The Mulching Trick That Attracts Helpful Spiders To The Garden

Whether you love them or the sight of them in your garden sends shivers down your spine, spiders serve an important function in the overall ecosystem of your yard. They are insect-eating predators that will help you manage those unwelcome insect pests in an environmentally friendly way. Spiders feast on a whole range of different insects such as aphids, beetles, wasps, flies, and mosquitoes. Knowing this means that you may want to think twice before trying to get rid of spiders in the garden. In fact, you might actually want to find ways to attract these helpful arachnids to your yard by using a simple mulching trick that anyone can do.

There are two types of spiders, the web spinners and the hunters. Web-spinning spiders like to use taller plants such as sunflowers and garden structures to support the amazing webs that they construct to attract flying insects. The other types of spiders are hunters. These don't spin webs but actively hunt for their prey among your garden plants. Providing them with a safe area to hide in wait for possible prey is a great way to attract them to your garden. Using loose mulch materials like grass clippings and leaves around your plants will keep these hunters happy and you can sit back and let them help you manage the pests that would otherwise devour your precious plants.

Don't be tempted to bag up all those leaves and throw them in the trash after you've raked them up. Instead, use them to mulch around your plants and cover the soil in your garden beds. In fact, using leaves as mulch is one of those eco-friendly mulch options you want to embrace. As well as providing the perfect cover for ground dwelling spiders that like to hunt for their prey, the leaves will eventually break down and supply your plants with essential nutrients, providing natural fertilizer.

You can also spread grass clippings on your garden beds and around your plants as these are also ideal for providing shelter for spiders and can add nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium back into your soil as they decompose. Even better is combining those grass clippings with dry leaves to use as mulch in your garden. Not only will this attract those helpful spiders to your garden but you'll be amazed at how healthy your plants will be with the additional nutrients that will end up in the soil once the mulch breaks down. This is a great way to let nature help you to reduce some of the pest problems in your garden. Remember to not mulch too close to your house, though, because this is one mulch mistake that'll attract spiders to your basement, which you want to avoid.