Let the Bugs Do the Legwork: Before You Reach for Insecticide, Consider Mother Nature’s Built-In Pest Control

Cut down on chemicals in your garden, while helping to restore biodiversity and insect abundance

Although ladybugs look adorable, they are in fact killing machines, decimating populations of aphids, mites, mealybugs, and whiteflies. mehmetkrc/Shutterstock

How many times have you reached for a spray bottle to kill off an irritating bug? Have you spent time and money mixing powders and potions in buckets of water to dowse the creepy-crawlies that feast on your favorite flowers? Have you ever gone “Full Metal Jacket” on all things arthropod, fueled with an uncontrollable desire to rid your garden of everything that can eat anything you want to eat?

It’s understandable. Many of us take our gardening very seriously, so anything that has the audacity to walk upon our precious plants is seen as a threat that must be annihilated with immediate effect.