Pests, Predators, Weeds and Saviours: Part 1

Warm weather, warm soil, rain, sunshine all make the garden grow. The downside is all that young tender growth makes tasty meals for a whole host of pests and is as good for weeds to grow in as it is for ornamentals and vegetables.

So, are you prepared to do battle for another year? Hopefully you have your army of allies in place already; if not what can you do?

I suppose your first decision is whether to choose chemical or organic. If you’ve always been chemical and are alarmed by the decreasing number available to you, or if you’re not sure if you’re ready to become fully organic, you could try an integrated scheme, where you use organic, cultural, biological methods first and move onto chemical later if / when you need to. (Officially known as IPM or integrated pest management).

Let’s consider a fairly informal interpretation of IPM as being that most likely to appeal to most people.

I’m assuming that your soil is in good heart to begin with, full to bursting with organic matter and friendly worms. By ensuring your plants are healthy, they’re more able to fight off attacks by pests, and survive. It doesn’t stop the weeds, unfortunately; although a bed full of nettles is a sign that the soil is healthy!

Just in case you’re still confused, annual weeds germinate, flower, set seed and die once or many times over the growing season. Examples are Shepherds purse, chickweed. So although they may come up year after year, you can get rid of them (until the birds drop some more seeds…) Perennials are longer lived and tend to have a tap root which goes deep into the ground, enabling them to over winter. Bindweed and dandelion are two examples.

Interestingly, many of the plants we call weeds are useful culinary and medicinal plants and have been used as such for hundreds of years. They have also provided us with many of the ornamental garden plants we love through cultivation and breeding.

For weeds, our casual IPM could mean cultural methods of hoeing or picking out annual weeds while still small and doing one’s best to dig out the worst of the perennials. The perennials are the point at which many people understandably call in the marines (sorry, I mean the chemicals). The problem is often avoiding spraying the plants you do want when you have horsetail in between your salvias and bindweed clinging to your clematis. The answer there is start earlier if you’re going to spray or paint on a systemic weed killer, or indeed use a more organic version such as strong vinegar. So maybe that’s for next year. What may help a little is to plant a good sized, strong, ground covering ornamental or productive plant as soon as you’ve dug up the mass of perennial weeds. It won’t stop them, but it may slow them down by increasing the competition.

Where you have fewer, possibly specimen plants, or under shrubs, laying down mulch will reduce weed seeds germinating and slow down perennials by creating a barrier. Mulches can be organic, such as bark or compost, or inorganic such as pebbles or membrane.

Pests come in many shapes and sizes…

Encouraging beneficial insects into the garden is a positive way to reduce pests and, once you’ve done the encouraging bit, should mean a lot less work for you! It doesn’t mix so well with most chemicals, so do be careful and read instructions if you need to use them; for example, some can be sprayed on flowering plants in the evening and the residue has gone by the morning so the bees are less affected.

To be continued…

A selection of some of the questions we are asked fairly regularly, with short answers. For a more individual response, you may like to arrange a site visit and consultation.

Trees

What is a TPO?
A TPO or Tree Preservation Order, has been placed on a tree to prevent anyone from cutting it down or otherwise harming a tree that is considered to be of importance, perhaps because it is a an attractive specimen and passers by enjoy seeing it, or because it is important as a habitat, for example, many oak trees have TPOs. These trees can still be pruned, but permission needs to be got first. Don’t worry; we can help you through the process!

We always check for TPOs and conservation orders as well the condition of the tree itself. Some trees can only be pruned at certain times of the year, because of infection or dormancy, for example and we take this and other factors into consideration. Anyone who offers to prune your tree or trees without checking these matters may not be a good person or company to choose for the work.

Why does it need pruning?
With a few exceptions, trees should be regularly pruned to maintain their health, and to ensure that they are not getting too big for their situation, casting too much shade, etc. We assess each tree individually, taking into account various factors, which will include when and how it was last pruned. (Trees often have different requirements as they age).

My neighbour said my old pear tree must be dying as it cropped so well last year. Is that true?
If it’s an old tree, or diseased, it may be having a ‘last fling’ if the crop was particularly full; but equally so, it could have just been a good year in your area.

Lawns

Why is my lawn muddy all winter?
The first things we would establish is what use the lawn gets over the winter; for example, football playing children, dogs chasing a ball around, chickens? Then we assess the overall condition of the lawn. Poor drainage is the usual culprit, sorting out this problem and seeding with  a different type of grass will help.

Pruning

Pruning is one of the least understood practices of garden and landscape maintenance. Before attempting to prune shrubs and trees, consider the basic principles of pruning.

Reasons for Pruning

1. To remove diseased, dead, or dying branches and stems.
2. To maintain or limit the size and shape of a plant to avoid it overpowering neighbouring plants
3. To remove undesirable growth that distracts from the balance or symmetry of the plant
4. To remove reversion foliage on variegated plants
5. To stimulate flowering and/or fruit production
6. To develop a specific plant form, such as training an espalier
7. Restorative pruning or renovation of old plants to reinvigorate

To remove plant parts that may interfere with structures or utility lines

Maintenance scheme – an example      

General:

• Soil improvement & mulching: twice a year. A soil in good heart is the basis of a wonderful garden.
• Watering/ weeding: some still necessary despite mulch because of plants needing to establish, birds dropping weed seeds, etc.
• Pruning: mostly carried out during the dormant season, although certain shrubs require pruning at other times, for example spring flowering shrubs
• Division of plants/ cuttings: performed on a regular/ rolling programme to maintain & increase client’s stock
• Spring mulching happens in May when the soil has warmed up, new plants are in & before the weeds take a hold.

The amount of time needed to keep a garden to your satisfaction depends on many factors.

The current economic climate quite rightly makes us all careful with our money.

With that in mind, you may like to consider some of the services which we offer as being very cost effective.

For example, if you need to sell your house, a design followed by a quick garden makeover is an investment which will see your property standing out from the competitors and more likely to sell.

If you are thinking of holidaying at home next year, a consultancy visit, or a design and refurbishment will help you make the most of the garden you have and increase your pleasure in it.

So whatever your garden problem or query, drop us an email or give us a ring and we’ll see what we can do to help!

Our policy is to recycle both green and non-green waste wherever possible. The following options are suggested, some are applicable for occasional, large amounts, some for small, regular amounts. You may like to consider a compost bin as this will take soft garden waste as well as kitchen waste. Most local councils have special offers for residents.