How to Get Rid of Earwigs in the Garden

Have you ever walked into your garden and found ragged holes in your flower petals or half-eaten seedlings? Earwigs might be the culprits. Learning how to get rid of earwigs in the garden doesn't require harsh chemicals or expensive treatments — a handful of simple traps and habitat changes can dramatically reduce their numbers. These pincer-sporting insects look intimidating, but they're surprisingly easy to manage once you understand what draws them in and how to push them out. If you're already dealing with other harmful pests in your garden, earwigs may be part of a bigger moisture and debris problem worth tackling all at once.

Earwigs (order Dermaptera) are nocturnal insects that hide in cool, damp spots during the day and feed at night. While they do eat some pest insects like aphids, large populations can cause real damage to soft fruits, seedlings, and ornamental flowers. The good news? You have plenty of options — from oil traps and diatomaceous earth to long-term habitat management — and most of them cost next to nothing.

This guide walks you through everything you need to know: what earwigs actually do in your garden (some of it helpful), how to remove them effectively, and how to keep them from coming back season after season.

Understanding Earwigs: Friends or Foes?

Before you wage war on every earwig in sight, it helps to know that these insects play a dual role in your garden ecosystem. They're not purely destructive — and in small numbers, they can actually work in your favor.

The Surprising Benefits

Earwigs are opportunistic feeders. That means they eat both plant material and other insects. Here's what they help with:

• They consume aphids, mites, and insect eggs that damage your plants
• They break down decaying organic matter, returning nutrients to the soil
• They serve as food for birds, toads, and ground beetles — supporting the broader food chain

If you're also dealing with aphids, a small earwig population may actually be helping you without you realizing it.

The Damage They Cause

The problems start when populations explode. Signs of earwig damage include:

• Irregular holes chewed in leaves, petals, and soft fruits
• Damaged seedlings that look like they've been nibbled overnight
• Ragged edges on hostas, dahlias, marigolds, and lettuce
• Droppings (small dark pellets) near feeding sites

The damage looks similar to slug damage, but earwigs don't leave slime trails. Check at night with a flashlight to confirm which pest you're dealing with.

Why Earwigs Invade Your Garden

Understanding what attracts earwigs is half the battle. If your garden creates ideal conditions, they'll keep showing up no matter how many you trap.

Conditions That Attract Them

Earwigs need three things: moisture, shelter, and food. Your garden often provides all three in abundance.

• Excess moisture — overwatered beds, poor drainage, and evening watering create damp conditions earwigs love
• Thick mulch layers (over 3 inches) that stay wet underneath
• Dense plantings with little airflow near the soil surface
• Outdoor lights that attract them at night — they'll migrate from lit areas toward nearby beds

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, integrated pest management that starts with habitat modification is the most effective and environmentally responsible approach to garden pest control.

Common Hideouts

During the day, earwigs tuck themselves into tight, dark spaces. Check these spots:

• Under boards, stones, and pots sitting directly on soil
• Inside rolled-up newspaper or corrugated cardboard
• Between stacked pavers or bricks
• In the crowns of dense ground-cover plants
• Under bark chips and leaf litter

If you're gardening in raised beds, earwigs often concentrate along the inner edges where wood meets soil — a naturally damp, shaded zone.

Pro tip: Flip a few boards or pots in the morning. If you find clusters of 10+ earwigs regularly, your population is high enough to warrant action.

How to Get Rid of Earwigs Step by Step

Ready to take action? Here's a practical approach to reducing earwig numbers quickly. These methods work best when combined.

Trapping Methods

Traps exploit earwigs' love of tight, damp hiding spots. Set them in the evening and check each morning.

1. Oil and soy sauce trap — Fill a shallow container (tuna can works great) with equal parts vegetable oil and soy sauce. Bury it so the rim is level with the soil. Earwigs crawl in and can't escape.
2. Rolled newspaper trap — Dampen a section of newspaper, roll it loosely, and place it near affected plants. In the morning, shake the earwigs into a bucket of soapy water.
3. Flower pot trap — Stuff a small terracotta pot with damp straw and invert it on a short stake near damaged plants. Earwigs will hide inside overnight.
4. Cardboard tube trap — Stand empty toilet paper rolls upright among plants. Earwigs will crawl inside for shelter.

Empty and reset traps daily for the first two weeks. You should see a noticeable drop in numbers within 7–10 days.

Natural Repellents and Barriers

These won't eliminate earwigs entirely, but they help protect specific plants and beds:

• Diatomaceous earth (DE) — a fine powder made from fossilized algae that cuts through insect exoskeletons. Sprinkle a thin ring around vulnerable plants. Reapply after rain.
• Petroleum jelly bands — smear a ring around the stems of tall plants or the legs of raised planters to block climbing earwigs
• Cedar oil spray — mix 10–15 drops of cedar essential oil per cup of water in a spray bottle. Apply around bed edges.
• Neem oil — spray diluted neem oil on foliage in the evening to deter feeding

If you're growing mint in containers, you've got a natural advantage — earwigs tend to avoid strongly aromatic herbs like mint and basil.

Best Practices for Earwig Prevention

Trapping handles the immediate problem. Prevention keeps it from coming back. These habits make your garden far less appealing to earwigs long term.

Garden Hygiene Tips

• Remove dead leaves, fallen fruit, and plant debris regularly
• Keep mulch to 2 inches or less — or pull it back a few inches from plant stems
• Store firewood, lumber, and pots away from garden beds
• Clear weeds that create dense ground-level shelter
• Avoid leaving garden tools and equipment lying on soil overnight

Think of it this way: every damp hiding spot you remove is one less earwig hotel in your garden.

Smart Watering Habits

When you water matters almost as much as how much you water.

• Water in the early morning so soil surfaces dry by evening
• Use drip irrigation instead of overhead sprinklers to reduce surface moisture
• Improve drainage in beds that stay soggy — mix in perlite or coarse sand
• Avoid watering right before dark, which creates prime earwig conditions

Warning: If you switch to morning watering and still see heavy earwig activity, check for hidden moisture sources like leaky hoses, dripping faucets, or poor gutter drainage near beds.

Long-Term Earwig Management Strategies

For gardeners dealing with earwig problems year after year, short-term fixes alone won't cut it. You need to reshape your garden's ecosystem.

Encouraging Natural Predators

Several animals eat earwigs enthusiastically. Making your garden welcoming to them creates free, ongoing pest control:

• Birds — wrens, robins, and starlings eat earwigs. Install birdhouses and keep a shallow birdbath nearby.
• Toads and frogs — a single toad can eat hundreds of insects nightly. Add a small ground-level water dish and a shady "toad house" (an overturned pot with a chipped entrance).
• Ground beetles — these nocturnal predators hunt earwigs. Leave a few flat stones as beetle shelters away from your beds.
• Tachinid flies — these parasitic flies lay eggs on earwigs. Attract them with small-flowered herbs like dill and fennel.

A healthy garden with diverse wildlife will naturally keep pest populations in check — earwigs included.

Companion Planting and Garden Design

Your plant choices and layout affect earwig pressure more than you might think.

• Grow aromatic herbs like shade-tolerant herbs near vulnerable flowers — their scent can confuse or repel earwigs
• Space plants for good air circulation at soil level
• Raise susceptible plants (dahlias, zinnias, strawberries) off the ground using stakes or supports
• Use gravel or crushed stone mulch near foundations and bed edges — earwigs prefer organic mulch

When planning next season's beds, think about moisture zones. Starting seeds indoors and transplanting established seedlings gives them a size advantage over earwig damage compared to direct-sowing tiny, vulnerable sprouts.

When to Act and When to Leave Earwigs Alone

Not every earwig sighting calls for intervention. Knowing how to get rid of earwigs is important, but knowing when to leave them alone can be just as valuable.

Damage Thresholds

Use this simple framework to decide your response level:

• Low (occasional sightings, no visible damage) — no action needed. A few earwigs are normal and may be helping with aphid control.
• Moderate (regular sightings, minor leaf holes) — set traps and improve garden hygiene. Monitor weekly.
• High (large clusters, significant damage to flowers or crops) — combine trapping, barriers, and habitat changes. Consider targeted treatment.

Earwigs are most active in late spring through early fall. Population peaks usually hit in June and July when conditions are warmest and dampest.

Chemical Options as a Last Resort

If natural methods aren't controlling a severe infestation, you have a few targeted chemical options. Use these sparingly and always follow label directions:

• Spinosad-based baits — derived from naturally occurring soil bacteria. Less toxic to beneficial insects than synthetic alternatives.
• Boric acid powder — apply in cracks and crevices where earwigs shelter, not directly on plants or soil where it contacts roots.
• Pyrethrin sprays — plant-derived insecticide that breaks down quickly. Apply at dusk when earwigs emerge but pollinators are inactive.

Avoid broad-spectrum insecticides. They'll kill earwigs but also wipe out the beneficial predators keeping other pest populations — like termites — under control. That often makes your overall pest situation worse, not better.

Frequently Asked Questions

Key Takeaways

• Earwigs are both beneficial and harmful — small numbers help control aphids, but large populations damage flowers, seedlings, and soft fruits.
• Simple traps like oil-and-soy-sauce containers and rolled newspaper, combined with reducing moisture and debris, are the most effective and cheapest way to get rid of earwigs.
• Prevention through morning watering, thin mulch layers, and good garden hygiene matters more than any single treatment method.
• Reserve chemical options for severe infestations only, and choose targeted products like spinosad baits over broad-spectrum sprays that harm beneficial insects.