Your Garden
RAIN rain, how fantastic! Watering is never quite the same! Storms do give a nitrogen hit too which makes a difference as well as giving the foliage a good wash.
With rain and summer heat come some of those annoying and damaging pests.
I have been putting off spraying for black spot on my roses but I think the time has come as I don’t want them to defoliate.
There are various organic and chemical sprays which you might like to use, from bi-carb to triforine, the latter I find the most effective.
Feeding your roses is also beneficial as it adds vigour, potassium encourages thicker leaf cuticle which also protects from the fungi.
Another dreaded pest is cherry (pear) slug, destroying the foliage on cherries, pears and even some plums when they are bad. Last year these were terrible, defoliating many trees. Hawthorns are also affected.
There are obviously chemicals which will control this pest, but I am going to try wood ash this year, stand up in the wind and disperse the ash as well as you can over the foliage. I might also putt some al-foil around the trunks and see how this works.
Fruit fly and codling moth destroy our precious fruit crops, so put out dak pots and codling moth traps early and you might be able to avoid spraying.
Bird netting over your trees will save you sharing your crop with the rosellas and other birds.
Snails, how many have you got? Ducks are the best controllers but if you don’t have these you might need to walk around your garden in the late afternoon after rain and play a little hopscotch and you will be amazed how many you will get.
Beer is irresistible to snails so don’t use snail bait if possible or be very careful your pets can’t find it.
While the soil is wet, weeds pull out so easily, so go and have fun in your garden.
