News from the gardening world
If you want to attract the most bug life to your garden, plant UK natives
Filling the garden with flowering plants, particularly British natives or those bred from British natives, will attract the most plant-feeding insects, the RHS has found. Not being too tidy, leaving nibbled leaves and not being too zealous with secateurs and shears also helps wildlife flourish, the charity adds.
The findings come from its ongoing 10-year research programme, Plants for Bugs, which set out to discover which types of hardy garden plant were best for gardens – UK natives, near natives from the northern hemisphere, including Europe, China and the USA, and those from the southern hemisphere, such as South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.
After analysing thousands of invertebrate insects, such as aphids, beetles and other bugs, they found native species were most successful, supporting 10 per cent more than those in the northern hemisphere plant group. Those from the southern hemisphere supported 20 per cent fewer invertebrates than British native plants.
Researchers also found densely planted plots attracted more insects, irrespective of where plants came from. Earlier research discovered pollinating insects, such as bees, butterflies and hoverflies, weren’t fussy about where they fed, taking pollen or nectar from a wide range of plants from around the world.
“The presence of a wide range of invertebrates, such as ladybirds, springtails, spiders and even caterpillars, are indicators of a diverse and well-functioning garden ecosystem and so should be encouraged and supported,” said RHS principal entomologist Dr Andrew Salisbury.