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jane.baird9jane.baird9 Posts: 2
in Wildlife gardening
No slug or snail damage to plants, especially the hostas, this year. No blackfly or whitefly, no aphids, either. I haven't used as much as one squirt of pesticide this year. Ladybirds, butterflies, hedgehogs, bees, wasps, hundreds of earthworms, birds (oh boy, have there been birds!) moths, tiny damsel flies, even, I think, a bat or two attend the garden, but barely a sign of garden pests, the tomatoes, apples, quince, plums and herbs have been healthy from seed to leaf and fruit. As stated, I haven't used any pesticides at all this year, so how have I escaped all the usual pests in my 20' by 30' garden?

Posts

  • fidgetbonesfidgetbones Derbyshire but with a Nottinghamshire postcode. Posts: 16,470
    Birds and other predators will take a lot of pests and form a natural balance. If you spray, you remove their food so they go elsewhere to look for it.  Strong   plants will resist pests and diseases better than overfed sappy plants.
  • jane.baird9jane.baird9 Posts: 2
    A few minutes late with their dinner last Friday fidgetbones
  • LoxleyLoxley NottinghamPosts: 4,976
    Nice to see starlings! They seem to be much less common these days.
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Central Norfolk UKPosts: 82,259
    We love our starling family ... the senior male serenades us with trills and whistles when we’re in the bathroom in the morning 😊 
    “I am not lost, for I know where I am. But however, where I am may be lost.” Winnie the Pooh







  • purplerallimpurplerallim LincolnshirePosts: 4,633
    My dawn chorus in the bathroom are jackdaws🙂 @Dovefromabove , but then breakfast in the conservatory is serenaded by the new male robin, this years youngster just started singing this week, as well as the sparrow cheeps.😁
  • fidgetbonesfidgetbones Derbyshire but with a Nottinghamshire postcode. Posts: 16,470
    I have a robin who loves live mealworms. Between him and a blackbird they got through a couple of kilos this year.  There is a country wide shortage apparently, so I kept some back and currently have a mealworm farm started in the garage. First four trays have oatbran and quaker oats in and is sort of moving. The mealworms are too small for my old eyes to see yet. The robin is having to put up with brandlings out of the compost heap at the moment.  The blackbirds are eating blackberries and raspberries, and have started on the apples. I hope the mealworms will be big enough to feed around the start of November.
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