I'm a gardening pro – my easy steps – including a £2.25 Dunelm trick – will banish garden pests like aphids this summer
WE may well be seeing lower slug and snail numbers this summer thanks to colder weather in winter and the recent dry spells.
But mother nature never makes it easy for us. Instead - of course - there's a new pest in town.
Advertisement
2
RHS members have found aphids to be the biggest problem this year
Credit: Getty
2
Adam Woolcott told Sun Gardening how to get rid of garden pests
Credit: Supplied
There's over 500 different species found in the UK - and can be red, yellow, black, green, brown or pink.
They feed by sucking sap from
Chelsea award winning gardener
Advertisement
Read More Gardening
APHIDS
Physically remove the
Use natural insecticidal soaps.
Blast off with water jets.
Encourage predators such as ladybirds, lacewings, and hoverflies
VINE WEEVIL
Both the adult
Adults — all female — chew distinctive 'U-shaped' notches in leaves, particularly on evergreen shrubs like rhododendrons, escallonias, and viburnums.
Underground: larvae feed on plant roots and can kill container plants like Heucheras.
Remove adults at night when they're most active
Break the life cycle with biological controls such as nematodes (apply in spring and autumn when grubs are active) Chemical treatments are a last resort, but offer longer-term control
LILY BEETLE
The bright red beetles and their larvae are both covered in their excrement. They can strip a plant in days, affecting flowering and bulb health.
Remove beetles by hand where practical
Encourage wildlife into the garden. Birds and ground beetles will eat the larvae
Grow a resistant variety.
Tolerate some damage if you can — total eradication isn't always necessary.
Advertisement
Most read in Fabulous
CATERPILLARS
Especially troublesome in veg patches. Cabbage white butterfly
Remove the caterpillars by hand if you can and destroy any badly affected plants (if practical) to stop the infestation from spreading.
Use biological sprays like nematodes.
In some cases, hot water and a mild detergent can help. Ecover is on sale at
As a last resort, chemical controls can be effective
Also in Veronica's Column this week...
Top tips, Gardening news, and a competition to win a £250 lawnmower
NEWS
KING Charles made a surprise visit to
TOP TIP
JUNE is actually a good time to take
Remove the lower leaves - leaving just one or two at the top.
Then dip the end in rooting powder or gel - then pop it straight in a pot. You could splash out on seeding and cutting compost - but multi purpose will do - just add a bit of grit or perlite. Then keep them out of direct sunlight and keep moist. They should have rooted within about a month.
NEWS
A RARE 'sheep-eating' South American plant has flowered in an English primary school for the first time. The Puya Chilensis, with its iconic spike pattern, is normally found in the Andes in Chile. But after it was planted 10 years ago by school horticulturalist Louise Moreton, it has sent out a 10ft spike at Wicor Primary School in Portchester, Hants. It's called a Sheep Catcher as it would normally entangle wildlife, hold onto it - and then when the animal died - would take the nutrients. Ms Moreton said it was exciting but a worrying sign of global warming.
WIN!
Keep your lawn looking its best this summer by winning a
TOP TIP
IF you want to get more flowers from your sedums (now called Hylotelephiums) and prevent them from collapsing - pinch them out around now. Pinch off around four sets of leaves down - which will make them bushier.
JOB OF THE WEEK
Weeds thrive this month - keep on top of them by hoeing. Tie in sweet peas, and give your plants a good feed - liquid seaweed feed is great - and Tomorite works with nearly everything. Give agapanthus a high-potash feed every couple of weeks.
For more top tips and gardening news, follow me
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