Wealden Times | WT226 | March 2021 | Interiors supplement inside

Garden
British Adalia bipunctata ladybirds are
voracious predators of aphids. They arrive
in by 1 st Class post (with food included)
and can be released into the garden to
make short work of greenfly and blackfly
and sends them packing, in the same way that garlic cloves grown
amongst your beans outdoors repel blackfly. French marigolds grown
with your tomato plants in the greenhouse have the same effect.
And save old pieces of soap. These you can boil up and dilute
three teaspoons to a gallon of water and then spray against
both aphids and ants. If you have a penchant for perfumed
and more expensive soaps, the fragrance somehow prevents
the mix from sticking to the ‘target’ so add a squirt or two
of Fairy Liquid to your mix and this should do the trick.
Another of Green Gardener’s best sellers are the adult
British Adalia bipunctata ladybirds. They are voracious
predators of aphids. They arrive in by 1 st Class post (with food
included) and can be released into the garden to make short
work of greenfly and blackfly. You can also order ladybird
larvae which eat aphids both whilst in larvae form and after
they pupate and emerge as fully fledged ladybirds. They arrive
with ‘release bags’ which can be tied to whichever plant you
remember being prone to aphid attack. I think that this would
be fun for children to get involved in, let alone us adults.
And finally, the scale insect is a really annoying pest and
unfortunately there are 25 different species in the UK. They have
a different host and a life cycle specific to their species. They feed
by sucking sap from their host and obviously this weakens the
plant considerably. They excrete a sticky honeydew (which in turn
attracts ants) which leads to sooty mould disfiguring the plant.
We’ve certainly had it on potted camellias and a friend now has
it on his citrus plants. They can be controlled by applying Scale
Nematodes as long as the temperature has risen to at least 60˚F.
Another idea would be to turn to Neem Oil. This is produced
from the seeds of a South Asian tree in the Meliaceae family
known as Azadirachta indica (Indian lilac). In the days of travel,
I remember these impressive ‘shade’ trees particularly, both
growing in Southern India and Myanmar. The locals would
use neem twigs to clean their teeth with. One hundred and
forty different compounds have been found in parts of the tree
and have been used in traditional medicine for centuries. The
seeds though are first dried, then crushed and soaked and made
into an oil which contains a concentrated compound called
Azadirachin. And as well as being used in cosmetics, the oil can
be used as a pesticide against scale insect. What a shame the
tree can’t be grown in this country – well, as far as I know.
Sue Whigham can be contacted on 07810 457948
for gardening advice and help in the sourcing
and supply of interesting garden plants.
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