Pests, Diseases and Cures

I've gone with sealed, pre-baited boxes for the safety of the dogs, so won't be able to do that. I was tempted to fill the holes in, but then wondered if all I would do is remove their exit...

I see it often too. I don't see it when the new season maincrop spuds hit the shelves around September and there's no sign of black areas inside the spuds until around mid-December when I start to notice them. It's also this period (Sept-Dec) when spuds roast their best.Many years ago I met a...

Bizarre!

Hi @Millie16 - honey fungus is the most common reason for privet dying off. The red/black leaf drop isn't totally unusual, and can happen quite often, but would rarely be the cause of large areas dying. When you say it's been well watered - that can certainly be a problem because watering...

My nephew is an electrician with a large Government organisation. He got a call to say the retractable bollards, used to control access had stopped working. He did all the normal continuity tests which were fine, so lifted the covers at the side of the bollards. The sight was not a pretty...

Hi,Will try washing down with soapy water. It can't do any harm.However, if it is sooty bark disease then I guess that won't help. It's a shame as the tree came from Wilko's, cost a pound 20 years ago. Has been very healthy up untill now.I have cut off the wilting branch, will leave to...

With a lot of determination.

If you cut your fuchsia back to sticks , there's nothing for the fuchsia gall mite to live on. It has worked for me for a few years without pesticides or flamethrowers

I used to use those smoke candles many years ago, I was alway skeptical as it never seemed to kill the spiders.

You don't really need grit @adamadamant, unless you're using compost that isn't draining well, but it won't do any harm. I know a lot of compost nowadays is poor in terms of drainage. Better to mix it with your soil/compost mix though. A photo of your plants would have been good too. It always...

Just ignore these filthy minded wimmin @Jowo ...honestly, I just don't know where we get them from. I'm never, ever filthy minded ....I can see now that the laurel isn't quite as close, but the hydrangea will certainly soak up a lot of water, and if the ground slopes towards the laurels, it'll...

I didn't know there was such a thing until they devoured a large container of stocks practically overnight. A bit irritating for me to lose a few flowers but it must be devastating to have them in your cabbage patch. The remains and the little blighters are in the council bin.

Can any one help with this problem. 90% of my Pears look like this this year. In past years I have had no problems. Do you think the Tree is in need of a thin out the picture below shows the tree as it was on Sunday. What do people Think. Thank You

OK, thanks for the advice ☺️

Just spray it with something that works on scale.

I'm impressed that your farmer neighbour took the time to reply in such detail. Much of what he says is sensible re the extreme drought conditions . No knowledge of chemicals/pesticides so can't comment on that part. Hope you manage to sort it out and remain on good terms with your neighbour

I'd never use a sprayer that has contained weedkiller for anything other than weedkiller, which is why I use the cheapo ones.

I have an "Orange berry" hypericum and the leaves are looking very yellow. A quick search online reveals it could be down to over/under watering or maybe some kind of aphids or thrip damage. Can't see any obvious culprits.My first thought was it was possibly in need of feeding, so I gave it a...

Very interesting @JWK and @Pete8

The canopy is mostly quite high. The stems are a bit congested, as happens with multi-stemmed shrubs, but leaf-wise, they do have room, especially lower down, because of its wide spanNot tried seaweed extract before. Sounds like a plan.