Near-natural gardening and encouraging beneficial insects

1_iStock_DaylightLoren_1359527190 — With an insect hotel, you attract many beneficial insects to your garden that act as pest controllers and can help your plants multiply.

Let nature move into your garden: with wild corners, flower meadows, flowering hedges, compost heaps piles of leaves, maybe even a pile of stones and a stack of dead wood. And you can do even more to protect beneficial insects, give birds a place to stay, support soil organisms and promote and preserve the biodiversity of plants and animals. Your natural oasis should be a win-win situation for everything living in the garden – including you, your family and friends – in which everyone involved feels completely comfortable. Something natural and wild doesn't have to be chaotic. There are plenty of aesthetic design options. We'll explain how you can achieve the right balance.

2_iStock_Schad1953_1370649949 — Avoid using chemical agents so as not to harm any of the animals in your ecosystem – enjoy the valuable diversity instead!

Garden habitat

We share the garden habitat with birds, hedgehogs, insects, shrews, bats, arachnids, beetles and many other animals, each of which has its role in the ecological cycle. The animals are fed and find shelter. As beneficial insects, they naturally help us keep plants healthy by destroying aphids, snails and harmful caterpillars. The first requirement for a natural garden is that you should avoid using chemical pesticides and synthetic fertilizers. Always remember: Where “there are pests, there are also beneficial insects”; all animals are important in an ecosystem. If a balance is created in the garden, then nature largely regulates itself.

3_GartenbildagenturFriedrichStrauss_Meyer-Rebentisch, Dr. Karen_13699008 — Provide a variety of native plants in your garden so that the animals in the garden feel comfortable.

Plant diversity in the garden

Gardening ecologically also means planting local flowers, shrubs, wild fruits and wild herbs. This not only strengthens the natural character of the garden, the animals living in the garden are particularly fond of native plants, and some of them are even dependent on them, such as the bluebell scissor bee, which only collects pollen from bluebell species. When it comes to choosing plants, every gardener can make the most of their options. There is an incredible variety of species and varieties available in garden centers and nurseries. When planting new plants, make sure that the species suit your garden, i.e. that they can cope well with the soil conditions, weather conditions and sunlight. This is the best prerequisite for healthy growth.

4_iStock_fermate_1432913981 — Leave crop residues and plant material on the ground to provide food and shelter for as many soil animals as possible in your garden.

Close to the ground

The soil is an organ in the natural organism and the basis for plants to grow and thrive. In nature, leaves, branches and dead organic material remain on the ground, which is then converted into fertile soil by animals and microorganisms living on and in the ground. The more ground animals there are, the better for hedgehogs, etc. who feed on them. You can replicate this in the garden by leaving crop residues and thinned plant material on the ground.

5_GartenbildagenturFriedrichStrauss_StraussFriedrich_12106019 — Cuttings can provide shelter for many animals. If you build a deadwood hedge out of it, you have a natural privacy screen and your clippings are quickly taken care of.

Wilde corners

Everything doesn't have to be tidy all over the garden. What we see as disorder has its justification in nature: Stinging nettles are food plants for various butterfly caterpillars. Many animals find shelter in piles of dead wood and hedges made of dead branches; lizards, slow worms and hedgehogs feel at home in piles of stones. So create small structures out of natural materials, such as piles of sawn wood and wild nettle patches, build a dry stone wall and leave stone wall joints unplastered.

Checklist: 8 things you can pay attention to:

1. Access to the garden : Walls and fences that are impenetrable to animals are out of place in a natural garden; fences that extend to the ground are insurmountable obstacles. Therefore, simply saw a gap in your fence, for example with the easy-to-use NanoBlade saws from Bosch. The gap should be at least 13x13 cm in size.

6_iStock_mtreasure_1344907763 — By creating an opening you are allowing small animals to enter your environmentally and animal-friendly garden.

2. Natural fencing : If possible, avoid solid fences or walls altogether. How about a natural fence made from a flowering hedge? Read about what you should consider when planting and caring for a hedge here.

3. Many different habitats: Sunny, shady, moist, dry – the greater the variety of habitats, the better it will be for plant diversity and wildlife. Leave piles of stones and dead wood lying around; you can rake up leaves in a sheltered place or collect them with a leaf blower.

4. Lighting: If you want to illuminate the garden, look for dimmable light sources with low ultraviolet and blue content so that insects are not unnecessarily attracted. Otherwise, moths and other nighttime insects literally flutter themselves to death. Garden lighting also irritates other nocturnal animals such as hedgehogs. It's best to use solar lights that have a warmer light quality and install a timer so that the light turns off by 11 p.m. at the latest. Get inspired by our 9 creative ideas for outdoor lighting and read more about installation, security and stylish staging.

5. Water points: Whether it's a pond, bird bath or hedgehog watering hole – a few bowls of water are important for garden guests. Birds also use the water bowls to bathe and clean their feathers in this way. Flat bowls filled with water are also popular with butterflies, bees and other insects. Place a few pebbles in the water as a landing spot. It is important to change the water regularly and thus prevent harmful germs from settling. If you have a pond in your garden, you can save wild animals such as hedgehogs from drowning if you create a gently rising bank or little steps that the animals can use to get out. Here you will find instructions for creating a pond or make yourself and insects happy with a mini pond that can even fit on a balcony.

6. Synthetic fertilizers and pesticides: You should definitely avoid these. First, wait and see whether beneficial insects turn up to do the work for you.

7. Plant selection: Do you want to redesign your garden or plant new species and varieties? If you still have space, plant a few native trees and choose different bee pasture plants that have different flowering times from spring to late autumn. Cornelian cherries and hazelnuts bloom early in the year, followed by apples and blackberries. In summer, common heather and dog rose are attractive plants for bees; in autumn, ivy is a real insect magnet. Flowering plants with single-flowering, i.e. unfilled, flowers where pollen and nectar are easily accessible to insects are particularly important. Double flowers are not very useful for the animals in the garden because they provide neither pollen nor nectar. It's best to create a good mix of ecologically sensible garden plants, such as pussy willow, buddleia, shrub ivy and plants that are simply beautiful to look at.

7_iStock_EstuaryPic_1373164958 — By choosing the right plants, it both looks beautiful sight and ensures the well-being of the insects. Here a red admiral frolics on the buddleia.

8. Compost heap: If there is space, create a compost heap. Birds and other animals find food and shelter in compost. The finished compost also promotes soil life. Read here how to create compost.

8_GartenbildagenturFriedrichStrauss_StraussFriedrich_12185841 — By creating a compost heap, you create a small microcosm for all kinds of microorganisms.

4 animal-friendly projects for your natural garden

9_GartenbildAgenturFriedrichStrauss_StraussFriedrich_13268846 — Berry bushes offer optimal protection and food for birds in your garden, and ivy berries are also popular attractions.

1. A bird garden

Birds like to eat insects and their larvae, including those that cause damage to plants. This is how they help us keep pests at bay. Plant thorny bushes such as barberry and blackthorn to provide birds with protection from predators. Climbing plants such as ivy are also very popular with birds. Berry bushes and rose hips are particularly attractive to birds as natural food sources, but you can also offer additional feeding places in the form of feeding columns or a bird feeder.

10_iStock_Mickis-Fotowelt_1184612298 — Hedgehogs are not only cute, they are also useful helpers who eat snails and other pests with an audible smacking sound.

2. A garden for hedgehogs

Hedgehogs eat insects and their larvae, snails, fallen fruit and maggots and are useful helpers in combating pests in the garden. Hedgehogs move around a lot. To ensure they don't fall into ditches, get tangled up in nets or similar things, you should leave gaps in the fence, place stones as intermediate steps on high staircases in the garden, don't lay out coarse-meshed crop protection nets, and cover pits and cellar shafts so that they don't fall in. Read here how you can offer them natural shelter, or build a hedgehog house where they can hide safely and keep dry during the day and in winter

11_iStock_DmitriySidor_1439771541 — Animals such as lizards, snakes and toads feel particularly at home between leaves and stones. If you don't clean up and get rid of everything, you're giving them a chance.

3. A garden for lizards, snakes and toads

Lizards love dry, warm places. They will come to your garden if you create dry stone walls and rock piles. Slow worms are closely related to lizards; they hide under moss or in piles of dead wood, and they also like to slither around in compost piles. Grass snakes and toads also like to hide away in compost heaps, by the pond or between stones. Lizards eat spiders, a variety of insects, and also the snail eggs. Toads eat many caterpillars, larvae, and even snails and their clutches.

12_iStock_LFeddes_1325936801 — Your garden provides insects with food and shelter, and in return they help combat pests and pollinate your plants.

4. A garden for insects

A lot is now known about the usefulness of insects. The larvae of lacewings eat countless aphids, as do ladybirds and their voracious larvae. Hoverflies are important for pollination. Earwigs eat aphid eggs and ermine moths. If you offer a colorful variety of flowers in your garden, you are creating a livelihood for them and the important bees and bumblebees, because the flowers provide nectar and pollen. Nectar is a very important source of food for insects, it provides energy and the “fuel” they need for the strenuous flight activities. Bees also collect pollen. In return, they pollinate our plants, including the flowers of vegetables and fruits, and boost our harvests. If you want to offer the hard-working bees a safe haven, you can build them a wild bee hotel.

If you want to know more about when you should do what kind of work in the garden, you can find out the best times for all the important tasks in our Gardening Calendar.