Planting Flowers Near Fruit Trees Recruits Natural Pest Control

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Susan Poizner describes how a diverse planting around a fruit-tree garden — including native plants and flowers that bloom across multiple seasons — attracts both pollinators and beneficial insects that prey on pests. During a severe aphid outbreak that damaged cherry trees across Toronto, her orchard came through largely unscathed because ladybugs drawn by a nearby pollinator garden moved in and consumed the aphids before intervention was needed. She recommends aiming for three seasons of blossoms near your orchard so that beneficial insects have continuous food and habitat, rather than only spring flowers that leave them nothing to return to later in the year.