Pests, Diseases and Cures

Lets hope your right, :D :D

If it had turned out to be something exotic I wouldn't have minded so much, but I just Googled it a an image and it's the caterpillar of the small cabbage white butterfly - described as 'probably the most destructive larva of all'. You're telling me!

re q 1 - try this link - the American beech http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.cdaid.org/urban/urbanforestry/images/Am_Beech_summer.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.cdaid.org/urban/urbanforestry/hub_american_beech.htm...

Wow! I've never seen that colour shield bug I don't think..only the green ones. Cool! :DThey looked like eggs with eyes on Saturday, sweet!

I'll try that , thanks Pete

I left an apple core outside and the ants went mad for it, so... here's my cunning plan.. *thinks* - if I put lots of apple slices outside, the ants will eat it and forget about farming the blackfly on my parsley! Hey presto, the woodlice are eating the apples instead of the ants and I have...

Have now identified this - its a mealy bug!

Thanks for setting my mind at rest Jazid!

Two reasons for plums going odd shaped. One is insect damage, so look for a tiny puncture wound. There should be a tiny plum stone inside the plum. If there is no stone in the fruit and they look a bit like bananas then it could(very doubtfully though) be Pocket plum which is a fungal infection....

The cranefly larvae are the leather jackets that can infest lawns. Anyone care to ID the lovely flower in this photo?

Thanks Hornbeam!

It might be a relative of Jeff Goldblum in 'THE FLY'

I have found some little eggs on my caulis. They look like cabbage white eggs but there is only 1 egg in any location (not clumps). These single eggs are on either side of the leaf. Does anyone have any idea what they could be? I did see some very tiny creatures that looked like ladybird larvae...

Just had another thought(dangerous things thoughts) is your house new? our house isn't new but when we came here the house had stood empty for 4years, my husband has just reminded me of my lawn dilema. My grass would not pick up, on excavating we found the problem. there had been a huge glass...

I also have one of those acers! I put it in a pot and watered it well - 1 week on and it has lovely foliage and is looking good.

can anyone recommend plants that rabbits do not like, so i can plant them near the plants that they do like to munch on.

Thanks both for the info. now I know they are not harmful I will relax a bit.

Thanks Liz

I have been in Walnut Cottage for over 20 years, and our silver birch were well established when we came. Only thing we do to them is - oh and I hate to admit this, my husband sometimes washes them as he likes them to look clean.we are on wet land, so may be something in what frogesque says.

Another thing that can happen is that having been in the conservatory they may have made a lot of soft growth, which when exposed to the real world shrivels a little. I had some in the greenhouse on a lower shelf, when I put them outside this happened. Again they will recover from this.