Does it get better?

Many of my new perennials have problems like powdery mildew, black spots and bugs. It's getting quite disheartening. One week they seem fine and growing, the next they're keeling over requiring emergency chopping and spraying.

Is this normal for newly planted plants to be so vulnerable and do you think I can expect them to grow back stronger and more resistant next year?

I'm guessing the fact so many plants have fungus problems it means my back garden is very humid so I will address that with plant selection where I can. It would just be great to know that plants become more resistant as they establish.


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Don't despair, JackJJW! It sometimes seems as though every single plant in the garden has it's own army of bugs and diseases, but most pull through in the end, and next year's conditions could be totally different. The bigger a plant, in theory the more resistant it'll be.
You can help prevent fungal diseases re-occurring by making sure that you clear up any infected leaves and bin or burn them. I prefer systemic insecticides and fungicides. Watered in around the plant, they don't harm anything else and I'm sure they're more effective than sprays.

 

Don't worry too much Jack, many plants are far more resilient than they may look when they're covered in mildew or pests, many recover just fine and grow back strongly next year.

It has been quite a bad year for aphids and I find in periods of mainly dry weather as we're experiencing this summer powdery mildew can be worse, if it gets so bad cutting the perennials back and giving them a good drenching and feed will do no harm. Then burn the removed foliage

 

Thanks Noisette - it's been one of those evenings where I've spotted problems on a whole bunch of plants I thought we're doing well. I'll keep up the regime and I'll try the systemic approach - I hadn't heard of those before! Thanks


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Thanks Bilbo, that makes sense. I'll just keep going and hope they pull through after this very hot weather passes.

On a positive note I've just gone out and spotted our resident bat is back again this year at last. So that will help with some of the flying pest control!


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Thanks Loofah!


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