Comments on the Book's Contents
Insects and Gardens fills an important niche in the long list of garden books available today. Grissell states: "I believe that the more naturalistic a garden becomes, the more enjoyable it is for the gardener; the more enjoyable the garden becomes, the easier it is for the gardener to manage; and the easier the garden becomes to manage, the more likely the gardener is to encourage it to become more naturalistic. [Page 14]." He goes on to explain that insects, good and bad, are essential to the garden's success. Oh no. I can almost see the red flags going up and gardeners saying, "the only good bug is a dead bug" or some other simplistic statement about the insects they encounter on their precious plants. If you are one of those people, please stay with me until the end of today's review. Gardeners really need to revise their attitude towards insects.
Part 1 -- Lives of the Insects
The author is careful to differentiate between the insects and other garden critters. Then he goes on to identify the different orders of insects we are likely to find in our garden. I love the way he explains what makes an insect a beetle instead of a true bug or wasp or other insect. I collected insects throughout my childhood and as a teenager. Although I studied many nature guides, I never had a clear picture of why a butterfly is a butterfly instead of a beetle or other insect. Chapter 2 explains these differences in detail. Insects are arthropods. You'll find some excellent drawings showing the different arthropods found in gardens between chapter 2 and chapter 3. Studying these three pages carefully will help you break the habit of calling every thing that crawls an insect.
Insects may experience simple, complete, or intermediate metamorphosis. Some insects produce one-sex generations. Understanding the social behavior of insects can be important to protecting yourself while working in the garden. Another topic a gardener must understand is how insects feed. This understanding will help you identify the type insects living in your garden based only on the damage they do to your plants. Insects may be predators, hunting down the "bad bugs" while others suck or chew your plants. It is important to distinguish among the different insects so you don't kill off the good bugs when you really want to destroy the bad bugs. Chapters 3 and 4 explain everything you need to know about the growth cycle, and feeding habits of the critters you are most likely to find in your garden. Spend some time getting acquainted with this information.
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