Read more here: Why You Should Let Insects Eat Your Plants
“They’re not just your plants – they’re someone’s dinner”, Chris Baraniuk from the BBC writes, referencing the little herbivores munching away in gardens across the world. Recently, there is an influx of green-thumbed individuals that embrace a new form of gardening – planting to feed insects. According to a study done by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, “insect populations are declining at a rate of between 1% and 2% every year”. Gardeners are recognizing that insects are a crucial part of our ecosystems and are coming to their rescue. A survey from 2022 states, “one in three US adults purchase plants to help wildlife”. A spokesman at the UK’s Royal Entomological Society, Luke Tilley, states, “a garden managed for biodiversity can support potentially thousands of species over a year.” In the instances of “compensatory growth”, feeding insects can even allow plants to bear more flowers and fruit. Gardens for insects may just be the revolutionary idea needed for a better world, for us and for wildlife.