Master Gardener Training Series: Bugs in the Garden
I woke up in the night screaming, jumped out of bed still asleep stomping on the floor and wiggling as much as I could. Startling Michael, he woke me out of the nightmare. “What’s wrong?! What’s wrong?! It’s okay. It’s okay.”, he said. “But… there are spiders everywhere!”, I stuttered. “Honey, it was just a dream.” I take a deep breath of relief as I’m snapped back into reality with my bladder now sending signals to my brain too, a trip to the bathroom would calm my nerves after which I curl back up in bed to finish that night’s slumber. This has happened periodically for most of my life. I can remember my dad having to come in and kill the imaginary spiders crawling on the wall or ceiling in the night. It is a thing for me. Thankfully, this hasn’t happened to me in a while. I think in part because now I encounter spiders daily in the garden. At this house, we have massive wolf spiders everywhere (like a ridiculous population of them for my standards) and I encounter a few black widows here and there too. Yikes! If I’m going to garden then I have to be okay with the insects I may encounter too.
This week in my Master Gardener Training course with the Hanover Master Gardener Association and the Virginia Cooperative Extension Office, I had the pleasure of learning about Entomology (the study of bugs) with the Hanover County Extension Agent, Laura Maxey-Nay. Laura used to work for the Virginia Tech Insect ID Lab and has a wealth of knowledge and experience with these creepy crawlies. She opened her presentation with this quote:
Laura opened her presentation with this powerful quote.
Read this quote then read it again. Wow! It’s incredibly eye-opening to think about, isn’t it? Insects are the largest group of animals on Earth. And yes, I verified that they are considered animals. I never thought of them in that way either until after this talk. I always kind of thought of insects as an alien species all on their own.👽 Smithsonian states, “Recent figures indicate that there are more than 200 million insects for each human on the planet! A recent article in The New York Times claimed that the world holds 300 pounds of insects for every pound of humans.” 🤯With 200,000,000:1 odds, we need to start loving our bugs because they take up more biomass than any other animal on this planet. They must be of incredible importance to our planet and our life.
Our class got way into the weeds on bug identification and classification that I’m thinking is more than you all want to know about bugs so here are some things you can do when you encounter a new bug in nature or one that you’d like to know more about.
Resources that I like for insect identification in the garden:
Good Bug, Bad Bug book.
This is a fun little book that shows pictures of different insects that you will encounter in the garden. It’ll tell you whether it’s a predator or pest and some basic management advice. It is in no way an exhaustive list, but it touches on the common ones you may be curious about.
Hanover Master Gardener Help Desk
This service is for Hanover residents, but almost all Counties have an extension office that can help you with these kinds of things. Here’s a list of offices in Virginia.
Email good quality photos to hanover.master.gardener@gmail.com You need to include a close-up and an in-focus picture, one further back so you can see it on the plant as a whole, and some different angles if possible. In your e-mail, you will need to identify the bug’s location (where you’re located and the name of the plant it’s on), when you took the photos, etc. The more information, the better. Alternatively, you can stop by our Help Desk Cooperative Extension, 13015 Taylor Complex Lane, Ashland, VA 23005 with a sample specimen. The Help Desk is open Monday-Friday, 1:00-4:00 pm.
Use your phone.
Snap a good picture and let Google Lens take a look. Take the recommendations with a research-based eye. Make sure the host plant and location are correct, etc. It’s not always going to spit out the correct information so make sure that you follow through with a bit more research before concluding. And make sure you are using science-based resources when initiating control methods. Good resources include .edu, .gov, and .org sources. If you are using a blogger, like me, make sure the information they are providing is based on science.
Other considerations:
Swallowtail Caterpillars devouring my parsley.
Pesticides aren’t targeted to one type of pest. If you spray pesticides, you’re likely killing the good guys too. This includes mosquito spraying services, for example. They do not just eliminate mosquitoes.
Organic doesn’t necessarily mean better. Organic/Natural pesticides can still hurt the good guys.
If you spray, spray the right product at the right time. For example, horticultural oils have air temperature ranges that they are effective at without damaging your plant. If you put Neem oil (a common go-to) on your plants and it’s above 90% outside, you will burn them. If it’s too cold, the oil may solidify and cause damage as well. Read the label on any product that you use for appropriate use. Make no assumptions.
Get to know your beneficial insects. It takes time, but knowing the good guys from the bad is incredibly important for the health of you and your garden. Botanical Gardens and Extension Master Gardeners will sometimes offer classes on the topic. The Field and Garden podcast has fun episodes sometimes called Bug Talk all about beneficial insects, pests, and demystifying bugs found in the garden.
Only 3% of insects are actually true pests. Most insects have a job to do. For example, many bugs are the custodians of the Earth. If they are present on your plant, then your plant isn’t likely healthy to begin with. Healthier plants = less bug pressure.
Decide which bugs you can live with and which ones you can’t. Sometimes it’s just not worth the fight. Can you deal with holes in the leaves? Are you just going to ignore the Japanese Bettles because they have such a short season or would you rather go pick them off several times daily? I kinda just let them do their thing because they only last a few weeks and I can mostly deal with the destruction they cause knowing that my plants will most likely bounce back. I also just let my parsley go knowing that swallowtail butterflies will grace my presence soon. I was absolutely amazed at how much they ate and the fact that my plants came back through multiple rounds of their chomping this past year. On the flip side, if I see bagworms on my arborvitae, I know that I am going to do something immediately to control them so the aesthetics of my plant are not ruined. Bagworms are a non-negotiable for me. You get to decide for yourself how you want to tow your pest management line.
Utilize cultural control methods to reduce your pest pressure. For example, buy pest-resistant varieties, rotate your vegetable crops, and reduce plant stress by planting at the correct time of year for that plant.
Bugs can be creepy, crawly, and even a bit intimidating at times, but they play an incredible and vital role in helping our planet tick. ⏰ Let me know if you’d like to learn more about them, and I’m happy to write more focused posts on the subject. As always, I absolutely love reader feedback. It helps me to know what you like, what you don’t like, what’s missing, what you want more of. Share with me your garden wins and challenges. I am a gardener in your pocket and I appreciate your readership week in and week out! Happy Flower Fri-Yay!
Keep Blooming,
Nicole Dillon, Breemar Flower Farm
