What is the benefit of having spiders in the garden? That is a rhetorical question, I am not really asking. As a gardener, I know the benefits of having a predator live in my garden. Making the garden hospitable to spiders, and allowing them to biologically control garden pests, is all part of gardening chemical free and being as natural as possible. I am not a hippy or anything like that; I wanted to have bugs in my garden to photograph so I decided I would stop using bug sprays, and just let nature take its course. For the most part, it has worked out fabulously and I have no regrets. Although, nothing challenges my commitment to natural methods of pest control more than seeing the garden covered in spider webs during the summer. Spider webs like this one I took in the garden recently. If you have a fear of spiders close your eyes for a second and think of England as you scroll down past this picture of a spider and its web.
Still here?
Spiders can be good for your garden. Nothing eats as many garden pests as spiders do. Their appetite is voracious and observing one in the garden is both thrilling and meditative. These little creatures can spend all day rebuilding a web after it has been damaged in the hopes of catching yet another meal. I cannot help but cheer watching a spider catch a wasp or an earwig. Yet nothing makes me feel stabbier than when one catches a ladybug, honeybee or butterfly. Spiders do not discriminate- someone should put them in charge of rental properties, human resources and airline security-they will eat anything!
Because of their very nature, having too many spiders in the garden is a bad thing. They will quickly colonize a suitable environment and do away with all bugs, good and bad. What makes a garden suitable for spiders? Tall plants like the purple coneflowers in the background of the picture above made good places for spiders to build a web. Also popular are the fence, trellis and perennials planted too close together. I have found that the underside of broad leafed perennials like hostas make good spaces for smaller spiders who will lay eggs were the leaves meet the stems. Leave a terracotta pot laying on its side in the garden and spiders will build a web or nest and catch some of the pests that crawl around the garden.
Even though the spiders in my garden and I have an understanding that does not mean they do not creep me out. I have been known to collect a spider or two on a yard stick and fling them out into the sidewalk if they are too close when I am weeding or watering the garden. I’m all about natural methods of pest control, but even I have my limits. What is the benefit of having spiders in the garden? That's not really a rhetorical question. It's a mantra I have to keep repeating to myself every time I feel creeped out by spiders to remind me that they're good to have in the garden.
What a great photo! I love spider webs - even when I have to walk thru them to get to the car every morning! Guess spiders aren't all that smart if they re-build in the same place day after day, only to get them torn down by folks like me!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Webb. It looks a little blurry. If I had known uploading it to Blogger would've made it look less sharp I would've processed it some more. That is a very astute and funny observation about spiders. I wonder if they know how dumb they are. :0)
ReplyDeleteToo bad they don't eat slugs...
ReplyDeletefrogs and toads eat slugs and snails, get a small water feature and they will come, harmless to plants but are like hoovers with the snails and slugs.
DeleteBut, unfortunately, are very noisy. The frogs in my parents' pond used to keep me up all night.
DeleteI like spiders in the garden! Funny we should both posted spiders in gardens in the same day.
ReplyDeleteLove the spider web--it's hard to get the light right to photograph them! As you know, I love spiders. I just take any I find indoors outdoors. I just wish I had bats. (No, "in the belfry" doesn't count. Thanks for asking!)
ReplyDeleteGood to know spiders eat pests. Ok I shall not kill them or even spoil their web/home next time :-D
ReplyDeleteThis post made, me laugh. I've often tried to tell myself they are a good thing to have in the garden, but often found myself killing them when one would pop out and end up on my glove (followed by me doing a "i just had a spider on me..bleh!" dance
ReplyDeleteThis post made me laugh too! I currently have 3 golden orb weavers in 2 of my planting beds (these suckers are HUGE) with beautiful orbs and shoestrings. I also have a little guy building a web from the overhanging Mulberry tree to the roof of my car. Every morning when I go to school, I get a large, long stick and gently prod him back up into the tree before I wrench his home out from under him as I back out of the driveway.
ReplyDeleteThanks for spreading the good word about our little 8-legged garden friends - so misunderstood are they!
I can relate, as I HATE spiders with a passion. They creep me out. However I have learned to live with them outside. I have so many garden spiders, and they don't bother me (as long as they don't touch me). I don't fling them, but I will take a stick and move them elsewhere if they are in my way. However if they were in my house, it would be a totally different story.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I get ya. I get lots of spiders in my evergreen bushes and my creeping phlox. If they get too thick I blast them with the 'jet' setting on my hose sprayer. Spiders way creep me out, but I leave them alone for the most part...unless they exceed certain size limitations. For instance I was watering the other day and saw one that was so large I could see the hairs on its legs...it was so big it was staring me down. I blasted it with the jet setting...it scuttled away. I had the willies for the rest of the day. LOL.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great article. You really helped me see the positive side to these buggers. I have been so frightened in the past when I run into webs without knowing and find a hitch hiking spider on my shoulder or chest. My husband always knows when this happens because he can hear a scream coming from the garden.
ReplyDeleteI found your article while looking for the life cycle of a garden spider. I've lived here 12 years and each year one builds her nest in the corner of my picture window. I hate spiders and they give me chills but this ritual has become a tolerable exercise. I can observe her from inside and out. From inside without hair raising fear and we have developed a margin of respect. I will never love spiders but she and her offspring are allowed to share a small corner of shelter that my window provides.
ReplyDeleteI found your article trying to understand the benefits to having garden spiders in my backyard. Recently, I have discovered three garden spiders each night I turn the outside light on and off before I go to sleep making sure wild animals are not getting into my garden utilizing it for a buffet. This is a true story so hold on. Last night I could not sleep, so I went outside in my backyard and noticed two very big spiders I identified as garden spiders. One was in the middle of its web and the other on the side. They both managed to spin a web between my Crape Myrtle and my house. Very large web. Then I notice something odd. Might I add again that both spiders are big. The bigger of the two spiders (the one in the middle of the web) traversed across the web to meet the other one. In the mist of all this, I am wondering what in the world was going to happen. My curiosity got the best of me, so I waited and assessed each movement. I waited about five minutes and the smaller spider went up to the other and simultaneously took its front legs and started what looked like a tapping motion on top of the other spiders front legs. To me it looked as if they were communicating in some ironic way. The irony gets better. The tapping went on for a short time. Then both of them waited about two or three minutes and like wrestlers, they locked up and attacked each other. I assessed their intriguing behavior and waited about twenty minutes. They were still in a lock. At this point, I had two thoughts. One, both spiders were at war battling for one web (was it spider man or was it his clone who would triumph). Second, they were playing Marvin Gay (the song will never be the same for some of you). After twenty minutes, I grew tired and before I went to sleep I said to myself, "I will check to see who won the battle tomorrow night." The next night when the sun set ................. both spiders were there. Marvin, you are the man! This was an awesome experience.
ReplyDeleteHow do you know if you have too many spiders?
ReplyDelete