War declared on garden greeblies

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 7, Issue 365, 4 December 1990, Page 8

War declared on garden greeblies

The prolonged spell of wet weather coupled with the warmer ground conditions have provided perfect conditions for all the garden pests to multiply in great numbers to wreak havoc among our garden plants

Slugs by the hundred march down the garden path after dark to spend the night chewing away at anything within reach. Young seedlings are particular favourites especially the young tender leaves of the lettuce, but anything seems to be fair game if it is edible. It is slugs which are eating large holes in the leaves of the Polyanthus and they will happily eat the flowers as well if they

are too near the ground. The only effective way to deal with the slugs (with the exception of half a dozen bantams) is to lay slug bait around the roots of the plants. The slugs are attracted to the bait which, when they eat it, dries them up. Most slug pellets contain an animal repellent which makes them unpalatable to animals but if you are afraid of a pet being

tempted to eat the pellets try pressing them lightly into the surface of the earth. Like any other insecticide they are poisonous and should be stored out of reach of children and pets. Slug s heyday Black pear slug, roller leaf caterpillar, spittle fly and aphids are all having a heyday this year, the lack of frost during the winter months accounting to a large degree for the dramatic increase in num-

bers. One particular little 'nasty' is attacking some of the conifers. I have seen it both on cypresses and some of the chamaecyparis types so if you haven't paid too much attention to your conifers lately it might pay you to have a look at them. Look for sprays of foliage wrapped tightly together with a woody secretion forming quite large lumps on the affected parts. The foliage becomes dry and brown and eventually

dies. If you detach the woody substance and pull it apart a number of little caterpillars emerge suspended from a fine thread no doubt the larvae of one type of moth. A badly affected tree can look quite unsightly and as they seem to attack in numbers quite severe damage can be done to the tree, the little pests obviously sucking the sap from the stems of the foliage and eventually killing it. Where possible it would be best to cut back the affected portion of the foliage to the nearest healthy bud and burn it, then spray the tree with good insecticide. 'Target' is a good all round spray which will deal with most pests or any spray formulated for use on roses and ornamentals. Dish washing water A number of people have told me they use the old well tried recipe of saving the washing up water to use as a spray of aphids. I can remember my mother doing this and it seemed to be quite effective, but please do remember that our mother and grandmothers used to do the washing up with good old Sunlight soap - not the liquid detergents we use today. Too high a concentration of detergent can badly burn the foliage and do as much damage as the aphids. I think it would be equally unwise to use water containing the enzyme powders for this purpose. If you want to use the soapy water recipe stick to good old Sunlight soap.

Companion planting I have been asked by several people to repeat the notes on companion planting which I wrote earlier in the year. Garlic planted among roses and ornamentals will help to keep aphids away. I have noted again this year that the one climbing rose under which I planted a clove of garlic is completely free of aphids. Garlic grown near tomatoes is said to control red spider mite, but peas, beans, cabbages and strawberries don't like garlic as a bedmate. A plant of hyssop will deter white butterfly from cabbages and is a good insect repellent in the flower garden but keep it away from

radishes. Hyssop will seed very prolifically so watch it doesn't take over. Chives grown in the rose bed will help to deter aphids and the spore which causes black spot on roses. Lemon balm attracts bees and is said to improve the growth and flavour of tomatoes. Marjoram is said to benefit your vegetables if planted among them while mint will repel the white cabbage butterfly as well as ants, fleas and mice. Never plant mint and parsley together, they are not on speaking terms. Horseradish will repel the potato bug but it is a very strong grower so again watch it doesn't take over.