the decline in monarch butterfly populations has been of specific interest. Many gardeners ask how to attract monarch butterflies. Which plants do monarch butterflies like? Find the answers to these questions in the following article.

Butterflies bring movement and beauty to a sunny garden. The sight of the delicate, winged creatures flitting from flower to flower delights the young and old. But there’s more to these jeweled insects than meets the eye. Learn how butterflies are beneficial here.

A butterfly shelter is an attractive addition to your garden. Most importantly though, it’s a fun way to attract a variety of beautiful butterflies. Exactly what is a butterfly house? To learn more about butterfly shelters and how to build one, click the following article.

Quail are adorable little birds that are quite amusing to watch in a garden habitat. Keeping backyard quail gives one the perfect opportunity to watch their antics. To learn what plants attract quail, click the following article for more information.

Cheap birdseeds are messy and may be filled with seeds that birds won’t eat. All too often, budget birdseeds contain noxious weed seeds that may take over your garden. Who needs that?The solution? Grow you own birdseed! This article will help get you started.

Many recognize seeing the red breasted robin as the first official signs of spring. However, in some areas, robins are year-round residents who may need a little help getting through the cold of winter. Click the following article to learn more.

Getting through a long, cold winter can be tough for wildlife. It’s only natural to want to help these creatures with winter survival. However, you need to first be sure your “help” isn’t doing more harm than good. To learn more about helping wildlife overwinter, click here.

By learning more about lightning bugs and about their lifecycle, home gardeners are able to feel more confident about the benefits of fireflies and their ability to encourage more frequent visits from this insect. Learn about fireflies as pest control in this article.

You may have never considered this, but attracting lizards to your garden can be beneficial. So why should modern day gardeners take an interest in these scaly remnants from the age of the dinosaurs, and how are lizards good for gardens? Learn more here.

Watching birds is an enjoyable hobby for many homeowners. As with any endeavor, there are a few tips and tricks that can help to determine how many and which types will visit your backyard. Among the most common are American robins. Learn more in this article.

Bees collect pollen and nectar from flowers for food to feed the colony, right? Not always. How about oil collecting bees? Never heard of bees that collect oil? The following article contains information about the little known relationship between bees and flower oil.

The United States is home to approximately 70 species of digger bees, primarily in the western states. Around the world, there are an estimated 400 species of these interesting creatures. So, what’s the dirt on bees that dig? Learn about identifying digger bees here.

Many gardeners prefer organic options for pest control. The use of beneficial insects is one which has shown to be especially popular for growers wishing to take a more natural, hands-off approach. But how do you get these garden friendly bugs into your garden? Find out here.

Gardeners can hardly avoid insects, and while you may view most of them as pests, many are either beneficial or just fun to watch and enjoy. Damselflies and dragonflies fall into the latter categories. This article focuses on the damselfly in gardens.

Raising chickens can be worthwhile, but chicken food ain’t cheap! That’s where DIY chicken feed comes in. Yes, you can grow your own chicken feed. Click on the following article to find out how to grow your own natural, homegrown chicken feed.

While much light has been shed on the plight of honeybees, very little is said about the struggle of our native pollinating bees, like mining bees. Click this article for some additional mining bee info and learn more about these important ground dwelling bees.

A garden has its own inherent pleasures, but for gardeners who love wildlife and beautiful music, it can be used to attract songbirds. Attracting songbirds can be the main focus of your garden or just a small part of it. This article will help get you started.

Did you know that thrips spread more than just disease? That?s right - they do have a redeeming quality! Thrips are actually helpful too, as pollinating thrips can help spread pollen. Learn more about thrips and pollination in this article.

Due to the wide diversity between species, in-depth rove beetle identification is beyond the scope of this article. However, there are a few common identifying factors to watch for, and this article aims to help with that.

Honeybee decline has made many headlines in the past few years, but bumblebee populations are declining too. Learn how you can help by making a home for bumblebees. Click on the following article for additional information.

Gardeners have lots of good reasons to try to lure beneficial insects for a garden. But how to do it? Calling them or whistling softly rarely works. You'll want to use insect friendly garden plants to start creating bug gardens. This article will help get you started.

You may shudder to hear that spined soldier bugs live in gardens around your home. But actually, this is great news, not bad news. These predators are more effective than you are at reducing pests on your plants. Click here for more information.

Attracting hedgehogs to the garden starts with access, but there are also a few dangers to eliminate and things you can do to make them feel more invited. What will attract hedgehogs? Use the information in this article to attract hedgehogs to the garden.

Very little attention is paid to the declining moth populations. However, moth populations have been declining drastically here since the 1950s. Click this article to learn how you can help by attracting moths to your garden and providing them with safe habitats.

Because you want to encourage ladybugs in the garden, it's good to know what ladybug eggs look like as well as familiarize yourself with ladybug larvae identification so you don't accidently do away with one. This article can help.

If you love watching butterflies, it is important to know what to plant for migrating butterflies. Having plants for migrating butterflies attracts them, fueling them for their journey, and gives you a glimpse into their fascinating life cycle. Learn more here.

Native waterfowl are an indicator of a healthy environment and their migratory activities ensure different species at different times of the year. If you wish to know how to attract ducks to your garden, look no further - click here for some tips and tricks.

With organic and chemical free gardening such a big trend these days, Neem oil seems to be the perfect solution to everything that could go wrong in the garden. Neem oil repels and kills many garden pests, but what about beneficials like ladybugs? Learn more here.

Parasitic wasps parasitize different garden pests depending on species. To attract these garden good guys, it helps to know how to identify them and their eggs or larvae. Learn more about these beneficial insects in this article.

Soldier beetles, in their colorful little "uniforms," are easy to identify. Gardeners celebrate when they find them in the garden. Click this article to discover out why and how to identify soldier beetle larvae in gardens.

Pirate bugs in gardens are a gift since the tiny insects eat bugs you'd rather not have around. This article provides some tips about creating pirate bug habitats to attract these garden helpers. Click here to learn more.

Many gardeners buy aphid midge eggs specifically to fight aphid populations. Find information in this article about the aphid midge life cycle and how to identify aphid midge young. Click here to learn more.

Hoverflies are beneficial insect predators that are a boon to gardeners dealing with aphid infestations. Proper identification will help promote hoverfly egg-laying. The following article will help you to identify and encourage syrphid fly eggs and hoverfly larvae.

Lacewing larvae in gardens are a natural knock-out for undesirable insects. They are voracious eaters of many soft-bodied insects that attack plants. For non-toxic pest control, create a lacewing larvae habitat. This article will help.

While the sudden discovery of a scurrying ground beetle may be a little unnerving, it is actually a valuable ally to the gardener. Learn more about the ground beetle life cycle, including its larva and eggs, in the article that follows.

Many pollinators are declining, but we can help them out. Click here for pollinator friendly plants that attract them to the garden.

Some common owl species are ferocious predators of mice and other rodent pests, so it makes sense to invite them into the neighborhood by installing an owl house. Read this article for tips on owl house design.