(3/2) Ever hear of ‘the Windshield Effect’? When I was growing up, anytime we went somewhere in the car during the warm months, we had to clean the windshield. Have you noticed how little you have to do that anymore? And do you miss summer evenings dotted with fireflies as much as I do? How about watching a male monarch butterfly dancing to attract his lady?

Think about the insects you like to watch when you are in the garden. Can you list them all? I can’t name a lot of the ones I see, but looking them up in a field guide (or on my phone) gives me a reason to take a few minutes of rest. I would miss these insects — and many more — if they were gone.

But what about those pests! There are some that eat the bean leaves, a few that stick a straw-like mouth part (proboscis) into a broccoli stem, and the caterpillar that’s eating my carrot leaves. Oops, wait! That’s a swallowtail caterpillar! I need to move that one to the dill; I can give up a few of those. But there is also a graceful green insect with gossamer wings, a lacewing; she will lay her eggs near the broccoli so her young can eat the aphids. Minute pirate bugs prey on bean beetles. There are more species of predator insects than there are pests, even if the number of pests seems overwhelming.

I didn’t start out gardening to attract beneficial insects. I didn’t realize how useful they were to have around! When I started letting dill mature, they flowered and attracted lots of small insects. I didn’t realize at the time that one of the tiny wasps drinking the nectar was a brachonid wasp, an aphid predator, until I found the remains of the aphids on the broccoli. I really didn’t pay attention to the bees pollinating the squash flowers until I had a sprayer full of pyrethrin in hand. Pyrethrin may be an organic insecticide, but remember that organic pesticides are as deadly to beneficial insects as they are to insect pests. (Organic pesticides are preferred because they are made from natural chemicals, so they break down more quickly in nature.)

I began taking more interest in what was happening in my garden. It was then I realized that I never considered a garden as any more than a collection of plants that produced products I wanted. I finally realized that the garden was really an ecosystem — a community of plants and animals and fungi, as well as compost and humus, soil minerals and water. The plants and all the creatures interact with one another and the soil minerals, and they all respond to the weather conditions. Everything works together! If we want to maintain healthy populations of beneficial insects — and that includes predatory insects, bees and other pollinators, as well as the charming insects, like fireflies and butterflies — we need to start gardening with them in mind.

It’s hard to imagine, but as settlers carved farms out of forests the beneficial insects had increasing opportunities for habitat. Even when the amount forested area was at its lowest in the Middle Atlantic region in the mid 1800s, farm fields were smaller and surrounded by hedgerows, and farm houses had small orchards and cottage gardens for the families.

Today the beneficial insects populations are dwindling in the face of many stresses — habitat loss, invasive non-native plants, mechanized farming, and climate change, to name a few. We might feel like we can’t reverse the stresses in a meaningful way, but we can have an impact on the piece of ground we maintain, our yards. When we replace part of a lawn with a garden for insects, we have the added benefit of gaining a yard that is bird friendly, even wildlife friendly. Perhaps a neighborhood toad might like to hang out to enjoy an insect meal, and you might just lose a tomato to a hungry turtle. Birds will want to nest where there is food for their chicks. In fact, in any neighborhood, contiguous backyards together can make a larger landscape that becomes wildlife habitat.

We are now well on our way to spring. The time for daydreaming is nearly over and the time for planting will be here before we know it. Think about improvements to the garden that turn a canvas of beautiful blooms into a habitat:

• Nurture the ecosystem. Feed the soil organisms with organic matter and they will feed the plants.
• Provide flowers that bloom from April through November, and in many varieties, especially flowers of the mint family (e.g., bee balm and many herbs), the sunflower family (e.g., zinnias, cosmos, tithonia) and the carrot family (e.g., dill, fennel, Queen Anne’s Lace). The size of flowers is important, too. Provide tiny flowers for tiny insects and bees with short tongues, as well as large flowers for long-tongued bees, butterflies and hummingbirds.
• Have water available. Even if you don’t have a water feature, a bird bath that is filled daily and cleaned regularly gives insects and birds the water they need.
• Provide shelter and nesting areas. A flowerpot on its side, a piece of dead log, or another interesting landscaping feature can become a haven in a storm for a bee. Nesting boxes for bees are great additions to your habitat if they are clean and maintained.

Finally, consider certifying your yard as a Pennsylvania Pollinator Friendly Garden. For details, check https://ento.psu.edu/pollinators/public-outreach/cert. Everything you do to become pollinator friendly will enhance your landscape for beneficial insects, birds and other creatures with whom you might to want share your yard.