Pests, Diseases and Cures

ThThanks for your reply. I did wonder that because it is the most exposed part for prevailing wind.

Think one of the biggest draws to rats is BBQs, especially 'chilled out' neighbours, not tiding up, or leaving the tidying until morning after a jolly good BBQ.

That I did not know. Thanks so much for this advice!!!

It's a fox that doesn't like that plant. The plant obviously has got a smell that the fox doesn't like. Once in its mind, he/she doesn't give up until the plant is dead. Don't grow that plant. It looks awful with the chicken wire.

I mean Bug clear or Provado, as they are designed to kill soil based pests as well as translocating into the plant to kill Aphids, scale insect etc. These will also kill the Nematodes, if still active in the soil. If you buy Nematodes they warn you of this fact.

Oops! Sorry @cactus-girl I repeated what you said. We must watch the same programmes.

i use bait boxes with a rod going through them and use the blue poison blocks fed onto the rod. They come through the box, nibble on the blocks and then run off back to their nests to die. Its safe so my dogs cant get at the poison and i dont have dead vermin around the garden.

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...

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 ☺️