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Gardeners' helpers
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This week, we encounter the creepy-crawlies and the hovering nuisances we come across during our expeditions in the backyard.

Our gardening column is published every Tuesday on OttawaStart. Read previous columns here.

A word of advice for those of you who are not into insects: do not read any further and –more importantly – do not look at the pictures. This week, my garden friends, we will be encountering the creepy-crawlies and the hovering nuisances we come across during our expeditions in the backyard.

Or are they?

This column is dedicated to all of you who are still having nightmares about that “close encounter of the worst kind” with whatever it was that was probably just doing its thing in your garden and was more afraid of you than you were of it.

First things first! I am not an entomologist; I am a gardener…which is why I will not give you the Latin names (yup, insects have Latin names too) of the “Buggus annoyicus” or “Buggus beneficialus”. Instead, I will introduce you to a bunch of creepers, crawlers and hoverers that are useful to have around because they assist us in the garden.

In the “Gardener’s Friends’ Corner” we have:

Earthworms: probably one of your best friends in the garden. There are roughly 2,700 different kinds of ‘m – all with 5 hearts each – and they should be treated with all the respect we can offer them. They are tiny underground farmers that turn the soil over like a plough. In healthy soil, there can be more than a million worms per acre, together consuming more than 10 tons of leaves, stems and dead roots per year. By digging their little tunnels they actually add air to the soil and – pardon me for being graphic – worm poop (known as “castings”) contains the recycled nutrients that came from the waste they ate and is one of the best natural fertilizers you could wish for (and it’s free!).

dragonfly If you have a pond in your garden or if the area you live in holds freshwater bodies, the presence of dragonflies is something to be content about. As their larvae hatch in water – where they prey on mosquito larvae! - the presence of dragonflies (as well as their smaller relatives the damselflies) normally indicates that whatever water is around is not polluted. Dragonflies do not sting so they are totally harmless to humans. Great to have around!

Most people are aware that ladybugs (their more proper name is ladybird beetle; they are beetles, not bugs) are among the most useful insects in the garden. The ladybug – as well as its more obscure and unknown relatives such as the spider mite destroyer - are super aphid predators (although they absolutely don’t mind munching on spider mite, white fly and other small pests). A single ladybug can consume around 5,000 aphids in its lifetime, which is why they are “bred” and sold for use in the professional greenhouse industry as natural pest control.

Another widely recognized insect predator is the praying mantis (or praying mantid, which is actually its correct name). The mantis has an insatiable appetite for just about anything – in fact, when they hatch the first things they feed on are their siblings – and the size of its prey keeps up with its growth. They start with smaller insects such as aphids and mosquitoes – the average baby mantis’ Happy Meal – and then move on to bigger things such as beetles, moths and grasshoppers.

Perhaps not highly ranked on the list of “garden cuties” - but very beneficial nonetheless - is the common black ground beetle. It’s a bit of a night prowler that normally hides under stones or debris during the day so you don’t come across it all that often. At night however, it becomes very active and feeds on numerous insects as well as slugs and snails. Definitely a keeper!
Alright, I realize I am pushing it now…

Spiders – though not insects – are extremely effective when predators but unfortunately, they are not very popular. Yes, they bite when they are attacked or startled but they don’t transmit diseases. The most commonly found spiders in Canada are house spiders, wolf spiders (this is the one we normally find in our garden), cellar spiders and fishing spiders. The wolf spider is especially beneficial to gardeners as well as farmers, because they prey on aphids and moths.

***

I will have to continue this column next week. For the past half hour or so I have been interrupted several times by a very cute chipmunk that somehow ended up in our basement and apparently cannot find its way out. As we really don’t want our cats or our dog to chase it around – or worse, find it in the cats’ water bowl, which is what normally happens to field mice that have entered our premises from the cornfield out back - my wife and I have been walking around with cardboard boxes in an attempt to catch it and release it in our garden.

So far, we have failed miserably!

Our promises for a better future in the great Ottawa outdoors don’t seem to impress it any way, shape or form and if all else fails, I shall have to sit it down and be firm with it - before my wife figures out that there are many, many places for it to hide, in large part due to the fact that, despite my promises, the basement was not cleaned out last winter…

chipmunk on the loose

More insects next week; until then, happy gardening and stay cool!

René “Chipmunk Chaser” Trim

Do you have a gardening question for René? Send it to us, and he'll try to answer it in his next column.
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About René
René Trim was educated and trained in The Netherlands, before moving to Canada in 2000. After studying the differences in climate and season faced by Ontario gardeners he established Trim Garden Design and Rescue in May 2002. A gardener since the 1980’s, he has a wealth of knowledge and experience, a vast library of reference materials from which to draw answers to various garden situations as well as an enthusiastic and professional staff.