Garden pests become garden pets

Hally Truelove

The Dirt Divas

A significant part of keeping a garden is spending time in it. Much of that time is devoted to maintenance, but one should also spend a portion of that time to pleasure alone.

Meandering along paths, smelling blossoms, picking bouquets, skipping stones across a pond, resting on a shady bench, reading in a quiet alcove — all of these are delightful pastimes.

My personal favorite is watching wildlife in my garden.

Probably the most popular garden wildlife are birds. They hop about jauntily, full of song, and generally spreading good cheer.

Beyond birds, there are squirrels, rabbits, or moose, all of which could equally be considered pests.

Squirrels clog up drains, but they eat a few insects; rabbits nibble tender young plants while spreading excellent fertilizer; moose chew everything too tough for rabbits, but offer world-class photo opportunities.

There are also the less obvious garden inhabitants, like frogs, bats, shrews, and voles. These first three are great insect eaters and the last detaches lawns.

Downsizing, we come to spiders, insects, worms and their cousins. Even I have little love for slugs, although my birds love them, and cutworms, root maggots, aphids and so forth are also appreciated more by the birds than by me.

Spiders, however, eat pesky insects; bees, wasps, flies, butterflies, and moths pollinate fruits and flowers; earthworms aerate the soil and provide nutritious castings; hornets and yellow jackets are voracious hunters of insect plant pests.

Having identified garden wildlife, how does one encourage any, or all, of these would-be inhabitants?

Despite the variety, every creature, from moose to mouse, share some basic needs. They want water, food, and shelter.

Let’s begin with water.

Most of us don’t have a water supply adequate for a moose, which is fine, as most of us prefer not to keep a garden moose. Insects can manage with a bit of dew or even a damp spot on the ground. Then there are birds, bats, voles, etc. These are likelier to stay if we provide a water source. A pond or pool is nice, but a simple birdbath works for the airborne, and a similar container on the ground will give sustenance to the earthbound. Even a dripping garden hose will suffice, if water use is not restricted. Water in containers must be kept fresh, or it will cease to suit any wildlife except mosquito larvae.

On to food.

One can, of course, provide seed and suet balls for the birds, dry bread for squirrels, syrup for hummingbirds, but a well-designed garden habitat supplies plenty of food for much of the year.

The plants themselves are food for many insects, which in turn become food for insect eaters. Flowers attract and feed pollinators, berries and seeds feed birds and other small creatures. Much of this bounty can persist well into winter. Shrubs with uneaten fruits, such as Maydays, roses with tiny rosehips, or cotoneaster hedges bear fruit that remain on the plant until eaten by winter foragers. Leave fallen fruit, unharvested root vegetables, unpicked berries, and seeded flower heads in the garden throughout winter. Many small creatures thrive on eating them and gardeners who have been troubled by rodents girdling their fruit trees will find that, with an abundance of preferred food sources, the tree bark will go untouched.

Even moose can be enticed to eat native willows pruned to produce plenty of new growth instead of munching apple trees.

Now about shelter.

Again, some creatures obviously find their own. Earthworms need only soil in which to live and insects and spiders are happy to shelter under a leaf or ledge. Birds, however, need some branchy trees or shrubs for safe nesting and perching, and most birds prefer a mix of at least one-third conifers.

Muhgo pines are ideal as they grow quickly. Provide squirrels with a hollow stump, empty wooden box, or lofty shelf, supply these with dry rags, paper products, or a feather pillow, and you may entice the residents out of your dryer vent. Frogs like a turned over pot, propped up on one edge, in a shaded area, and bats need cracks or crevices a few feet off the ground with a clear flight path. Hornets and yellow jackets will also nest in crevices, which are safer than ground nests.

There you have it. A habitat for all.

Spending time in a garden teeming with wildlife is one of my greatest pleasures. I hope it may soon be one of yours.

Hally Truelove is a Master Gardener and Plants Woman who lives and gardens in Wasilla Alaska with her two daughters, a handful of cats, a bunch of bunnies, some guinea pigs, a dog and a frog. Contact her at 376-0909.