UK Study Shows Flower Margins Help Protect Orchards from Insect Pests

A research team led by the University of Reading found that planting wildflower strips around apple orchards in the United Kingdom provided a habitat for beneficial, predatory insects like lacewings and hoverflies that led to reduced fruit damage. When flower margins were established around five dessert-apple orchards, only 48% of trees had fruit damage compared to 80% in orchards without flowers. The study involved large, mature wildflower margins more than five meters wide and included grasses and flowers chosen to supply year-round food sources. The research team found that flower margins reduced not only the spread of aphids on trees, but also how many fruits were attacked on infested trees. Apples near flower borders had more than one-third less chance of fruit damage even during peak aphid outbreaks. Significant reductions in crop damage extended up to 50 meters into orchards from the floral habitat.