July Tips
JULY 2011
NOW IS THE TIME TO……..
…..THIN OUT OVERLADEN FRUIT from apple, pear and plum trees. The cold winter encouraged the trees to produce large quantities of fruit which, if left, will be of poor quality, size and flavour.
Leave a maximum of two apples or pears in each cluster. If you have the patience you can chop the fruit and use them to make chutney. They will also make good compost!
……LOOK OUT FOR PESTS.
Lily beetles (bright red beetles), vine weevils (pictured below), which eat notches out of the edges of leaves and aphids (blackfly and greenfly) are multiplying in the warm summer weather. Inspect your plants often and crush or otherwise dispose of any pests to stop their numbers increasing.
Vine weevil larvae, cream c shaped creatures live in the compost in pots. They eat plant roots, causing the plant to die suddenly. If just one plant is affected, you can crush the larvae or spread out the compost for the blackbirds to peck through. If there are many, the easiest course of action is to water the plants once only with Nematodes which you buy can in powder form.
Tender plants such as tomatoes, cucumbers and Dahlias, which would be happier in warmer climes, have suffered stress in the changeable weather, making them more susceptible to attack by pests such as greenfly. Look for white specks on leaves or on the soil or compost, which means that greenfly are around.
Plant single open flowers, which will encourage hoverflies. These small emaciated wasp-like creatures, along with many other insects, will eat the aphids, as will ladybirds and their larvae.
A garlic spray (available commercially, or made by boiling 2 cloves of garlic in a pint of water and diluting for use when cold) is said to increase a plant’s resistance to pests and deter them.
…… LOOK CRITICALLY AT ANY PLANTS which aren’t in peak condition as you walk around your flower borders. Cut back any plants which are past their best and deadhead flowers often to keep the garden looking good.
wjn 2011
