How to Make Friends with Your Pests (Part 1)
Once upon a time, humans viewed nature as mysterious and complex. Gods were many and varied; some could be angered, causing earthquakes; others brought rain, or harvests. Animistic religions viewed everything - all objects, places, and creatures - as possessing a living ‘essence’, capable of their own thoughts and decisions. Even rocks and rivers had agency. Perceiving the world in these ways engendered respect and humility - nature was a complex web of interconnected beings; far be it for a lowly human to attempt to fully comprehend it.
Since the scientific revolution, however, humans have viewed nature as something that can be understood, manipulated, regulated and controlled. And while attempting to understand nature is an entirely virtuous aspiration, for the most part we’ve tended to focus more on the manipulation, regulation and control side of things, often without the knowledge or understanding to back it up.
In the absence of a fully fleshed and complex understanding of nature, we have historically tended to see natural events as isolated incidences, forgetting that (even if it is not self aware or able to make decisions) the river really is affected by the grasses that line its shores, which in turn are affected by the deer who graze on them, who are affected by the wolves that predate them, and so on (this specific interconnectedness was beautifully demonstrated in a study that reintroduced wolves to Yellowstone National Park - you can read about it here).
In the garden, failure to recognise the interconnectedness of living things leads to advice that categorises some animals as ‘pests’ to be killed, and others as ‘friends’ worthy of protection. Google searches for gardening tips yield militaristic advice about ‘combating weeds’, ‘eliminating aphids’ and ‘controlling caterpillars’, and champion techniques to eradicate animals we don’t like with the false assumption that doing so won’t harm the animals we do like. But nature has never worked that way.
And so, here we are. In a world where aphid sprays, ‘eco oils’, and products like ‘Garden Pro Ant Killer’ line supermarket shelves. Where the only search results for ‘grasshoppers in my garden’ are descriptions of how to kill them. Where people unwittingly enter endless cycles of spraying for X one week and Y the next, never knowing why plague after plague continues to befall their garden.
In a world like this it would be easy to write highly shareable blog posts with titles like ‘Get rid of slaters for good’ or ‘Ants in your garden? Here’s how to eradicate them!’. It would be easy because everyone is - understandably - looking for a solution. But I just can’t, because I fundamentally disagree with the premise. And I want to convince you that you should, too.
I want to convince you that gardening doesn’t have to be about destruction and eradication, but about care, observation and cultivation. And, above all else, that we humans are not the all-knowing, all-powerful backyard deities that pest control products make us out to be. That we need to pause and take a moment to consider the vast complexities of a living, thrumming garden ecosystem. To realise that these blunt tools we’ve been taught to use will always do more harm than good, and that there are in fact infinitely better, gentler solutions out there, just waiting for us.
So put your wallet back in your pocket, turn away from that aisle of sprays and powders with the bold red and black labels and come meet those creatures that are so reviled by the gardening world at large. You might find they’re more likeable than you realised.
Friend #1: The Ant
Of all the misunderstood invertebrates, I feel most sorry for the ants. Ants are FANTASTIC but are generally poorly understood and under appreciated. Ants are one of the most populous animals on the planet, accounting for roughly as much biomass as humans. They live in multi-generational social groups composed mostly of infertile females who help raise the next generation of worker ants. Here’s what they do in your garden:
Ants help to improve your soil. It’s a little-known fact that ants turn the soil in your garden just as much as earthworms do. In building and servicing their underground hives, ants help to spread nutrients and organic matter through the soil (which provides food for your plants). They also aerate the soil (which helps water and oxygen to reach your plants’ roots), and speed up decomposition of organic material. And although ‘ant manure’ does not seem to have been comprehensively explored, one study has found higher levels of nitrogen and improved growth in plants that host certain species of ants. Finally, ants are thought to improve overall soil chemistry; in areas where ant activity is high, soil tends to have a neutral pH (which most plants prefer) and contains more nitrogen and phosphorous; two key ingredients in healthy soil
Ants help to keep the garden clean. Ants are waste management experts - they tidy and consume decomposing plant matter and remove and eat dead animals, helping to keep your garden tidy and your soil rich.
Ants help control pests and increase insect diversity. Ants eat other insects like ticks and termites, helping keep their numbers in check. Moreover, in a balanced ecosystem, the presence of ants is associated with increased diversity of other animals. Insect diversity is a great thing for our gardens - when we have a diverse range of bugs in our gardens, all the different species help to keep each others’ numbers in check. This contributes to improved overall health in the garden and ants play a vital role in building this diversity.
Ants feed other animals in the garden. One reason ants may improve the diversity of insect life in your garden is that they provide food for a huge number of other species. Basically any creature with a big enough mouth will eat ants (I mean, even humans eat ants!). Ants are commonly eaten by beetles, caterpillars, flies, spiders, snails, snakes, fish, lizards, birds and even other ants! Allowing ants in your garden provides food for all of these animals and means a wider diversity of creatures can inhabit your patch.
Ants help to disperse seeds. Ants are also responsible for seed dispersion - they often carry seeds back to their hives and, as a result, some seeds germinate. This process is particularly important in deserts, where ants help seeds disperse through the harsh, dry environment.
Ants help with pollination. Although not primarily known for their work as pollinators, ants are able to pollinate certain plants just like bees do! In one particularly interesting example, a native WA plant (Conospermum) was recently found to have adapted specifically to enable ant pollination.
Given all they do for our gardens, why is it that ants have such a bad rap? In my view, the likeliest explanation is that 99% of the time ants are running around unnoticed, doing good in our gardens and that we only become aware of them when their population grows out of control. At this point, the garden ecosystem is out of balance, and the ants (like anything that has bred out of control) take on the appearance of a ‘bad thing’ that must be dealt with.
The truth is, a ‘plague’ of ants is really a symptom of a problem in your garden, not the cause. Ants will not grow to plague proportions in a garden with soil that retains adequate moisture. Ants like arid conditions - it’s one of the reasons we often see them building nests in the dry sand surrounding pavers. They do not like wet feet or lots of moisture. If you feel like the ant population is getting excessively large in your garden, chances are you just need to improve the water retention of your soil. Add clay, animal manure and a good, absorbent mulch like lupin mulch. Water everything in well and make sure your reticulation system is getting everything nice and wet. Your plants will do better with a little more moisture, and it will bring the ants back into equilibrium with the other insects in your garden. No sprays, no powders, no ‘Garden Pro Ant Killer’ necessary!
Friend #2: The Slug and the Snail
Poor old slugs and snails. Often trampled, sometimes crushed, frequently poisoned. It’s not an easy life. Thing is, just like ants, your slugs and snails do not deserve to be hated. You don’t need to eradicate them, you simply have to focus on getting your garden ecosystem into a healthy, balanced state. More on that in a minute. For now, here’s why you should consider a friendship with these slimy buddies.
Much like ant ‘manure’, slug and snail manure is an under appreciated resource! Snail and slug faeces is rich in nitrogen, so whenever they aren’t eating your plants, they’re actually helping to feed them!
Snails and slugs also help to chew up and break down dead and decaying organic matter. This is actually their preferred diet, so making sure there is adequate mulch in your garden will give them plenty to chew up, helping to speed along the decomposition process and provide your plants with nutrient-rich soil.
Most importantly, slugs and snails provide a fantastic source of food for the birds (including kookaburras, mudlarks and magpies), centipedes, predatory beetles and frogs that visit your garden. This is the main reason I like slugs and snails in the garden. Without them, my garden would not be as rich a food source for the birds and wildlife that visit, and so I wouldn’t get as many visitors. Instead of viewing slugs and snails as pests who attack your plants, try to see them as the little enticements that bring beautiful animals into your garden.
So, how do you keep your plants safe without eradicating slugs and snails? Obviously, none of us wants our whole garden to get munched to bits. And I really understand the frustration of having your plants eaten overnight. In fact my plants used to get eaten while I slept too, but that very rarely happens anymore (and I don’t use any poisons). If you’d like to go poison-free (and you absolutely should - poisoned slugs and snails can hurt the birds and wildlife that eat them!) it can be done. Here’s what I recommend:
First, make your garden a haven for birds. Invest in a few bird baths and space them around your garden, plant grevilleas, bottlebrush and other natives that attract birds (in my garden, the birds love my elderflower tree and my native mulberry too). The more birds you attract to your garden, the more slugs and snails will get eaten without you even noticing! It’s a wonderful way of having nature do your ‘pest’ control for you.
Second, plant out new seedlings only once they’re getting big and healthy. I like to wait at least until they have their first two ‘true’ leaves, if not longer (to learn about true leaves, read this). Bigger, healthier plants have stronger cell walls and are less attractive to slugs and snails. Often, when one of our plants gets attacked by a slug or snail, we assume the plant was healthy and then got eaten. What’s more likely is that the plant was stressed (either because it was getting inadequate water or inadequate nutrients) and so was an easy, appealing target for a passing snail. Healthy plants have their own defence systems against pests, and so are less likely to be eaten. Ensure that your seedlings are big before you plant them out, and then make sure they are well watered and well fed once they’re in the soil. This will go a long way to deterring the slugs and snails from eating them (they’d rather be eating decaying leaves anyway!)
Tune in next week…
You have now reached the end of How to Make Friends with Your Pests: Part 1. I hope it has encouraged you to see the ants, slugs and snails in your garden in a more positive light! Tune in next week for Part 2, where we’ll learn to love aphids, slaters, grasshoppers and caterpillars!
In the mean time, check out the references below to learn even more about ants, slugs and snails!