Garden Answers Mini-Mag

Look out for beetles
While some beetles, especially
ladybirds and various ground
beetles will eat a range of insect
pests, others are more of a problem.
These are the big three nuisance
beetles to look out for.
Vine weevil
1 While the
nocturnal adult
beetles eat ‘mouthshaped’
notches
from the edges of
many plants, the rooteating,
C-shaped, creamy-white
grubs cause most damage.
2Lily beetle
The red adult lily
beetle may look
attractive, but it and
its grubs can strip
leaves and flower
buds from a plant in
just a few days. Check
leaf undersides for adults,
grubs and clusters of orange eggs.
3Viburnum beetle
Viburnum beetle
grubs start attacking
this month, making
holes and leaving
leaves looking
like lace doilies.
Viburnum tinus
and V. opulus are
their favourites.
A well-planted pond
is a boon for wildlife
STOCK UP PONDS & WATER FEATURES
Now is an ideal time to
restock ponds and water
features with new plants.
Try to grow a selection of
marginal plants at the
edge to create some shade
and provide protection for
wildlife. For best results,
add waterlilies and other
floating aquatics to cover
at least one-third of the
surface to keep water cool
and prevent algae.
l Dwarf waterlilies will
spread 30-60cm (1-2ft), so
they’re perfect for small
ponds or even barrels
30-45cm (12-18in) deep
l Medium waterlilies
reach 60-120cm (2-4ft) at
a depth of 45- 75cm
(18-30in)
l Vigorous waterlilies up
to 2.4m (8ft), need a depth
of 75-120cm (2½-4ft)
to grow and flower well.
You can feed established
plants by inserting aquatic
slow-release fertiliser
tablets into the planting
basket compost.
With a new pond, wait
three weeks after filling
and planting before adding
any fish. If it’s to be a
wildlife pond, don’t add
fish at all as they’ll eat any
frogspawn and so upset
the natural balance.
Geoff says: “Unless you need tall
plants, pinch out the leading shoots on
young seedlings of chrysanthemum,
cosmos, fuchsia and helianthus plants,
to encourage really bushy growth.”
Deal with diseases
Some of our favourite flowering
plants can suffer from crippling
fungal diseases, such as powdery
mildew, rust and rose blackspot.
✿ Grow plants as strongly as
possible, so they’re better able to
fight off disease in the first place.
✿ Water them well and use highpotash
feeds that encourage more
flowers and toughen up growth.
✿ Protect susceptible plants with a
chemical fungicide. It’s more
effective to use fungicides to
prevent disease than as a cure.
Toughen up plants in a coldframe
Young plants benefit from hardening off (acclimatising to
colder outdoor conditions) before planting outside. Otherwise,
they can suffer a severe shock, due to the wide deviation in
conditions and temperatures, and fail to establish well – or die.
1. Start by moving plants into a closed cold frame for 4-5 days.
2. Open the frame in daytime but close it at night for 4-5 days.
3. Open the frame day and night, but cover plants with
horticultural fleece for 4-5 days.
4. Finally expose plants unprotected to external conditions.
l See page 75 for more advice on moving plants outdoors