Basic tip for gardening the natural way, be careful those bugs may be the good guys

It is very hard being a gardener not to reach for the commercial bug spray, to rid ourselves of those pesky little creatures munching away at our plants.  I'm as guilty as the next person, but have been trying very hard of late to let nature take it's course.

One of the best little bugs to have in your garden is the ladybug, not only are they tireless workers, but they are pretty little things as well.  Colour is usually red to rusty with little black spots, I just love hunting for them in the garden and thrilled when I find them.

You'll have to look closely to see them in the photos but they are there, now you can see why you have to hunt for them, they are so tiny, but big when it comes to being effective.

They are on the leaves of the Rose and potato plant below

Ladybugs just love thrips and if you look closely at the next photo you can see the thrip covering the rose and it's stem.  As I said you can spray then with a commercial spray and they will disappear for a few weeks then you re spray.  But, when you spray you also kill the ladybugs who are feeding on the thrip, and they are doing the same job naturally.

It takes time to build up a large population of good bugs and although I have concentrated on ladybugs there are many different types of good bugs that are of benefit to your garden.

Keep an eye out for the good guys and be patient.

Happy gardening

Bronwyn