Encouraging ladybugs in the garden is advisable for anyone who wants biodiversity and free, ecological pest control services. In order to make the dotted lucky charms permanent guests in the garden, it is worth preparing suitable shelters for them.
Cracked wood provides shelter for ladybugs
Conditions for staying for ladybugs
First of all, making a garden ladybug-friendly means keeping it as species-rich and natural as possible. This creates an attractive basis for the beetles to settle permanently. In a natural garden they will find more food and more hiding places. The latter are needed above all for cool, rainy weather conditions and for the winter break.
In the wild, ladybugs find shelter in layers of moss, cracks in tree bark or in piles of stones or wood. Of course, a not too accurately designed garden also offers such hiding places. But you can also help a little. For example by you
- leave piles of leaves together in autumn
- build a cairn or a natural stone wall
- pile up a pile of wood
- build a ladybug house
Generate natural retreats
By leaving fall leaves piled together, you offer ladybugs (and, incidentally, other welcome beneficials like hedgehogs) a viable winter home. In winter, the beetles also like to move into piles of stones or piles of wood. They radiate heat and provide protection from wind, precipitation and enemies.
With a bit of aesthetic and planning skill, you can also integrate such constructs decoratively or functionally into the garden design. For example, have you always wanted to create a herb snail with a natural stone spiral wall?
Build a ladybug house
If you particularly love the friendly and helpful ladybugs and like to be creative with your hands, you can also build a ladybug house. It has the same function as an insect hotel (€11.33) but is designed specifically for ladybugs. Such a house can also prevent the beetles from swarming into the house in droves in the autumn search for a winter quarters.
When designing, you can let your creativity run free. The classic little house shape with a covered gabled roof or a hollowed out or perforated tree pit with a covered roof are just a few ideas. Painted in black dotted red, the shelter can be recognized from afar as a ladybug house - of course, this is only a treat for the human eye. With some moss, leaves or pieces of bark inside you can make the ladybugs comfortable. It should be set up or hung in a quiet, sheltered place where plants that are endangered by aphids may also grow for the first spring snack.