Getting bank holiday busy
Ruth draws up a (long) list of jobs for the long weekend
AS the last three-day holiday before Christmas hoves into view, I’ve been making a list of things that I really need to get to grips with in the garden. There are quite a few as I’ve spent the last few weeks simply enjoying the garden, and it has all started to run slightly amok.
As well as the weeding and general maintenance, the shed looks like a tornado has whirled through it after a busy summer and tools need sharpening and cleaning in readiness for autumn’s pruning and clearance.
A substantial proportion of this weekend will be spent tidying beds and dealing with pests. On the whole we have so far had a healthy year: the worst of the blackfly, found on an apple tree and among the bean plants, have been contained either by rubbing them off by hand or blasted with an organic spray.
We have also had our best year yet for hoverflies and I’ve seen a good number of ladybirds, the larvae of both of which will feast on aphids.
Similarly, the gooseberries remained untouched by sawfly but our poor early brassicas have been to cabbage white butterflies and their caterpillars what an over-friendly class of seven-year-olds is to headlice: an open opportunity.
It is our fault for not netting quickly enough and because we have several plants I am loathe to use a spray so have spent many hours brushing off the bright yellow eggs and tiny caterpillars from the plants.
It needs to be done every day and the task carries a grim satisfaction, but the lesson has been learned. Next year the nets go up at planting time!
The only other main infestation was on one of my more treasured houseplants. It started to look rather pale and sad and on closer inspection was covered in thin webbing on which a host of tiny creatures were scurrying.
They were glasshouse red spider mites (they are a horrible creamygrey, not red), a common problem in homes and greenhouses where the atmosphere is warm and dry. Sapsuckers, the mites weaken the plants and severe infestations will cause mottling on the leaves.
I wiped the leaves clean and sprayed them with houseplant insecticide before standing the pot on damp gravel. This raises humidity around the plant and as glasshouse spider mites hate ‘wet feet’, will hopefully cure the problem.