W
hether you are a novice
gardener or a true green thumb, one
of the most frustrating aspects of
gardening is when your beautiful plants
become, well, not so beautiful. It might
be curling leaves, peculiar spots or an
infestation of creepy crawlers. As a
novice gardener, you may not even
know the name of the plant, let alone,
what's wrong with it. Even experienced
gardeners are often challenged in
knowing what to do to prevent or
control the problem. A few simple tasks
and keen observation will help you
keep pesky insects or disease at bay.
UP all of last years leaf
1. debris, CLEAN
cut old growth on perennials
down to about 4" and prune any
diseased or dying branches on shrubs
and trees. In doing proper spring clean
up, you are removing hiding spots for
overwintering insects and diseases.
IN VERY early spring,
2.
before plants leaf out,
you can eliminate insects
or spores that may have
overwintered with two
easy to use sprays.
Insects such as aphids,
leafhopper and scale can
be sprayed with
Horticultural Oil while
fungal spores (from
powdery mildew, black
spot) can be controlled
with Lime Sulphur spray.
These easy to use,
environmentally friendly
products act as an
effective clean up on all plants with
woody stems (not evergreens). Apply
before the leaves emerge and you will
be eliminating many insects and fungal
problems before they develop.
EARLY DETECTION is the key to
3.
easy insect and disease control. During
the growing season make it a habit
to look at the plants in your garden.
Leaves curling? Covered in white
powder or full of spots? Most of these
issues can simply be
pruned away. If
problems persist then
you can turn to
insecticides or
fungicides. Safers End All
is an environmentally
friendly spray that will
destroy both eggs and adult insects.
For fungal diseases an
extremely effective control
is Natria. This biological
insecticide munches at the
fungus so it does not
further infect the foliage.
Almost every garden has
insects, it's part of nature.
Before treating any pest it's
important to distinguish the good from
the bad. Even beneficial bugs, like the
ladybug, can look like a beast when
she is young. Greenland can help with
your diagnosis of pests or diseases
simply by visiting our website's ' What's
Bugging' section or bring a good
size sample in a sealed clear
bag and our experts can
guide you in the right
direction.