Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Dealing with pests and propogating your garden

Most plants are generally trouble free, but from time to time they may be attacked by pests and diseases. If there is not much damage, or there are not many pests, it may not be worth taking action. Instead, let birds and other natural predators clear up the problem. For example, leave aphids that appear on shrubs and trees in spring, in particular on roses, for ladybird beetles, which will greedily devour them. However, you will still need to monitor any signs of attack to ensure that they stay under control. As a general rule, do not spray routinely against pests. Instead, try to encourage a balance between pests and natural predators.

Keep your plants healthy. Choose the right plant for the soil conditions in your garden and put it in the most suitable position. Ensure that newly planted shrubs are sufficiently watered and fed until they become established. A plant under stress because of lack of water is more susceptible to fungal diseases. Remove any dead or diseased foliage or stems to stop problems spreading to other plants.


Tonic for sick plants

If a plant lacks certain nutrients, it will look unhealthy - with pale or yellowing leaves, stunted growth or withering stems. In general, sick-looking plants are suffering from more than one nutrient deficiency. However, it can be difficult to identify which deficiencies a plant is suffering from, because there are so many different types, and symptoms can vary from plant to plant. As a quick and easy solution to reviving a plant that you suspect is lacking nutrients, give it a liquid feed that contains a good mix of trace elements or a foliar feed for faster uptake. Always follow the manufacturer's instructions. Some liquid feeds can also be used at half strength as a foliar feed.

1 comment:

gardendesigns said...

pest control is the most important thing in gardening and you provide valuable information on pest control.thanks