Gardeners’ attitudes to insects, like those of humans in general, are a mixed bag. Butterflies’ brief, fluttering lives make them beloved wonders. Bees have long been a source of fascination as well as honey. But the reason why some creepy-crawlies have been classified as pests while others haven’t goes beyond appearances. Horticulturalists, like farmers, generally object to insects that eat what they grow.
This hasn’t saved the creatures that don’t consume crops or garden plants. Habitat loss resulting from urbanisation and deforestation, and pesticide use in agriculture, mean that global insect populations are in steep decline. In the UK, the number of flying insects is estimated – by looking at vehicle number plates – to have fallen by 58.5% between 2004 and 2021. Awareness of the importance of bees and other pollinators has risen in the past decade. But human dependence on insects goes beyond this. They form a crucial part of multiple ecosystems.
The changes in land use and agriculture that will be needed to reverse these alarming trends depend on policymakers. The UK government has broken its promise to replace subsidies under the common agricultural policy with sustainability incentives worth the same amount. It also lags behind France and other countries by continuing to allow non-agricultural pesticide use – although some local councils have imposed their own bans or phase-outs. Next year’s ban on peat-based garden compost is a positive step but should have happened sooner.
Gardeners as well as politicians have a role to play by adopting new techniques, and aesthetics, which reflect the needs of nature. Insects, birds and spiders – highly visible at this time of year, when many common species breed – need food and places to nest. Gardeners should include wildlife-friendly trees such as crab apples where possible, and avoid weedkiller as well as insect poisons. Other beneficial changes include planting a greater variety of plants, ideally including some native species (or relatives of natives), which are more hospitable to local wildlife because they evolved in tandem. Last month, Australian scientists showed that planting indigenous species in an urban green space caused insect numbers to multiply by seven times in three years. Artificial turf should be avoided.
As the climate heats up, it also makes sense to choose less thirsty plants. Sometimes these are chosen as part of schemes with other environmental benefits. One example that has attracted widespread praise is the Grey to Green regeneration project in Sheffield, a mile-long flood defence area featuring a series of water-collecting rain gardens. Opened in 2020, it also provides a new link to the Castlegate area of the city.
Experts as well as amateurs are changing their ways. The Guardian’s Alys Fowler wrote earlier this year about teaching herself to leave aphids and dandelions alone. Others, including Alan Titchmarsh, are more resistant to replacing scented borders with messy nature. But with almost 30% of the total urban area in Britain estimated to consist of residential gardens, what happens in these spaces matters. When so much agricultural land has become a hostile environment for wildlife, chemical-free flowerbeds can be sanctuaries. We don’t have to stop admiring double-headed peonies, which are bred to impress in such a way that bees can’t get to the pollen. But we can make more room for fauna amid the flowers.
