A beautiful garden or yard, full of fresh and blooming plants. Imagine it being radiant and looking at you on a sunny day.
You will realize how wonderful they are when they are growing abundantly.
However, your beautiful garden might have the tiny menace that targets not just the life of your plants, but also your body. They are infamous for sucking your blood or carrying diseases.
This is no other than the mosquitoes, you’re main enemy. Not just inside your home, but also in your garden or yard.
The space is not just an avenue for your plants to grow. They may take advantage of a moist area or muddy parts of your landscape and lay eggs there. They reproduce and attack you and your family.
But mosquitoes can be stopped, in terms of population growth or home buildup. You can do it without using chemicals, sprays, or bugs.
The mosquitoes can be reduced through the presence of the dragonflies. These insects are nature’s answer to the growing population of mosquitoes.
Do you know that a single dragonfly can hunt hundreds of mosquitoes every day? Some studies confirmed that they have an accuracy level of 95% when chasing their prey.
These insects may be small, but they provide more help than the mosquitoes around your path. It can also stay for too long, which makes it effective in wiping out the mosquito population.
Let’s identify what can attract more dragonflies, the natural way to catch the mosquitoes.
Why are Dragonflies the Heroes of the Garden?
Dragonflies are the underrated heroes in your yard or garden. In fact, even if they are still in nymphs as underwater creatures, they are feasting on the larvae of mosquitoes.
When they grew up as aerial creatures, they still enjoy hunting and eating every mosquito they see. In fact, due to their 95% accuracy, they require many flying insects to sustain their diet.
They are not just feasting on the large presence of mosquitoes. They also enjoy eating moths and flies. A perfect creature that hunts these unwanted flying insects before they come to pester you.
If you are worrying about your safety or if they will also do harm to you, you don’t have to think about that. Dragonflies are only focused on gnats, mosquitoes, moths, and bugs, not you.
Make your yard or garden attractive and possibly livable to the dragonflies. Give them shelter, water, and plants that make them attracted to it.
How do Plants Attract Dragonflies?
Dragonflies are attracted to plants for specific reasons. They don’t use specific plants for food (you know already what they are feasting on). Plants serve as their key to survival in your garden.
They use the plants to protect themselves against predators, a spot suitable for resting or hiding, an area where they can lay their eggs, a perfect shade for a sunny day, or a lookout to spot their target prey for food.
Planting dragonfly-friendly plants, especially near the water or pond, makes them comfortable and delighted even in their hunting season.
This makes them visit your spot once more.
Plants that Increase the Dragonfly Population
These are the smart choices that make dragonflies live, reproduce, and thrive in your garden, yard, or green spaces. They are also good for your ecosystem:
Water Lilies
Water lilies have beautiful, broad leaves. Dragonflies love them since they thrive on water, while the plant is a perfect choice to lay eggs or rest.
Cattails
Dragonflies love the brown corn dogs and tall stalks of the cattails. Its tall structure makes it a perfect perching spot. Since cattails thrive in shallow ponds, it is a suitable place to lay their eggs.
Arrowhead or Sagittaria
Arrowhead is a great plant choice for dragonflies. It thrives in shallow water, which makes the eggs or nymphs safe. While the stems are a better perching spot.
Pickerelweed
The pickerelweed is a plant that is a suitable perching spot for the dragonflies. It is also loved by bees, which are also prey of the dragonflies.
Swamp Milkweed
Dragonflies also love the swamp milkweed plant. It has a tall stem to rely on as its resting place. Also, it attracts butterflies, which some of the bigger dragonflies love to eat.
Joe-Pye Weed
This plant is used by dragonflies for perching. The smell also attracts all pollinators, which are mostly prey of the dragonflies.
Black-Eyed Susans
Just like the Joe-Pye Weed, the stems of this plant are used by dragonflies as their perching spots and prey area since it attracts other insects.
Meadow Sage
This plant is a suitable area where the dragonflies can rest.
Blue Flag Iris
This plant is great when planted around the plants. It is loved by dragonflies due to their tall leaves that act as a resting place and a perching spot.
Horsetail Reed
Their stems resemble bamboo, and they thrive near the water. A perfect plant for their perching spot.
Smart Tips to Attract More Dragonflies
Here are some of the tips that make your garden or yard irresistible to the dragonflies:
Add a Small Pond
A small pond in your backyard increases the chances of attracting more dragonflies. They needed water (even near the dragonfly-friendly plants) to lay their eggs, allowing their nymphs’ offspring to grow and hide.
A pond that has a depth of around 12 to 18 inches is sufficient.
Avoid Pesticides
Avoiding pesticides can spare the lives of dragonflies, which makes the ecosystem of your yard or garden healthier and natural. Pesticides kill the chances of attracting dragonflies, which reduces the number of unwanted insects like mosquitoes from reproducing more.
Add Stones or Sticks
Add some decorative items like plant stems, bamboo stakes, branches, or stones since dragonflies love to have their lookout. Dragonflies needed natural perching spots to target bugs, mosquitoes, and flies easily.
Why Does Attracting More Dragonflies Matter?
Flying insects such as mosquitoes are not just unwanted, but they also carry certain diseases like malaria or dengue.
Instead of using fumes, chemicals, bug zappers, and other strategies to reduce the number of mosquitoes, it is better to deter them naturally.
Attracting dragonflies is not just an achievement but also beneficial for numerous reasons. A spot that is dragon-friendly can provide you with the following:
- Less stress from mosquitoes.
- Healthy outdoor ecosystem (making dragonflies a key player among the insect population)
- Safer space for kids and pets.
- Natural improvement in the outdoor environment and air quality.
- Reducing the number of mosquitoes.
Dragonflies, Nature’s Answer Against Unwanted Insects
Dragonfly is your natural ally against certain insects, such as mosquitoes. An effective solution if you are annoyed by the large presence of bugs or flies.
Instead of dealing with chemicals to ward off these unwanted insects from your spaces, let the dragonfly do the natural work.
Their greatest contribution: they work nonstop, they live peacefully, they are focused on mosquitoes, and they don’t feel threatened by you.
With the help of the dragonflies, you can spend more time outdoors without flying invaders. No more annoying buzz or bloodsuckers.
Let your garden bloom further to attract the dragonflies more.