So along with lovely sun and blue skies, spring and summer bring yet more “joys”, pests and diseases! Aphids, Black Fly, Powdery Mildew, Black Spot…the list goes on and for too long to be honest. Those aren’t a new problem thankfully (unlike Box Tree Caterpillar), so gardeners have discovered quite a few ways you can fight back against these uninvited guests.
My 3 favourites are…
Selecting the right variety. Due to some right bright sparks, Roses have been bred that are rather resistant to diseases. There are so many varieties now that are disease free (Charlotte, Queen of Sweden, Lady of Shallot to name a few), so if you have one of these you don’t have to worry about your pretty little roses dying off. Have a look here for more info if you want to know more varieties and you’ll also get to look at pretty Roses so win win! You can also get Apple trees that have been breed to be disease resistant, so if you like your crumbles or maybe making up some home-brew Scrumpy, there’s your solution.
Biological. Nature has several ways to help you out protecting your plants. Aphids? Bah. Meet, Mr & Mrs Ladybug! Ladybugs LOVE to eat Aphids, and I mean love, they can chomp through hundreds in a day. You can easily buy then online and they get sent to you in a cute lil cardboard pouch that you just open out and put in your garden near the plant. This also works with Encarsia formosa (Posh name for a certain Wasp) and Whitefly. I won’t go into how this Wasp helps control against Whitefly as it’s a bit…gross, but it works, so we can’t complain too much!
Sprays. Either shop bought or homemade, spraying your affected plants can make easy work of any disease or pest. Aphids, Black-fly, Whitefly…a simple soapy water solution applied to the leaves and buds of a plant mean there’s nothing for the pests’ little legs to hold onto, which means they slide off. Chemicals like Bug Clear can kill off most pests. You can also make your own by mixing up some water and washing up liquid. It doesn’t affect the plant in anyway and makes the leaves and buds too slippery for the Aphids to land on. Rose Clear can help protect your plants from a bit of old Black Spot, just spray a fine mist over them (Make sure each leave is coated, or you won’t get ride of the disease) and you should be good to go.
Here at HSM, we tend to favour spraying pests & diseases with Rose Clear, and get good results that clients are happy with – demonstrated by the elegant Sten below!
Fingers crossed, some of the methods we use, can work for you in your garden too!
Written & posted by Stu.