System plants and high biodiversity 

There is a wide range of plants that attract these in the same way that certain plants can attract pollinating insects. 

Plants in the basket plant family (Asteraceae, formerly Compositae) and the screen plant family (Apiaceae) make up the majority of this type of important system plants.

Straw, chips and other organic material

In the vegetable garden and under berry bushes and fruit trees, you can lay a mulch of compost, twigs, straw, grass clippings and other organic material. 

Reducing tillage to a minimum will increase egg and larval survival. If you combine untouched soil with ground cover, you get a good year-round environment for, among other things, the ground beetles with access to food in the form of detrivores when the plant eaters are not present. 

For predatory insects with a long generation time, it is important to provide a habitat with good housing and food options, which means that they are already present when the plant eaters appear in the spring.

Hiding places

Many predatory insects need plenty of cover where the eggs and young larvae are protected from other predators, and where they can hide when they are not active. 

Good hiding places can be, among other things, a piece of untouched land in or around the ornamental and utility garden. This could, for example, be a bed with dense vegetation with perennials and ground cover plants, a piece of natural land or a flower meadow.