Pests, Diseases and Cures

Hi there.I'm new to this forum, so I'll quickly introduce myself. My name's Steve and I'm the proud owner of a large garden on the edge of the Fens in Lincolnshire. Although I'm not new to casual gardening, it's an interest that I've had to develop very quickly to keep our new garden as nice...

Use washing up liquid in water and douse them ... they hate it and die ...

Hard to say for sure, I rather suspect it requires much more intense watering. A acer that is 2 metres high is quite a mature tree and will require a great deal at first. Although we have had a very cold winter the Spring has been very dry.I wouldn't personally use one but a pesticide can...

Hi Peter thank you for the advise, we do tend to water in the evening after the sun has gone down so will change to early morning also see if we can do a bit of thining. Thanks again Philinb

Hello again, and thank you so very much for your advice and swift response. The sucker has come up within a week and is growing very fast. I will do as you suggest and let you know how it gets on. Thanks again, really appreciate your help :D

It definitely lichen and it dont kill plants. The branches that are dead would have died for some other reason

This time on one of my gooseberry bushes. I am now down to one and maybe short of a gooseberry crumble later on! It took about three days from looking healthy to looking really dry and struggling.Some good news today: I was joined by a frog in my garage while working on my carvings. Now...

I'm strongly going with the weed killer. I pulled off the wilting leaves and brushed off the crispy dead ones with my hands and what's left appears to be hanging in there. It's also sending out new vines and reaching for the sky still, albeit not as vigerous as the other V. Creeper next to...

Hi thereHope someone can help. I have a 3-year old virginia creeper climbing up a north-facing wall, and it has begun to wilt badly.It's only the end of May, and new shoots are still appearing, but two or three of the main established stems all have completely wilted leaves (which have not...

thanks everyone.

Baz, the first pic shows what looks like a virtually dead Cytisus, get rid of. The second and third pics, show a Yucca in need of some TLC, remove the dead leaves. Pics 4 & 5 show a Viburnum with usual wear and tear marks, it has Viburnum black spot. Scorch marks, also slug damage.:gnthb:...

The only point I would add, is that if they are old they won't hold any fertiliser any more. I think that things like Osmacot consist of small balls of fertiliser with a yellow coating of another material that slowly dissolves. Once the yellow coating has disolved in one place the fertiliser...

thanks Marley Farley. This Red Velvet Mite is of the genera Trombidium one of the many species in the Trombidiidae or Velvet Mite family. The body is covered in fine hairs giving it its 'velvety' appearance. It is usually found in the soil or mulch and feeds on vegetable matter. The larval...

Hey - thanks. It is a lot better this year. Thanks for the advice!

Asahi Zuru and Oridono Nishiki are different trees I think the problem here is definitely a lack of water, strange as it may seem in this waterlogged country of ours And, strangely, the variegated varieties seem to be suffering the most with me Taylor, Asahi Zuru, Oridono Nishiki and now...

I found this online just now at "An old method â?? which works â?? is to cover the lawn area with a black plastic sheet at night in damp conditions. Peel back the sheet slowly in the morning and collect up the surfaced leatherjackets. Peel back the sheet slowly, for if you just peel it right...

You reminded me; I had some insect repellant soap so I tried a mix of that with water. I performed an emergency repotting too because when I went to spray them there were lots more of the critters! Between the repotting and the water-soap mix, it seems to have got rid of them, thanks very much!...

I have seeds for the perannial basil they grow in Africe. greeny purple leaves. That one should overwinter if you bring it indoors although I failed to do so but I did save some seeds. I have seen it planted as bedding plants and it did really look good....although I'd be growing it for the...

Thanks. I won't put them in the compost. I have had a look at the pest section but if the only option is dousing everywhere with weed killer, I'll just learn to live with them.

Hi all,I noticed this last year as well but forgot to ask about it.We have a very healthy and vigorous sycamore in the garden 20m plus in height. Was out in the garden this morning and noticed a steady shower of white larvae falling from the tree that the hover flies were frantically trying...