Beneficial garden critters

[Arklatex]

Does anyone make an effort to attract beneficial critters to their garden? Pollinators, pest destroyers etc... I have managed over the years to attract hummingbirds, purple martins, golden orb weavers and preying mantis. I've tried releasing ladybugs and a few other species to little effects. I thought of this idea for a thread when I got home from work this evening and saw the most hummingbirds I've ever seen on one feeder.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170224/0dd6b2045bf3be15652e6bb537304a32.jpg

I think having a natural tool to aid in gardening is a great thing.


Edit: replaced the deleted picture with a more recent one.

[Arklatex]

Before anybody asks those chicken hats are sink strainers...

Pic taken from the window in front of the kitchen sink.

[Coppertop]

Before anybody asks those chicken hats are sink strainers....

That cracked me up

[Coppertop]

In other places I have lived, we could attract hummingbirds but we have tried for two years here to no avail. We are trying again in the new house as the location is a little better for them. I miss having them around the house.

[Just Sayin']

We don't do anything in particular to attract them, other than not using pesticides, but we have a pretty large population of preying mantises that do a pretty good job of keeping the unwanted bugs out of the garden. Wish they liked tomato horn worms though.

[Xerographica]

Great topic!

For the longest time I pretty regularly used pesticides... especially against slugs. God I hate slugs. Then I said heck with out and went all natural. Maybe it's just my imagination but it sure seems like I've been seeing a lot more beneficial critters in the garden... alligator lizards (eat slugs?), praying mantis, ladybugs and so on.

This last Fall one of my big (aka "expensive") Aloes got hit pretty bad by a different kind of aphid...

https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jwk5TJ-yjuE/WCnqXJSq8-I/AAAAAAAABOQ/GvdKONigDvco-SpKJXt-C0BgdCbmxClgQCLcB/s640/Aloe_vaombe_pest_mealybugs_ants_resized.jpg

Here's a pic of the culprits...

https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zZg7RnDQyvY/WGTd19G7rXI/AAAAAAAABUk/zwtonWUpSs09CMzzsblUgIiCzI17l87rACLcB/s1600/Aloe_Aphids_vaombe_Southern_California.jpg

Not too long afterwards I spotted a heroine on the same Aloe...

https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IktBbn7L03I/WCnvP7tUo5I/AAAAAAAABO4/0ApYT1TXe8EHmV1e0Uo-1hk__y5tH5vZgCLcB/s1600/Aloe_vaombe_ladybug_resized.jpg

But I didn't see any ladybugs larvae later on and I think it might be too late for my Aloe.

Kinda around the same time one of my big Kalanchoes produced some really big flower spikes. The flower spikes were pretty quickly infested with the yellow aphids that dance and have black spikes on them. I found a ladybug elsewhere in the garden and introduced her to the dancing aphids. She had a good feast. When I checked out the Kalanchoe a few days later the ladybug was gone. But then maybe a few weeks after I noticed one ladybug larvae on the flower spike eating some aphids. I looked around and didn't see any others. But then a couple weeks ago I checked the flower spike and it had a ton of ladybug larvae crawling around. The problem was that there seemed to be more larvae than aphids. Now there isn't a single aphid left on the plant. But there sure are lots of hungry ladybug larvae.

I really wish I had some nice artichokes growing right about now! Artichokes are my favorite veggie. I remember growing them with my grandfather when I was a kid. They grew super great but then they just got completely swarmed with aphids. I remember that we had the same problem with brussels sprouts. But back then I wasn't a big fan of brussels sprouts so...

Clearly it's about somehow getting the balance right between prey and predators. In order to keep the predators around... it helps to keep their prey around. I'm pretty sure it's a good idea to have a wide variety of plants.

Just in case anybody doesn't know what a praying mantis egg case looks like... here's one attached to one of my tree Aloes...

https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Is6bcbcQKQE/WGWt9As7T_I/AAAAAAAABU8/Pd9KjSsH3MsbI4LnM6x_hib7_EJ8s0bEwCLcB/s1600/Praying_Mantis_Egg_Sac_Aloe_Hercules.jpg

[Arklatex]

Nice pics Xero.