Yes, spiders often nest inside flower beds. The mulch and plantings give them shelter and humidity, as well as a continuous supply of insects to hunt.
Flower beds are very attractive to spiders. They give them everything they need to live their best lives all in one place, particularly with regard to shelter and food. And if your flower beds happen to be right next to your house, this can even encourage them to make your living space their own.
Mulch is the main attractor for spiders. It holds moisture and moderates temperature, which is great for plants, but also spiders. It creates a layer of gaps and voids at the ground level that spiders can crawl into. Ground-hunting spiders like wolf spiders live in that layer and eat the pillbugs, crickets, earwigs, and beetles that live there too.
Plantings also make life even more favorable for them. Web-building spiders anchor to stems and leaves when it comes time to build. Then those better-built webs are able to catch insects for food. Meanwhile, your flower beds are probably irrigated, which spiders like on those hot Houston summer days where the unwatered ground otherwise bakes.
Thankfully, the species you’re likely to see in your garden are mostly good guys. Wolf spiders hunt on the ground without webs and look alarming, but they don’t pose much risk. Orb weavers build large circular webs. And they both eat pests.
The spiders you need to worry about like black widows usually hide in dark, undisturbed spaces. You’re more likely to encounter them when turning over stones or timbers or going through a shed you haven’t opened in a long time.
Still, if you feel like spiders are taking over your property, the first thing you can do is thin mulch and pull it back a few inches from the property so there is a dry gap. Thin out dense plantings as well so air and light can reach the soil. Consider also switching exterior lights to warm-toned bulbs because they attract fewer insects that spiders can eat.
If spiders and the insects feeding them are concentrated around your foundation, Mosquito Squad of Houston can help. Mosquito Squad's home and yard coverage treats the foundation, beds, and entry points where spiders shelter. This will help you protect the areas around your doors and windows.
