Amateur Gardening 29-Jun-2019

“Where do you stand when it comes to dealing with pests like slugs and blackfly? In the past, gardeners would use the most efficient means to protect their crops without thinking about how it affects the environment. However, many now consider the role ‘pests’ have to play in the ecosystem and whether it is right to be as ruthless as we once were. Conversely, it is not so easy to be moralistic about this when you see the food crops you have nurtured devastated by pests. Ruth has her own pest-prevention thoughts on page 4 and on page 26 we hear from my friend Matthew Appleby, who has some radical ideas on pest control, asking us all to ‘hug a slug’ Enjoy! ”…

1 Glasshouse red spider mites thrive in a hot, dry greenhouse. Raise humidity by damping the floor to keep them at bay. 2 Check bedding plants before planting out – the compost may be infested with snail eggs (any I find go straight on the bird table). 3 Woolly aphids create a furry protective coat. They have plenty of predators, but can be treated with an organic insecticide. 4 Black bean aphid is a common problem. Pinch out the tips of plants to reduce infestations, squish them by hand or use an organic spray.…

ON the whole I like to think I’m a pretty tranquil gardener until, that is, I discover that my watering-can spout is blocked by a snail. There you are, busily watering, when the flow drops right away thanks to some pesky mollusc wedged in the spout. They get everywhere and summer is their time for peak activity. The summer garden is a bonanza for all pests, but there is no reason why they should become a major problem. Get it right and your garden will come through it relatively unscathed. I appreciate that organic gardening isn’t everyone’s solution, but if you want to use chemical sprays and drenches, keep them as a last resort. If you choose to travel the non-chemical route you need to work from the ground up. Healthy,…

1 Grey mould, or botrytis, affects many ornamentals and edibles. There is no chemical control, but improving ventilation around plants and removing dead plant material can help deter it. 2 Hollyhock rust shows as orange leaf spots with pustules underneath. Dispose of affected material and treat with a fungicide. Avoid dense planting and monitor new plants for the disease. 3 Broad bean chocolate spot is a fungal disease that can affect the stem, causing plant collapse. Give plants good ventilation and destroy infected material. There is no chemical control. 4 Powdery mildew is another common fungal problem that causes white patches on leaves. Treat with a chemical and destroy affected material. Watering reduces plant stress and the likelihood of the disease. 5 Blight affects outdoor tomatoes when the weather conditions are right (check ahdb.org.uk…

AG readers are being asked to help prevent a deadly bug-carried disease from entering the UK. Xylella fastidiosa is a bacterium that results in the death of many plants. So far it is only found on mainland Europe and the Royal Horticultural Society hopes gardeners will help prevent it reaching our shores. To this end, volunteers are needed to create a map showing the distribution of spittlebugs, one of the chief carriers of Xylella, that are found in gardens and woods from April to late June. Also known as ‘froghoppers’, they can transmit the disease as they move between plants feasting on the sap. There are ten froghopper species in the UK and the young, called nymphs, produce whitish, frothy blobs (often called cuckoo spit) on leaves and branches. Xylella is established in Italy,…

BY this point in the season most of the ornamental garden should be ticking over nicely. So what else can you be getting on with now? Apart from watering and feeding containers, and making sure you keep on top of weeding and deadheading, there are a few other ‘regular’ jobs to do. Early flowering clematis may have finished blooming, but they will be growing fast and can start to spread outside their allotted space so keep them in check by simply cutting off wayward tendrils. Always clean and sharpen your tools after use, as young growth is full of sap that makes blades sticky and can attract diseases if left. Keep an eye on greenhouse temperatures and protect plants by attaching fleece to the inner frame or putting a shading wash on the…