Pests, infections, disease, cultivation and growing problems
Sugar snap and mangetout can escape pea moth caterpillars when they are eaten small. White maggots feed inside the pods so damage is only spotted at harvest. Pea moths Cydia nigricana attack legumes including garden peas, sweet peas and vetch.
Pea weevil Sitona lineatus eat the edges of leaves and cause havoc with seedlings. If necessary a bug spray may be effective
Pigeons can destroy a crop and if they are a problem netting is the answer.
Ulex europaeus better known as Gorse, furze, furse or whin is a very prickly shrub of the pea family. Western gorse Ulex gallii is frequent in the western side of Britain and is relatively low growing yet robust. Dwarf gorse or Ulex minor is a low growing, sprawling shrub.
Read about other Prickly Shrubs
Many common weeds found in lawns and grass are appealing wild flowers. They look best in a meadow setting and not in a manicured lawn.
Lawn with stripes nor weeds
Dandelions produce prodigious amounts of fertile seed that seems to germinate well amongst grass in the lawn.
Their deep tap roots need to be fully removed or killed to prevent a reinfestation of Dandelions. They can be spot weeded by hand or by using a spot-touch weed killer.
The common Daisy is a low growing weed that hugs the ground too smother the grass. They can develop large colonies and are often left untreated as they ‘look pretty’ and can make daisy chains.
Clover has tight heads of pink, yellow or white flowers with shamrock shaped leaves (Why sham rocks and not real ones?). It thrives in poor soil and runners can be intrusive. Feed the lawn and mow regularly and treat with selective weed killer if these treatments do not work. (pick the four leaved clover for luck!)
Plantains (bottom left)have large leaves that compete for soil nutrients depriving the grass.
Buttercups stunt neighbouring plants and creeps quickly over a lawn. There was not much stunting going on in this picture.
Most Common Weeds
Uncommon Weeds
Weed control of Avens
Horsetail and Mares-tail
Why war with weeds
Credits
Four-leaf Clover by dalcrose CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Buttercups by R~P~M CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
A sea of Dandelions
It is the time of the year where dandelions are popping up everywhere. This shot of Dandelion flowers is quite attractive (taken by Oxford Castle Mound). But, in the border and lawn dandelion is classed as a weed. In particular dandelion leaves will smoother the grass and make it weaker in the long term.
It is a tough weed, but definitely beatable.
For a small number of dandelions, I do recommend digging out the tap root with a trowel or custom weed trowel. The secret is to try and get as much of the root as possible. In practise, it is hard to get everything. But, it means that when it regenerates from a small bit of root, it will much easier to finish off with weed killer.
It is best to dig dandelions when the soil is dry as this makes it easier to shake off the soil surrounding the dandelion root.
If you don’t have time or energy to dig up dandelions, you can resort to a weedkiller which is designed for broad leaf weeds. You can either spray or paint it directly on to the leaves. It may need 2 to 3 treatments to finally kill them off.
Now is a good time to act, as if you let them go to seed, it will be just storing up more work for the future.
Dandelions aren’t the end of the world. This makes quite an attractive picture.
Another option is just enjoy the flowers and pick the leaves and flowers for salads. If you are really keen, you could roast the dandelion root to make a healthy organic dandelion coffee.
Related
Weedkiller for Dandelion
Roundup Weedkiller concentrate. Good for large areas which need treating at Amazon.
Related Posts
Unfortunately, my lawn has a lot of moss (if you look closely) this is because I’ve gone for the ‘wildlife effect’ i.e. too lazy to mow the lawn.
Moss is a signal of a lawn with problems. To control the moss, it is important to tackle the underlying causes of moss.
Basically, moss thrives where grass struggles to grow. The best way to prevent excess moss growth is to provide conditions for strong grass growth. This involves.
If gardeners have left wet leather gloves or shoes in a mild garage since summer they may now be covered in a white dusty substance that is powdery mildew. Powdery Mildew can affect many garden plants and it is especially vexatious on Gooseberries, Roses and Peas. The greying of leaves leads to yellowing, distortion and falling, it is unsightly and damages crops.
For help understanding mildew read these tips.
Stress through dryness at the roots can make plants vulnerable. Water well in dry spells. Do not plant too close to dry walls or in a rain shadow. Add a water retaining mulch.
General maintenance issues bin any fallen or damaged leaves. Well fed plants will have more resistance to disease, apply Growmore or Blood, Fish and Bone at the start of the growing season. Select varieties that are less prone to mildew like Klevedon Wonder Peas or Cascade Brussels. Do not encourage sappy growth with too much nitrogen based fertilizer.
Good air circulation will restrict mildew so prune or thin out branches to create an open framework. Damp humid conditions also favour mildew so water the roots not the leaves. Mildew is spread by spores so do not shake infected material.
If all else fails there are proprietary fungicides and sprays including organic Fish oil blend or Sulphur powder which can help particularly on roses. Powdery mildews spend the winter as dormant infections resting structures or leaves which then release spores the following spring.
Oh and if your boots have mildew you are not doing enough gardening.
Avoidance is better than cure read tips to avoid mildew.
Following my summer post Fine and Fantastic Fruiting Fungus I have been out in the local woods seeking these new pictures.
Solve the problem of seedlings ‘damping off’ by watering your compost before sowing seeds with Cheshunts Compound a soluble fungicide. Damping Off is a fungal disease that attacks seedlings causing them to suddenly wilt, keel over and die. Damping Off is a particular problem when sowing seed indoors or under glass.
Damping Off can affect most seedlings, particularly under levels of high humidity, poor air circulation, low light and temperature that makes seedlings grow slowly and if seed is sown to thick.
* Raise seedlings in commercial growing compost, which is usually free of the key fungi.
* Ideally, use new pots and trays whenever raising seedlings. If they must be re-used, wash them thoroughly and treat them with a disinfectant such as Jeyes Fluid.
* Never reuse pots and trays in which damping off has been a problem.
* Sow seedlings thinly to avoid crowding.
* Use mains water when irrigating seedlings grown in pots and trays. If using rainwater, ensure that the water butt is covered to prevent the entry of leaves and other organic debris that could harbour some of the damping off fungi.
* Keep seedlings well ventilated to reduce humidity. Do not over-water.
* Can be used on all seedlings whether edible or non-edible.
* Easy to use, dilute and water the solution onto compost before sowing and repeat after the emergence of the seedlings.
* For transplanting, water seedlings with the solution before and after the transplanting.
* Suitable for organic gardening.
* Cheshunts Compound uses inorganic salts copper sulphate and ammonium carbonate so it is the same type of copper-based fungicide as Bordeaux mixture.
Available from Thompson Morgan
See also Verticillium Wilt
One weed that some gardeners wish they were able to grow – well then can but not always legally.
A form of grass that if you water it with neat whiskey it comes up half cut!
Cannabis the easier name to spell than Marijuana is typically considered to be one of two species Cannabis indica and Cannabis sativa.
Skunk and not Skunk cabbage but with an aroma to be sniffed at.
Humidity, temperature and ventilation are all vital to getting your grow right.
Hash is concentrated resin produced from the flowers of the female cannabis plant or hash is the mess I make of sowing very small seeds.
Marijuana Grower’s Handbook is a perennial favourite on marijuana cultivation. Ed Rosenthal’s popular marijuana advice column and helpful web links are included as Rosenthal delivers all the basics needed for a novice plus advanced research useful to the more experienced grower. Buy from Amazon
Get a Joint to easy your joints or call it a spliff, bone, nail or, when smoked down to the end, a roach.