Round us, from the number of ladybirds (ladybugs for our American members) I have extracted from the window frames of our gite, we should be in for a bumper year, which is great. Their larvae are voracious eaters of aphids and if you can have the courage not to spray when the aphids first appear (on roses / new growth on fruit trees / etc) and give the ladybird larvae a few days to gobble them up you will have clean plants.
At the moment they are to be found on the leaves of nettles and brambles (at least in our garden) as they are gradually coming up to sun themselves and stretch their wings. A lot are still tiny. So I recommend not being too quick to tidy your garden - leave the nettles and brambles for few weeks until the ladybirds find the aphids. Very satisfying and a good excuse for being a lazy gardener. 
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There are many types of ladybird - some are less useful than others:
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I think the ones I’m looking at are ok. 