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Category: Pests, Problems and Health

Pests, infections, disease, cultivation and growing problems

Common Lawn Weeds and Treatment

Common Lawn Weeds and Treatment

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Bellis or Daisy is recognised by it’s flat rosettes of oval leaves and small white yellow eyed flowers. They tend to form colonies that hug the ground to smother out nearby grass. From the boots of the ‘My old mans a dustman’ song, ‘it takes such a job to pull them up that he calls them daisy roots’ the best treatment is a selective weed killer that may need a couple of applications. Alternatively each root can be dug out by hand.

Dandelion leaves are recognised by long hairless coarsely toothed leaves that form large rosettes. They form dense mat to suppress the nearby plants or grass. The flowers are bright yellow and self-seed freely from Dandelion clocks the globular seed heads we blew as children. The long tap root will regrow unless removed completely or killed by systemic weed killer. Spot treat the weed with a touchweeder or selectively apply a weed killer. Burning and boiling water on the leaves may have some impact on crazy paving but i don’t find it works on lawns.

Buttercups stunt nearby plants and make the lawn look uncared for. remove by hand or normal weed killers.

Clover has shamrock shaped leaves (not real rocks as you find in rockeries). Clover stays green in drought and as a leguminous plant its roots provide nitrogen for grass but the pink or white flowers are intrusive. As clover thrives on poor soil feed the lawn and use a grass box on the mower to remove seed heads. Lawn sand may be used to treat the problem.

Plantains have large leaf rosettes that can smother grass and compete for vital nutrients. Fork out by hand or treat individually.

Annual meadow grass hosts harmful eelworms and is hard to control with weed killers. The leaves are short tufts and strap shaped with tiny coarse flowers. in summer they can die back leaving patches. Feed the lawn well and use the grass bow when mowing. really bad investations may need re sowing or turfing.

Moss is a dense low growing mat of greenery that affects badly drained lawns. It is too short to be cut by a mower but a lawn that itself is cut too short can attract moss instead of grass. Feed the lawn with a weed and feed fertiliser or use lawn sand containing a moss killer. Scarify and improve drainage by forking over the lawn

Lawn Tool Tips

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Improved Clay Soil

Improved Clay Soil

Mulch mulch and more mulch is a must for getting humus into clay soil.

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Does your soil sticks to your shoes and garden tools like glue? Is your soil slow to warm up in the spring and hard to manage? If your soil is slow draining, forms big clods, crusts over and cracks in dry weather then you have clay or even heavy clay soil.
Clay soil is made up from very fine particles that make pure clay good for potters but not plant roots. One redeeming feature is that clay soil is generally rich in nutrients.

Improving Clay Soil

  • If gritty sandy soil is the opposite of clay soil it follows that mixing the two may get the best of both worlds. Add copious quantities of grit or gritty sand to your clay soil to open it up. Do not use builders sand as it is very alkaline or fine sand that will set like concrete.
  • Add even more copious quantities, 6 ” plus, of organic matter such as compost. I have tried wood chippings, spent mushroom compost, old feathers, composted bark and various other items to open up the texture. Dig it well in to the top 10″ as you not only incorporate the organic matter but you add air to the soil and help drainage.
  • Mulch with compost as often as possible and let worms drag it down into the soil.
  • Earthworms thrive on humus and breed rapidly if the conditions are right. You only need a handful or two to get things going so put a few on the soil when incorporating the compost.
  • Improving your clay soil will take time and patience.

Plants for Clay Soil.

  • Special seed mixes of wild flowers are available from Amazon

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Cure Hellebore Problems

Cure Hellebore Problems

Hellebore sap can cause irritation to skin or an allergic reaction. No part of the plant should be eaten.
Pink & White Hellebore
Hellebores flower in winter or early spring from buds formed during the previous summer. They may benefit from some watering during a dry summer to encourage more buds.

Healthy Hellebores growing in well ventilated, damp but not waterlogged environments should not show any blackening on actively growing tissue.

Mosaic viruses known as ‘Hellebore black death’ is similar to tomato and cucumber mosaic viruses. Spots or streaks appear on the leaves and plants are stunted or die. There is no garden cure so dig up the plants and burn them – do not compost.

Hellebore leaf spot is caused by a fungus Coniothyrium hellebori. The hellebore gets irregular brown or black spots on the leaves and sometimes the flowers. This causes leaves to yellow and flowers to wilt. Buds often fail to open on infected plants

Cures for Hellebore Leaf Spot

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Help with Bindweed Elimination or Control

Help with Bindweed Elimination or Control

Bindweed after being sprayed – note the stick it has been trained to grow up makes it easier to spray”. Bindweed will grow up living plants and throttle them if left unchecked.

My first garden in Oxford had been neglected for 10 or 20 years. Bindweed had run rampant throughout the garden, there was no alternative but to spend many hours and many years before I was able to bring it under control.

This is the strategy I used for bringing a bindweed garden under control.

Bringing Bindweed under Control

1. Dig up Roots. If bindweed is well established, it will have developed an extensive system of roots which will make it resistant to the odd spray. I suggest starting by having a thorough dig taking a section of the garden one at a time. Don’t try to dig the whole garden as you will be depressed at the scale of the job. Start with a manageable section and dig deep to get as much of the white root as possible.

If the soil is dry it is easier to separate the roots from the soil. It actually becomes quite satisfying job, seeing how much of the white roots you can dig up. You will want to go at least as deep as a full spade blade. Lift up the soil and shake of the soil surrounding the roots. Be relatively gentle as the roots are quite brittle and new weeds will grow from even small bits of root. When the ground is dug over, you can start planting as you won’t have to dig it again.

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Help Improving Your Soil

Help Improving Your Soil

Every gardener wants to have better plants and flowers, but, sometimes we just need to get to the root of the matter so to speak. There is nothing more satisfying than a deep rich loamy soil. Unfortunately, unless you are very luck, you are unlikely to inherit such a soil. Nevertheless it is definitely worth investing the time and energy to improve your soil. Over time looking after your soil will pay dividends.

What is Good Soil?

  • Free draining, yet holds a fair amount of moisture.
  • Good balance of minerals and food.
  • Light, rich texture, should crumble in your hands.
  • Good soil in the right place and suitable for the items you wish to grow.

Keys to Improving Imperfect Soil

  • Water and nutrients are the key to helpful soil.
  • A soggy mess is not the same as a hydroponic growing medium. Add gravel to improve baddly drained soil. Create a soak away if necessary
  • Add organic matter to help retain moisture and make nutrients available for long enough for the plants to benefit.
  • Soil needs to be the ‘safe home for plants so depth for roots, air for health and pathogen free soil is a requirement.

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Help Control Moss

Help Control Moss

Moss will recur if the growing conditions are not changed. Killing moss is not a one time operation. Moss stultifies other plants.

Help Moss Control on Pots

  • On newly purchased pots of trees, shrubs or perennials there is often a growth of moss. Remove it to avoid importing new problems into your garden.
  • Peel moss and weeds off the top of the pot and bury it 12″ deep.
  • Moss on patio pots needs to be removed annually in spring. I then top dress the pots with new compost.
  • Covering with grit or pebbles will control the moss.

moss

Readers Question: Is it OK to Compost Moss?

‘I have just been raking a lot of moss from my lawn. It’s surprising how much moss I was able to rake off and naturally I would like to compost it.’ Then I want to cure the problem.

Like any organic matter, moss will compost down and make compost over time but it may take a long time!. However composting is not a good cure and I would avoid putting it on my heap for fear of spreading the moss around.

I would dig a hole under my runner bean trench and bury the moss at least 12″ deep.

One trick, as with any composting is to mix it with other materials, such as grass clippings and woodier plant stems. If mixed together the moss should compost down  depending on how well watered and aerated the compost heap is. Moss grows from spores and it is possible they will not be killed by the heat in your compost bin.

Other uses for moss include lining the inside of hanging baskets. These days, artificial linings are used, but, moss has many properties including water retention which make it excellent for lining an hanging basket

Moss 01

Background Facts on Moss

  • There are thousands of different types of moss.
  • Mosses are used on green roofs due to, reduced weight loads, increased water absorption, no fertilizer requirements, and high drought tolerance.
  • Mosses do not have true roots so do not absorb water or nutrients from soil.
  • Some mosses grow on trees but are not parasitic on the tree.
  • Moss can be used in bonsai to cover the soil and enhance the impression of age.

Moss on tree stump

Help with Problems & Cures for Moss

  • Moss can colonise a badly drained or compacted lawn and look unsightly.
  • Unwanted moss can grow on paths and roofs.
  • Moss growth on seed pots can smother seedling emergence.
  • Moss growth can be inhibited by

Cutting the supply of water through better drainage.
Increasing direct sunlight.
Increasing the soil pH with the application of lime.
Regular hoeing and disturbing the soil around the moss with a rake
Application of chemicals such as ferrous sulfate (e.g. in lawns) or bleach (e.g. on solid surfaces).
Encourage and help competitive plants like grasses.
Top dress plants in containers with sand, gravel, and rock chips for faster drainage to discourage moss growth.
Chemicals products containing ferrous sulfate or ferrous ammonium sulfate will kill moss.

Credits
Moss 01 by Enygmatic-Halycon CC BY-SA 2.0
Moss on tree stump by Pete Reed CC BY-NC 2.0
Moss peat and other products from Amazon

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Moss Gardening: Including Lichens, Liverworts and Other Miniatures by George Schenk

Sawfly, Flea Beetle and Leaf Cutter Bees

Sawfly, Flea Beetle and Leaf Cutter Bees

Mid summer can be a time for a couple of creatures that are determined to make certain plants look untidy.

 

Sawfly larvae love to feed on Solomons Seal polygonatum x hybridum. They start by making holes in the leaves but can strip a plant to bear stalks and untidy veins in no time. Check beneath the leaves and pick off any caterpillar like creatures. A pyrethrum based insecticide will also work to control sawfly.

 

The leafcutter bee is more a friend than a foe even though they can make you rose leaves look like they have been chewed around the edges. Circles of leaf are cut from leaves and carted away to form cocoons to surround eggs. Damage to plants is unlikely to kill the plant. These bees are great pollinators and are worth leaving alone to get on with being part of your gardens ecology.

Flea beetles can speckle rocket and brassica leaves and leave holes of different sizes. In the main the leaves are still edible and as the insects are so small it is hard to spot them. You can grow under fleece if the problem is severe.

Definition of a Weed

Definition of a Weed

Dandelion

Dandelion – Weed or Plant of beauty?

 

Some definitions of a Weed

  • A weed is a plant that you don’t want to have in the garden.
  • Alternatively a weed is any plant in the wrong place.
  • What is a weed to one is a prize plant to another. Many ornamental UK plants are a weed in their natural habitat.
  • A weed is a plant that lives whilst other plants die.
  • A weed invades, reproduces, survives and frustrates a gardener.

The question is, what kind of plants fall into the weed  category? As gardeners we sometimes fall into the trap of aiming for perfection and feel guilty about a dandelion growing in the herbaceous border. However, a dandelion has a certain natural beauty. Even its seed heads are beautiful. The problem is we have been conditioned to think that the dandelion is a ‘weed’ and therefore needs to be always removed. Sometimes it is a matter of changing our perspective. Rather than feel guilty about the dandelions in the grass, why not appreciate its simple beauty?

There are many ‘so called weeds’ which actually are quite attractive – eg Daisy’s, Poppy’s, Thistles

This does not mean we want dandelions everywhere, but, we can learn to be more tolerant of plants often considered as weeds

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Help Growing Spinach

Help Growing Spinach

You don’t need to have muscles like Popeye to grow spinach. It is a simple leafy vegetable that is undemanding if given the right conditions.

  • It is a long day plant initiating flowering as days lengthen.
  • Good moist conditions give rapid growth and a quick harvest before running to seed.
  • Sowing after mid summer reduces bolting.
  • Bolt resistant varieties include Monnopa, Spokanr and Palco.

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Spinach Problems

  • Blight caused by cucumber mosaic virus causes leaf yellowing. burn the plants.
  • Leaf spot causes light brown or grey areas to develop. Chose a new site each year and feed wth potassium sulphate.
  • Downy mildew can by a minor irritants. Thin out the rows and remove infected leaves.

 

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Millipede & Centipede Problems

Millipede & Centipede Problems

From our latest selection of garden pests some of the least voracious are the Millipede & Centipede families.

Millipedes have long bodies with many segments with two pairs of legs to each segment. They are black, dark brown or creamy white with red spots on the underside  with short antennae.

Centipedes are brown or pale yellow with relatively long antennae and only one pair of legs per body segment.

Diet & Control

  • Centipedes feed mainly on insects both good and bad from a gardeners point of view.
  • Millipedes feed on dead plant material but can damage seedlings or exploit damage caused by other pests
  • Spotted snake millipedes exploits slug damage on potatoes, bean seeds and fungi.
  • There is no chemical control
  • Keep seedlings well watered and growing strongly through vulnerable periods.
  • Do not add to compost heaps any infested soil.