GreenFly - A 'flylady style' gardening thread with weekly tasks to tame your garden

EssexHebridean

Farway said:

Lady birds, you'd need the larvae, the adults will just fly away

Not cheap at all, more suited under glass as well

Could you encourage birds, like blue tits, to do the job.

You'd need to supply water & some hiding but cheaper, more permanent than ladybirds

That said, I have birds feeding but there are so many aphids this year I'd need a flock of vultures to even make a dent in them

Birds we have aplenty, but similarly to you, there is a limit to what we can expect of them...plus, not absolutely certain I want to encourage the birds onto our soft fruit overmuch - they already help themselves to what I consider to be their fair share! Yep - it was the ladybird larvae we were looking at, but I too got the impression that they would be more effective in a covered space. 

KajiKita said:

EssexHebridean said:

Right you lot - who can tell me the things I need to know about nematodes/beneficial insect introduction? Specifically thinking against aphids and slugs - I am aware that is two different forms of attack needed though!  we're thinking Ladybirds for the aphids though...

You can buy nematodes for the slugs. Not cheap and won't do your whole garden from one packet to be specific about areas you want to protect, needs damp ground and to be applied whilst raining with a wide holed rose on your watering can. If you do get them to work, they do work very well for c. 6 weeks and then the effects gradually fade - generally gives the plants chance to get going.

KK  

Thanks for that - helpful info particularly about needing to be specific about where they are applied - and in fairness, that we could do relatively easily as it's one side that has the biggest issues with the nasty slimy little beasts! I'm also in favour of getting rid of a much of the wooden edging to the beds too as I'm certain that is where they are hiding out!

kazwookie

Gentle rain here.

Something is eating the leaves on my gooseberry bush, (not happy) and one of my roses, all the rest of the roses are flowering and have their leaves. Most odd.

redofromstart

Greenbee had caterpillars eating the leaves on something on the fruit plot Kazwookie.   It does seem to be the year for unidentified things eating stuff after last year which was the Year of The Slug.  

My 'Patio Dahlias' are being completely chewed, but they are next to all of my Hostas in pots which are currently untouched. Something invisible was eating the Brunnera too but I cut off the affected leaves and moved them higher which seems to have stopped it.

Heavy rain here, and has been for hours.  It can only be doing the garden good anyway.

Farway

kazwookie said:

Gentle rain here.

Something is eating the leaves on my gooseberry bush, (not happy) and one of my roses, all the rest of the roses are flowering and have their leaves. Most odd.

Gooseberry leaves, bet it's sawfly. Have a look for the caterpillars.

https://www.naturespot.org/species/gooseberry-sawfly

Roses, if it's lumps out of them, could be leaf-cutter bees, friend not foe

https://www.rhs.org.uk/biodiversity/leaf-cutting-bees

greenbee

redofromstart said:

Greenbee had caterpillars eating the leaves on something on the fruit plot Kazwookie.   It does seem to be the year for unidentified things eating stuff after last year which was the Year of The Slug.  

My 'Patio Dahlias' are being completely chewed, but they are next to all of my Hostas in pots which are currently untouched. Something invisible was eating the Brunnera too but I cut off the affected leaves and moved them higher which seems to have stopped it.

Heavy rain here, and has been for hours.  It can only be doing the garden good anyway.

Pretty sure they were sawfly - they're on next door's roses and one of my blackcurrants. Hopefully not on the rest. I need to get into the fruit sometime and start training the fig up the fence. 

Mowed yesterday as it was dry. Nothing likely to get done today as it's raining and I need to catch up on work. Although Evri may surprise me with a plant delivery that they've been expecting for several days. Status usually goes straight from expecting to delivered. 

EssexHebridean

My fruit bushes aren't being eaten - but they are absolutely COVERED with assorted aphids of varying colours, to the extent that the leaves are all curling and "bunching" on the tips -  hence the decision to purchase some new (very small) pets of a ladybird persuasion to try to tackle this! Before they arrive it will be back out with the dilute soap spray I think. 

Lots of rain here too today - my feet aren't liking it much as they will spend the day feeling mildly damp (leaky shoes) but the garden is going to be thriving! 

Plans for the weekend include a fair bit of potting on and a fair bit more planting out I think - the runner beans are definitely ready, and I reckon by Sunday the bush beans will be likewise - we just need to work out where those are going allowing for the aphid situation. We are also going to buy a further bag of the cheap Al's compost as that will work well to add a decent top layer to one bed where the soil is still pretty poor. 

Cherryfudge

I've just caught up on posts as it's been a busy time and I've not posted for a while. I do enjoy people's photos. Seeing your gardens is a bit like meeting you in person!

Our busy weeks included finally having our front path and a bit of paving at the back replaced. It's been over a year since we started to try to find someone willing to tackle it, and the company who did it took about twice as long as expected due to the gradient and my refusal to take a birch tree down. However, we're delighted with the result, and are now beginning to put things back. Today I cleared things that had died off - the men did their best but some roots had to be cut through and lots of things I dug up in advance are now sitting around in pots and carrier bags. I've gathered a few of the pots and put them alongside the path near the door. They don't quite look intentional but this was an emergency measure to get them off the lawn and make the corner look prettier. There are still loads on the grass and it's also got rather a lot of sand on it - I wish the men had put dust sheets over!

At the other side, where we've just had a 1930s concrete step removed, I've done more. Under the step they found a land drain which hadn't been put together properly. This took the full amount of water off one side of our terrace of four houses, and we'd been concerned that one day the water would come into the house in a bad storm. Now we have a new land drain, new soakaway and a modern channel (I don't know what you call it) with a grid over, to protect the house.

On the new paving that now covers the land drain, I've replaced the old water butt and the log store, though the water hasn't been connected - we've lost the part for that and need a new one.

I also bought new garden forks and keep digging over the area adjacent to the paving, where the ground elder had run unchecked. I'm still digging roots out of an area of about 2 square meters, so getting to all the affected areas may take forever! There are also bits of plastic and stumps of other plants to get rid of but useable soil is emerging. When I'm reasonably sure it's clear of roots, I put it in potato bags - so I now have a couple of these, the second only planted today, and the first with some healthy foliage growing. Those will help suppress any weeds I've missed and prevent it from being a desolate patch till I'm sure I'm winning the battle there. Meanwhile my lovely blue geraniums are blooming and leaning over the edge of the path and are an absolute delight.  

EssexHebridean

Runner beans are flourishing round the obelisk, and the ones we grew in pots have now been planted out around a second bit of frame, with cooper tape-topped collars around them. The plan is that we will under-plant with the bush beans, I think, and I'm hopeful for some dwarf borlotti to pop underneath as well, although so far we only have two of those showing themselves!

First two courgettes are also in - again with copper tape-topped collars - the intention is that those will clamber over the arches, I probably need to clear some space for some more to go alongside the other arch later, and we also have cucumbers to fit in somewhere, and winter squash too! 

Jury is out on the copper tape - so far nothing has been eaten, but MrEH did remove a slug that was calmly crawling over the tape last night so...! we're going to carry on amassing stuff to make collars out of anyway, as if they don't do any good they won't do any harm.

Gave in and picked more rhubarb - and discovered a kale plant trying to grow under there, so that now has a bit more light. At the other end of the bed I used a couple of sturdy canes to restrain the fennel and we now have a couple more runners poking through...! 

Need to work out where sweet peas are going, and also look at getting some more nasturtiums on the go as well as more calendula and marigolds then get those scattered around. 

Cherryfudge your geraniums sound glorious - I have campanula clambering all over my path at the moment and very pretty it looks too! The other side of the path is a tangle of potatoes, peas and rose campion and also looks pretty good - and the Rose Campion is attracting Hummingbird Hawk Moths which is fantastic! 

The tomato seedlings are finally starting to look a bit enthusiastic as well, which is a win! 

I think we need a list of jobs for the weekend, now - although a lot of it might be potting on and planting out! Oh and picking peas as well - although that might even start this evening! 

EssexHebridean

Campanula, Rose Campion, potatoes and peas…

redofromstart

I really need to do some weeding in the front garden slate paths, but I do like this colour combination. Sitting in my armchair in the snug I can see the purple of the verbena against the white of the rose. Lovey stuff. Back to front bed has tall things by the path as I mostly look at it from the house. 

Mr Redo used to gather the poppy seed heads and sprinkle them round everywhere, a tradition I will be continuing this year. There are pink ruffled ones all over the back. Always make me smile.

we are working hard on the new borders at the back but it is very hot for digging and planting.