10 Natural Predators for the Garden and How to Attract Them 

There is nothing worse for your garden and the environment than chemical pesticides. It’s not only pesky vegetable eating pests who are affecting by pesticides, but also the pollinators who our gardens rely on to grow at all. 

Declining bee and butterfly populations are a direct result of chemical pesticide use. Many pesticides kill beneficial insects on contact, pollute crucial pollen and nectar sources, and also have negative effects on our own health. Without pollinators, our food sources do not grow, and we lose our ability to live sustainably. 

Instead of bringing chemicals into your garden this year, why not use a safer alternative: natural predators? There are many animals capable of pest control, while also allowing pollinators (and therefore your garden) to thrive!

Here are ten natural predators and how to easily attract them to your gardens this year. 

Ladybugs

If you’re someone who grows tomatoes, salad greens, and edible flowers, you have probably had the misfortune of coming in contact with aphids. The best pest control for these little nightmares are ladybugs. 

While also being a pollinator themselves, ladybugs are excellent hunters. These apex predators can consume thousands of aphids in their lifetime, as well as consuming mites and the eggs of other pests. The larvae of these beetles survive exclusively on common garden pest, so creating a safe haven for their mating cycle is crucial. And, although not a pest, adults will also consume molds and mildews commonly found on vegetable plants. 

Now, how do you attract ladybugs? Well, having a solid food source is a sure fire way to attract them, so you can rest assured that, if you see aphids, you are sure to see ladybugs, but what if this isn’t enough? What if the amount of mites and aphids is just too much for the natural ladybugs to handle? Not to fear! Ladybugs are readily available online to be shipped to you by the hundreds. Releasing a pack of them can last you for years to come, as they will continue their lifecycle and mating patterns within your yard, where the source of food is, for many generations. 

Prey: aphids, spider mites, insect eggs 

Attracted to: fennel, dill, marigolds, yarrow, calendula

Praying Mantises 

Another fantastic garden guard is the praying mantis. Mantises are also big fans of aphids as they grow, but the adults can tackle even bigger jobs. Got a problem with caterpillars or beetles chewing up your produce, dispatch the mantises! 

Because of their diets, mantises can appear just about anywhere in your garden. You might spot one hanging around your nasturtiums, or maybe resting on the stem of one of your pepper plants. 

Just like ladybugs, mantis egg sacs can also be bought from online and even at gardening stores as natural pest control. However, unlike ladybugs, mantises do not discriminate against what they consume. Bees, other mantises, and even the small frog or lizard can become victims to these voracious hunters. Be wary of buying more to add into your ecosystem if this is something that troubles you. 

Prey: caterpillars, beetles, moths, crickets, grasshoppers, butterflies, bees, small amphibians/reptiles

Attracted to: native wildflowers, roses, tall grasses

Birds

A hands off, easy, and fun to watch garden predator are birds. If you provide optimal conditions to them (feeders, baths, houses, and ample hiding spots) you are sure to see plenty of birds flitting and flapping around your yard. 

For pest control, your best hunters are woodpeckers, cardinals, chickadees, and titmice. All of these birds are common all throughout the United States, so you’re in luck! Creating habitats that support wild bird populations will keep beetles, caterpillars, flies, and maggots in check. 

Try placing a couple bird feeders and a watering spot close to the plants you find are most affected by garden pests. Birds will quickly flock to your yard if a safe food source, shelter, and water supply are offered.

Prey: flies, beetles, caterpillars, mealworms, maggots, grubs

Attracted to: bird feeders, bird baths, bird houses, berry bushes, sunflowers, seed and berry producing trees and shrubbery

Frogs

Spending time in your garden during summer can be a nightmare when mosquitoes are at their peak. If you want to lower the number, attract frogs, toads, and other nocturnal predators. 

These amphibians are much easier to attract than many might think. Have you broken any clay pots recently? Don’t throw the shards away! Make a toad house underneath your flowers. The amphibians will appreciate the cool, damp spot to rest between meals. 

As for frogs, garden ponds can be a cheap and easy way to lure in these mosquito eaters. Feeding troughs, whiskey barrels, or even Tupperware containers can host frogs if set up and cared for correctly. Small watering spots like this can also draw in damselflies and dragonflies who are also excellent at pest control. 

Prey: mosquitoes, flies, 

Attracted to: water sources, damp/cool/dark hiding spots, 

Assassin Bugs 

Aptly named, assassin bugs will take care of just about any pest under the sun: aphids, mosquitoes, caterpillars, beetles, and even the eggs and larvae of these pests. Despite their appearance, these insects are a vital friend to the average gardener. 

Are you a fan of monarch butterflies? Some assassin bugs exclusively enjoy living on milkweed, eating the pests who would otherwise create blight and destroy the sole food source for these endangered butterflies. 

Assassin bugs love a mulched garden bed, as well as plants like dandelions, which we normally see as weeds. If you notice plants in your herb garden being ravaged by pests, make sure to plant things like dill and fennel close by, as these are also attractors for these little assassins. 

Prey: potato bugs, aphids, mosquitoes, caterpillars, flies

Attracted to: milkweed, fennel, dill, marigolds, daisies, dandelions, shallow water sources, mulched garden beds 

Lacewings

Have you ever heard of a lacewing? If you ask most people, they may have never heard of this beneficial insect, but it is just as crucial as many of the other creatures on this list. 

Adult lacewings like to lay their eggs on the underside of leaves. As these hatch,  out comes the carnivorous larvae of the lacewing.  Aphids, mites, and mealworms are the natural prey of this bug’s larvae and, like many others on this list, the adults are excellent pollinators.

Adult lacewings have a sweet tooth, so planting sweet smelling native flowers is the best attractor for the adults, who in turn lay their eggs amongst your garden and consume the pests there. These sweet smelling flowers are pollinated by the adult lacewings, lending to more flowers in the future. 

Prey: aphids, thrips, mites, beetle larvae 

Attracted to: butterfly feeders, dill, alyssum, yarrow, dandelion 

Bats

Bats are a fun way to diversify your garden ecosystem. Night blooming, trumpet shaped, sweet smelling flowers are excellent ways to attract bats to your garden, while also adding some unique variety into your flower beds. Bats will happily sip the nectar from these flowers and pollinate night bloomers, flowers that the daytime pollinators completely miss. 

Flying pests are no match for bats, and they can greatly decrease the population of mosquitoes in your yard. A single bat can eat anywhere between 3,000-5,000 mosquitoes a night! The more bats you can create a safe environment for, the safer you’ll be from nasty mosquito bites. 

Bats are nocturnal, and therefore sensitive to daylight. If you want bats to take up permanent residence, you will need to put up bat houses. These flat houses need to be up high, either on the sides of buildings, or attached to a tall pole. 

***Please keep in mind that bats are dangerous. Avoid getting too close, as they can be major carriers of the rabies virus. Bats are the primary cause of rabies deaths within humans, so give these animals their space. 

Prey: moths, beetles, mosquitoes, flies

Attracted to: moonflowers, jasmine, honeysuckle, angel trumpets, bat houses, water sources

Spiders 

Spiders are not the creepy crawlies they get a bad wrap for being. These arachnids are an excellent, and intelligent, garden companion. Research has shown that spiders can eat up to, in total, anywhere from 400 to 800 million tons of insects a year. This is more than the combined amount of meat humans eat in the same span of time. 

Spiders keep disease spreading insects like mosquitoes and cockroaches at bay, as well as flies, moths, and other crop eaters. Allowing a spider to take refuge in an empty corner of your room can even keep your house from experience bugs coming inside during the warmer months. 

The best way to attract spiders to your garden is to keep leaf piles after they fall in autumn. Mulching your garden beds and letting flowers exist without deadheading the wilted blooms provide shelter for spiders and the insects they hunt. 

Prey: flies, mosquitoes, cockroaches, moths, silverfish 

Attracted to: leaf litter, mulch, dead flowers, dead limbs 

Lizards

I’m not sure about you, but I get so excited when a lizard darts past me in my garden. Anoles, skinks, fence lizards, they are all fascinating to watch. They can always be spotted basking, or stalking after an insect their eyes have landed on. 

Lizards can often be found climbing up the stems of plants, or resting on top of fence posts. If you have an issue with ants in your garden, lizards will take care of them. They also enjoy mosquitoes and cockroaches, both of which can cause diseases within humans. 

A small water source and basking locations are a surefire way to bring lizards into your garden. Try and find flat rocks to sit about for the lizards to lay on and sun themselves, they will also lay their eggs underneath them. Lizards also tend to prefer more ‘natural’ yards, where leaf and stick piles are readily available for them to hide within and find food inside of. 

Prey: cockroaches, flies, ants, mosquitoes, 

Attracted to: basking spots, water sources, rock and/or wood piles 

Parasitic Wasps

Wasps are an underutilized underdog when it comes to pest control, pollinating, and maintaining a healthy garden, but these guys do all three. They are often overlooked, and even treated as pests themselves. Wasps receive bad wraps, and get labeled as aggressive and dangerous. 

Wasps are expert aphids hunters, but they are also well known for laying their eggs inside of caterpillars, where the wasps larvae hatch and consume the host insect. Not only do they eat pests, they are also are prolific pollinators. Planting cilantro, dill, and fennel are quick ways to attract wasps to your garden. 

Like many of the insects in this article, wasps love dill and fennel. They can often be found amongst other herbs, pollinating them and keeping them from being consumed by caterpillars and mealworms. Shrubs provide shelter for wasps, as they will many times nest within them and hide from weather. Keeping decorative shrubbery along the outskirts of your yard can create a barrier where pest insects cannot make it past. 

Prey: caterpillars, beetles, aphids, insect eggs 

Attracted to: water sources, flowering plants, shrubbery, dill, cilantro, fennel 

Conclusion: Biodiversity and maintaining a pest free garden

As with most garden-based issues, creating a natural and thriving ecosystem is the easiest solution to lowering stress levels and making gardens as healthy and easy to maintain as they can be. While we tend to look at pests as an issue in need of quick irradiation, fast-acting pesticides are devastating on our gardens, our ecosystem, and us. Many times, chemical pesticides kill the predators, leaving room for more pest insects to take over your garden beds. 

Providing and caring for your garden is the easiest way to get it to provide and care for you. ‘Bad’ bugs are just as vital as the ‘good’ ones. Without them, there would be far fewer pollinators making a home amongst your herbs and vegetables, and you would experience far smaller yields during each harvest.