Pests, Diseases and Cures

Thanks Ladybird - well I've done it now and cut back quite a bit more than fifty percent - it just happened! I hope I havent overdone it, I attach a before and two after photos - the before photo was taken when I think the plant was looking its best but if you can imagine twice as much onto that...

It could be overwatering with a young plant, is the compost always wet?

Mmmm sounds a little like mildew - very common on some plants at this time of year - especially with the dearth of rain. If it is, try a fungicide spray, and water well - or rather the other way round .

nuke the blighters!

Thank you Bayleaf for your advise - hopefully do better next year. It's a shame because they have spread like nobody's business and all of them are effected.Thanks again Oli

Many thanks all

I found a huge amount of snails nestling among my kniphofia leave right down the bottom.

Certainly is an OWT - mine didn't stop the blackfly, just provided dinner for the slugs & snails!!

If your lawn area is fairly small, say 100 sq metres, you might be able to see where the moles are entering the lawn from a side path or shrub bed. During this dry spell moles should be going deep but for some reason ( known to themselves ) they wreak havoc on the surface. There should be a...

Thanks brazil I will give it a go.

You're lucky if you've got lots of ladybird larvae in your garden this year! Until last week we hadn't seen any at all this year and I'd only spotted two adult ladybirds. Thankfully at long last the larvae have appeared. Last year my garden was overrun with ladybirds and their larvae and my...

Im not sure about organic insecticide, I think most of those work on contact, and as the bug is inside the leaf, I dont think it would work. I could be wrong, You really need a reply from the organic brigade. [ 04. July 2005, 03:59 PM: Message edited by: pete2255 ]

I'm with Ladybird here (although they do sting if frightened), they are probably honey bees, are they small dull yellow? They die off in winter so as LB says you can dig the concrete then and move the queen if she's still on her throne

Looking at the plant after a good downpour and a growth spurt, I've come to the conclusion that the leaf thing is actually normal! Lol! Thanks for the replies anyway!

:D It could be down to the sun or overwatering as we have discussed you know. :(

Sallyann, thank you husband for that suggestion, he has a point!Thanks too, to Charlie and Bayleaf, your help is very much appreciated. Since my sighting last weekend, i've not seen anymore furry creatures in the garden. We are clearing a large part of the garden in the next few weeks (it's...

I do a lot of research for my course Nathan, + I garden organically in my job, so like to keep up with stuff (I was supposed to be having 1/2 an hours break from some designing, but I'm still here!- better get back to the drawing board ! :rolleyes: )

I have a problem with ants in my garden, with nests all around the edge of the lawn and in the gaps in the walls. They nest up the stems of roses.The main problem is in containers, they make nests and push the soil out of the bottom. I am not sure that they actually damage the plants but I have...

Hi Trisha check out this link for organic solutions http://www.organiccatalog.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=61_181

Many thanks, its to wet ok !