Safe Pest Control in a Butterfly Garden

Planning

• Create a butterfly garden in a small space by choosing the right plants and growing environment. Butterflies need shelter from wind and excessive shade. A butterfly garden does well in a location receiving full sunlight at least six hours per day. Broad-leaved trees, logs and shrubs provide cover and shelter. A small puddle of water with rocks around the edge provides a water source and place to absorb the sun. Butterflies need a body temperature above 70 degrees to take flight.

Native Plants

• Native plants are good hosts for local butterfly species. The black-eyed Susan is a native daisy that attracts butterflies, such as brushfoots, sulphurs, whites, skippers and blues. Butterflies play an important role in pollinating native plants and are often the predominant insect around their flowers. Yarrow attracts coppers, hairstreaks, skippers and sulphurs. Toxic, synthetic pesticides intended to kill insects, such as aphids and mealybugs. also harm many butterfly species.

Safe Pesticides

• "One of the most important conservation decisions we can make is to avoid the use of broad spectrum pesticides sprayed all around the yard," according to Butterfly Gardening author Vera Krischik. Reduced use of synthetic pesticides increases the population of natural enemies of harmful insects. To avoid inadvertently destroying butterflies in the garden, spot treatments with nontoxic pesticides are used. Many butterflies in the caterpillar stage resemble unwanted moth caterpillars and can easily be destroyed by insecticides.

Nontoxic Oils and Soaps

• Nontoxic pesticidal soap and dormant oil is safe to use in a butterfly garden when it is not sprayed over the entire growing area. These products kill unwanted insects but will also kill butterfly caterpillars when sprayed directly on them. Careful targeting of trouble spots on the plants is necessary to prevent destroying butterflies and helpful insects, such as ladybird beetles, spiders, lacewings and ground beetles. Nontoxic insecticidal soaps and oils are available at garden centers or online organic gardening supply sources.