The gorgeous moth pictured is one of many which have graced my surroundings for many years. I have no idea what it eats as a caterpillar, but have never missed any plants to such depredations, so I welcome their annual presence as a gift from Mother Nature.

For nearly 35 years I’ve preached the tenet insects you find in the garden are not all devouring your plants; many are beneficial and even necessary for plant/soil health. To arbitrarily kill the flying, crawling, creeping, digging and slithering creatures that share your landscape is not only a mistake but a travesty.

With gardening season underway, now’s the time to do some research and this column is here to help. Snails and slugs, garden snakes, toads, lizards, salamanders and other earthbound residents are viewed with mixed emotions by most.

While the first two — snails and slugs — do indeed do a real job on your Hostas, they are easily hand-picked, or banished by virtue of the old beer-in-the-pie-tin treatment.

Blood Meal is however, the best option. It not only nourishes your ornamental bed but deters deer, rabbits, squirrels and raccoons as well.

The remaining “crawlies” are truly valuable in the garden. I am always thrilled to discover a little black/yellow (sometimes red) striped garter snake on my path. If the cat is around, I usually move the snake to a safe haven, since Mr. Swagger White-whisker loves to play with them — usually to their demise.

Snake-haters do themselves (and the snakes) a real disservice when they kill these pretty, harmless beneficials. They do the same job as the toads, lizards and salamanders, gobbling up spiders and insects, grubs and worms, and egg clusters of various insects.

Welcome them all, and consider your garden a great success if it houses these hard-working guests.

Most folks know that insects like ladybugs, lacewings, bumble- and honey-bees are needed in their gardens. But many others are beneficial as well. Many wasps and small wasp-like flies — along with a plethora of other insects — are pollinators, necessary for the continued growth and well-being of your plants. Bees are truly necessary to propagation, and while one doesn’t have to love yellow jackets, the rest should be welcomed.

Garden spiders also serve in an active role, such as the crab-spider lurking in flower heads to capture unwary leaf- and petal-eaters — and the beautiful, striped large garden spider with dew-glistening web serving as captor of small, biting gnats and larger prey as well.

Many people fear spiders — but try to live and let-live with them, and do NOT destroy their webs — they are the spiders’ food-collectors, doing a good job for you!

Remember, what you consider a “pest” may not be what you think, and you should never move forward with “treatment” (i.e. Fungicides, pesticides, traps) if you don’t know what the creature in question actually does. Too, three or four insects do not make an “infestation.” If you use sprays, remember you are killing the good guys along with the bad! Insects are part of the vital circle of life in a vibrant, living garden, if you kill them, you will soon have a dead garden.

Some surprising garden beneficials include plants themselves! Fennel in the veggie garden is a no-no, for it doesn’t like much of anything and actually hurts beans and peppers and should be grown away from veggies, but don’t discount the ornamental garden! Last year, I took the leap of faith and since it is an enemy to slugs and snails, planted some among my slug-ridden Hostas.

As hoped, it did not seem to harm the hostas, which are showing up bright and perky this year. I did use the bronze fennel, (the fronds are great in baked fish cookery) so can’t vouch for regular culinary fennel.

We know that garlic serves as a wonderful lifesaver to roses, but is anathema to peas and beans. This tells us that flowers like sweet peas should not be in the same garden plot. And while Mustard hurts your turnips in the food garden, it benefits grapes and fruit trees in the orchard;

Moles in any garden are a problem, and the solution is to plant Narcissus throughout their realm. If mice are a problem and you don’t have a cat, enhance your ornamentals with Artemisias. The native A. vulgaris, Wormwood, does the best job, but the lovely cultivars such as Powis Castle and many others, do the job as well.

Also a surprise beneficial, Nicotiana (ornamental tobacco) is a proven trap plant for flea beetles. Umbellifers such as Sweet Cicely and Valerian also make great traps, capturing countless little bugs without harm to themselves.

Too, I always allow a few Tansy plants among the peonies as a catch crop. Tansy, officially considered a noxious weed, is harmful to cows, but is however, a winner interspersed among your blackberries, raspberries and roses, and (from my long personal experience) peonies. Too, it is still coveted by dyers, and a few plants are truly beneficial here and there.

Among my lavish peonies the tansy plants will be covered with tiny bugswith nary a one interested in the big red, pink and white beauties. At the end of growing season, I simply easily pull out superfluous tansy plants, leaving a few for next year.

Valle Novak writes the Country Chef and Weekend Gardener columns from the Daily Bee. She can be reached at bcdailybee@bonnercountydailybee.com or by phone at 208-265-4688.