SUSTAINABLE OPTIONS : The Aphid and the Ladybird

Whenever I visit a garden centre, I am astonished at the array of highly toxic pesticides on offer to the amateur gardener. Suitably adorned with trade names which sound reassuringly lethal, they claim to destroy everything that moves in your garden. The trouble is, they do.

Take for instance, the aphid and its predator, the ladybird. Early in spring, when beneficial insects are relatively scarce, aphids congregate on the new growth of plants to suck the sap. They damage young shoots, so you spray them. This poisons the aphids, but also the first ladybirds just emerging from hibernation, or it starves them of their diet of greenflies and blackflies, so they die or stop breeding. Then, the aphid population recovers and thrives, unchecked by ladybirds. You have to spray again.

Like good little bureaucrats, chemical pesticides create work for themselves.
The more you use them, the more you need them. The reason to mistrust pesticides, and the one their manufacturers do not want you to know, is not only that they kill or starve birds or hedgehogs, but that they actually encourage pests, creating their self-enforcing market.

The ecologically-balanced garden makes use of the intricate and far-reaching relationships between species. It is upsetting to see your prize rose buds covered with plump little bugs. But don't get hooked ! Environmentally friendly gardeners do not eradicate pests, but just keep them down at a manageable level. Try knocking the aphids off or squashing them with a tissue, and wait for the first generation of ladybirds to hatch and colonise your garden. Their larvae have a colossal appetite for aphids. To finish off the job, put a nesting box in your garden to attract a family of blue tits. They are lively, acrobatic little birds, and both parents and fledglings will work indefatigably among your shrubs, looking for bugs and caterpillars.

Beneficial species deserve better recognition, and they work for free. Think twice before reaching for the chemicals. They hit the gardeners' friends much harder than the pests.   
            Cécile Bridgens