Attract Dragonflies With These Plants for Natural Mosquito Control
You may have a number of tricks up your sleeve for reducing the ability of mosquitoes to grow and live in your yard, but that doesn’t stop them from flying in from someone else’s property. If you’re trying to avoid harsher chemical treatments and don’t want to use a bug zapper, which can harm beneficial insects, one option is to attract another bug: the dragonfly.
Why Attract Dragonflies: They Eat Mosquitoes (and Look Terrific)
Dragonflies are not only a joy to watch, but they also eat mosquitoes — a lot of mosquitoes. In fact, they can feast on nearly 100 each day when the dragonflies are large enough. You don’t want to rely on dragonflies as your only form of mosquito control, so keep emptying containers, cleaning up standing water, and planting flowers that give off smells that mosquitoes hate. But dragonflies can take care of many of those mosquitoes that still make it into your yard’s airspace.
What Dragonflies Require to Thrive in Your Yard
You can create an environment in your yard that attracts dragonflies no matter where you live, because they live in just about every part of the United States. Even the desert in southern Nevada is home to several species.
You’ll need a water feature, plants that remain submerged, plants that live in the water but that have parts that stick up above the surface (a.k.a. emergent plants), floating plants, and plants around the edge of the water feature. The water needs to be at least a couple of feet deep throughout the pond. Dragonflies use all of these plants at various stages of their development, from egg to adult.
Wait, Doesn’t Water Attract More Mosquitoes?
Adding water to your yard may seem like a bad idea if you’re trying to control mosquitoes, but you have to remember a couple of things. One is that those buzzy little vampires prefer shallow water, so a deeper pool shouldn’t be as attractive to them.
Also, when your pond is complete, you can add something called Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis, or Bti, to the water. This is a soil bacteria that kills off mosquito larvae, along with the larvae of fungus gnats and blackflies. It doesn’t harm dragonflies. It’s available commercially, and all you have to do is add some of the granules, tablets, or whatever form you’ve bought to the water on a regular basis. Follow the directions on the package of the specific type you bought regarding how much to add and how often.
Pond Plants That Dragonflies Love
Submerged plants
Wild celery, or Vallisneria americana, is a long, spindly type of grass that remains fully submerged as it grows. Dragonflies will lay eggs on plants like this. The plants are available in little tubes that need to be anchored to the bottom of the pond at first, although they’ll eventually grow roots.
Emergent plants
Water horsetail, or Equisetum fluviatile, is available in rhizome form from nurseries. It’s a little drought-tolerant, but you still need to plant the rhizomes underwater, usually near the edge of the pond. The long stalks allow growing dragonfly larvae to crawl up out of the water when they’re ready.
Arrowhead, or Saggitaria latifolia, is available as a tuber with leaves that you have to anchor to the bottom of the pond. They’ll grow roots eventually, just like wild celery. The leaves can remain submerged when you plant arrowhead. Dragonflies like arrowhead both for laying eggs and for hanging out as adults.
Floating plants
Water lilies, or Nymphaea spp., can grow from tubers in the ground or in pots (in both cases, though, underwater). They remain mostly submerged except for the flowers and pads that float on the surface. Like wild celery, water lilies are great places for dragonfly larvae to grow.
Plants for the perimeter of the pond
Cattails, or Typha latifolia, love boggy soil like that on the shoreline of a pond. They provide spots for dragonflies, especially younger ones, to take a break. Find rhizomes for sale.
Pickerel rush, or Pontedaria cordata, also likes boggy shores, and dragonflies love this plant because it’s one that they can hang out on when they need to rest.
Nearby Land Plants That Dragonflies Love
Swamp milkweed, or Asclepias incarnata, likes moist soil and wetlands. It produces small but beautiful clusters of flowers that attract other bugs that dragonflies like to eat, such as parasitic wasps.
White yarrow, or Achillea millefolium, can be planted farther away from the edge of the pond in drier soil. This is another plant that attracts bugs that dragonflies will eat. Be aware that this includes butterflies.
Joe-pye weed, or Eupatorium purpureum, not only attracts dragonfly food (i.e., other bugs), but it also acts as a perch for adult dragonflies.
Meadow sage, or Salvia nemorosa, is a great plant for drier soil, although it still needs regular watering. The beautiful purple flowers attract more dragonflies along with other bugs that the dragonflies will eat.
Black-eyed Susan, or Rudbeckia hirta, is bait for dragonfly food. You can plant these close to or farther away from the pond as you see fit, as long as the plant gets full sun and adequate water.
