muntjac are a pest, but I have found human hair a good deterrent. My local hairdresser gives me a good bag, unwashed hair is best,, more human fragrance, and I give her a good bag of garden produce in exchange.
muntjac are similar to slugs for the gardeners, do they have any good points? I suppose slugs are food for frogs and toads and maybe foxes, the latter getting bolder and more pongy by the season
I have used both Provado and nematodes against vine weevil.Both work but the Provado has the edge I'm afraid.I generally only use it in the Autumn when a lot of my flowers are not out so bees not affected.In the spring most Heucheras etc are re-potted and I can check for the weevil grubs then. Nematodes are expensive especially if you only have a few pots,there is only a small window in which you can use them and you have to take into account soil temperature and keep them moist for 2 weeks at least. With Provado I know the plants targeted. I also grow Sedums and other succulents which do not take kindly to wet soil.
“Every day is ordinary, until it isn't.” - Bernard Cornwell-Death of Kings
With heucheras, I've started potting young plants into my native clay soil which seems to have reduced the problem massively. As that's what they'll end up growing in, I thought it would be worth a try (the ones in the ground are never affected.) I also noticed the huge numbers of pollinators which visit the flowers so thought better safe than sorry when it came to the use of provado VWK so stopped using it. Had good results with nematodes but they are a lot more expensive than soil from the garden!
A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
I'm sorry to disillusion anyone, but spraying Provado when the flowers aren't out won't really make any difference ... neonicotinoids work by making the whole plant toxic to insects so, when the flowers on the plant do come out, whether it's this year or next, the pollen in those flowers will be toxic to the pollinators
I don't believe there is any safe way to use neonicotinoids ... even when used at very low doses it causes damage to the insects' nervous systems.
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Good word spin joke, well done..
muntjac are a pest, but I have found human hair a good deterrent. My local hairdresser gives me a good bag, unwashed hair is best,, more human fragrance, and I give her a good bag of garden produce in exchange.
muntjac are similar to slugs for the gardeners, do they have any good points? I suppose slugs are food for frogs and toads and maybe foxes, the latter getting bolder and more pongy by the season
hope it gets through
please could GW produce a beetle poster?
beetles are fast becoming scarcer and us gardeners know there are good beetles and bad beetles.
is there anything in the pipeline?
Nematodes are expensive especially if you only have a few pots,there is only a small window in which you can use them and you have to take into account soil temperature and keep them moist for 2 weeks at least.
With Provado I know the plants targeted.
I also grow Sedums and other succulents which do not take kindly to wet soil.
I don't believe there is any safe way to use neonicotinoids ... even when used at very low doses it causes damage to the insects' nervous systems.
It's explained here http://www.pan-uk.org/about_neonicotinoids/
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
dear Gw
is there going to be a beetle Identification chart published by your magazine.
many beetles in my garden
and this https://www.gardenersworld.com/plants/garden-wildlife-identifier-wasps/
and this https://www.gardenersworld.com/plants/five-habitats-to-make-for-beetles/
and mustn't forget this https://www.gardenersworld.com/plants/five-habitats-to-make-for-beetles/
and there's a Wildlife ID section for regular subscribers in the Secret Garden section of the website.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Thank you