Helping your plants cope with late frosts

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 5, Issue 27, 1 December 1987, Page 5

Helping your plants cope with late frosts

Once again we have to cope with the ravages of hard frost at a time when our plants are less able to resist it and all the tender young growth is burned and withered. There is little we can do about the damaged growth except to remove it and hope the plant will sprout new shoots, but a little care and attention now will go a long way towards helping the plant to regain its strength. Imagine for a moment that you have suffered a severe burn or scald. Your system will have received quite a degree of shock and you will feel weak and shaken, temporarily unable to cope with everyday living. That is how a badly frosted plant feels and it will take a period of rest and rfecuperation before it

can get on with the job of growing again. The warm drying winds which have dried out the earth quite severely have compounded the problem by depriving the plants of moisture and nourishment further delaying the healing process. We can give our plants a little help by ensuring the ground around the roots is kept as free from weeds and grass as possible. Lightly cultivate the surface of the soil to break up the hard crust and allow the air to penetrate, and if nature doesn't do the job for you get to work with the hose and give the g arden a good soaking. Watch for aphids which are out there in their millions just now awaiting the opportunity to feast on the tender new shoots as they appear. A spray with maldison or a good rose spray will fix them. Roses need to be sprayed fortnightly at this time of

the year to control pests such as aphids and scale and to prevent disease such as black spot. It is far easier to prevent black spot getting a hold than to Cure it when it does. The affected leaves turn yellow and fall from the plant and a bad attack can seriously defoliate and weaken the plant. Red spider mite can be a nuisance on some plants and trees in hot dry weather. We had a silver birch in our former garden quite seriously affected by this mite before I knew what was causing the trouble. Red spider hates humid damp conditions, and i t may help prevent an attack if, as you water the garden in dry weather, you give the trees a good spray with the hose. Remember these pests can attack the plants in the house as well as garden and once they have gained a

hold on one plant will spread quickly to any others. Woolly aphids can be quite devastating on some pot plants especially on ferns where they get right down the base of the fronds and can be quite difficult to eradicate. They appear as tiny fluffy white creatures rather like tiny pieces of cotton wool sticking to the stems of the plant. Spray with any good pot plant spray and after a week has elapsed spray again. Look for any further infestation and if necessary spray again. Where the trouble is proving difficult to clear up try putting the plant outside in a shady place away from hot sun. Sometimes outside conditions for a time help to eradicate this pest.