Is it worth it?

Dave101t

if you dont like whats under there, kill it, its really easy to do, they will soon go somewhere else.

do you know, meat actually comes from animals? i know, it sounds crazy, i always thought it grew on sausange trees and ham bushes.

Megansmum

Wow, thanks for the loads of advice there - a few answers!! Just to answer a few comments myself:

I have a major insect phobia - so yes, i have lead a sheltered life - and oh believe me, this is a personal challenge on sooo many fronts....

Essex girl..... don't even get me started on spiders.............arrgghhh!!!!

I do know the difference between woodlice and weevil larvae - i googled the little critters ....i had to chuck strawberry plants i was given last year because they were full of the larvae too.....
Our garden is in front of loads of trees, a stream and fields so yes we get loads of birds and bugs....

Oh, and we always lived in flats before so never had our own garden...... yes mainly because of my phobia.... but, now i am doing this so dd doesn't get my phobias, so she can have fresh organic fruit and veg (because for such a little person she REALLY goes through the shop bought stuff!), and so she can grow up having lots of time outdoors and not sat inside by the tv or computer!

my main worry is will the vine weevils now go into my plastic greenhouse which is on the patio, and eat all my newly- sown -from -seed -and -growing -quite- nicely- now -so- i am -very- proud -brussels, onions, potatoes,cucumbers,strawberries or sweetcorn?

Lotus-eater

I can't see vine weevil larvae living under a slab, they eat roots and stuff. Have you seen any damage to any plants?
Have you read the rhs advice page?
http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profiles0600/vineweevil.asp

I commend you for dealing with your phobia and wanting the best for your DD. Try teaching her stuff, start with little things like worms, pick them up, because you don't want her to see that you don't like them and she will be better off being able to pick them up as soon as she can.

To tell you a story, I have nothing against spiders, but I don't particularly go out of my way to pick them up, but there was this huge one inside and I wanted to show my DD about spiders, so I told her all about it but she was frightened of it, so I steeled myself and picked it up in my hands, of course it was fine and she wouldn't touch it, but she isn't frightened of them any more.
The other day I was digging and she was picking up the worms that came to light and putting them in her little raised bed, as she knows it's good for it. Something to aim for

Other things we do as well, if there is something interesting I will show her what it is and tell her what I know. Today we have looked at wood pigeons and a woodpecker, listened to the pigeons coo and tried to imitate them.
Spiders webs are brilliant and still amaze me every time I see a good one, I tell her the spiders eat flies, she knows the ladybirds eat aphids, she is amazing and sometimes I am so proud.

Zazen999

Megansmum wrote: »

my main worry is will the vine weevils now go into my plastic greenhouse which is on the patio, and eat all my newly- sown -from -seed -and -growing -quite- nicely- now -so- i am -very- proud -brussels, onions, potatoes,cucumbers,strawberries or sweetcorn?

Possibly yes, possibly no.

brussels will get get cabbage white fly caterpillars though
potatoes will get slugs
cukes are pretty resilient but will attract pollenator insects such as bees, hoverflies etc
strawbs will get the odd woodlice but are mainly either slugged or nibbled by birds
sweetcorn often get whitefly in the first few layers of outer leaves, but once they are stripped off they are usually fine

Insects are all part of the great ecosystem, I had to explain to my nieces last weekend that hoverflies and wasps are great because they eat greenfly; and that worms are the gardeners' best friend.

Megansmum wrote: »

I ran around the garden freaking Even the hubby was grossed out by the sight of them

If that IS your reaction, then your DD will learn this; and to be honest I'll never be able to chop a slug in half as some do...but expect bugs in your garden, that's their home - and what you are growing as food will also be potential food for them.

MrsTinks

I loathe spiders but when I grew up we used to put spiders webs on grazes Only new ones though and none with anything on them other than morning dew Taught me that much though I hate spiders they are very useful critters and even things we don't like much are useful to us both directly and indirectly (catching mossies for starters LOL)

Muffin99

Sorry about suggesting they might be just woodlice - I just didn't want you going to a lot of effort if you'd mistaken them for something else and then found you needn't to have done. Sorry to hear about the strawberries and I hope you find the treatment you need for the vine weevil. You can buy stuff but I don't know what it's like.

And well done again with what you're doing, it really is great what you're doing and wonderful that you are prepared to confront your phobias for your DD. :T

All the best - I'm sure it will come right for you if you stick at it!

amcluesent

> And does this mean my 20 month old daughter can't play in the garden any more?<

IIRC medical advice is that over protecting kiddies leads to allergic sensitivities and the like.

melanie22_2

Having aquired my allotment recently with a lot of digging ahead of me (spent 7 hours the other day to get a 5x3 metre space dug, weeded and raked) i am going to put my bid in for rotavating.

Lots of people say it isnt worth it but i have seen others rotavate their allotment and even though you have to pick out weeds like crazy after the important part is that you see instant results which is a really nice touch when its such a long hard slug to get what you want.

If i had one or had the money to rent one i would definately use one. Theres always time later to take forever lol.

annie123

just need to say I am soooooooooo jealous that you've got a stream.....walks away sulking.....

Muffin99

Megansmummy - it might not be so bad!!! I was asking my Dad about vine weevil and he said they love strawberries so it's good you threw them away BUT they wouldn't have their larvae under slabs as they lay them in plants roots as that's what they feed on.

Sooooo...... there I was thinking what they could be and I thought hold on - ants larvae? What do they look like? So googled it and yep they do look similar - see what you think!!

http://images.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&q=ants%20eggs&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi

If they are you haven't got the great problem you thought! I so hope they are :j :j :j