A tips and advice page for a healthy garden. Have a question you need answered? Contact the Garden Doctor with your message.
Symptom: Aphids are those nasty little sap sucking ratbags that attack all sorts of plants and love fresh new growth. They are especially active on Roses, but also watch for them on Maples, Camellias, Pittosporums and Photinias.
Treatment: Mostly they are green but can also be brown, black or even a reddish colour. Controlling them is easy and we find Eco-oil or Confidor the most effective. Ladybirds eat them too, so be nice to your Ladybirds.
Symptom: Have you got ants on your plants? Bet you’ve got scale sucking like mad on your prize possessions. Scale are limpet like creatures which attach themselves to leaves and stems and suck sap, a bit like mosquitoes suck our blood. They secrete a sticky substance which is attractive to ants and eventually goes mouldy, causing sooty mould.
Treatment: The ants aren’t a problem at all, they’ve only arrived for the sugary secretion. Yum. Spray the scale with Eco oil during the coolest part of the day, it’s 100% organic and safe for you and the planet. They can attack all sorts of plants, watch out for them especially on Gardenias, Citrus and Bay trees.
Symptom: Do your peaches, Nectarines or Almonds have disgusting bubbly leaves?
Treatment: Doesn’t it look scary? It’s called peach leaf curl, but don’t panic; pull the ugly leaves off, and lovely new ones will grow to replace them. Spray them two times a year with leaf curl spray. Once in early winter, when all the leaves have fallen off, and again in spring when the flower buds are showing signs of pink.
