Very interesting post. Aphids tend to be my biggest pests, so encouraging ladybirds and hoverflies with companion flowers really helps. Marigolds and sweet alyssum work well for me.
Fantastic article, thank you for sharing. Such wonderful insight! As a Tuscan Kale lover I have been long frustrated by cabbage worms despite how lovely the cabbage whites look flying around my garden it wasn’t worth the gaping holes in my Kale leaves. More recently rats started eating my Kale plants down to a nub. So I bought a mitre saw and set to building up from the wooden bed base, adding two layers of protection including; hardware cloth to stop the rats, and insect netting to stop the cabbage whites from laying eggs. It’s my first year with the new construct and things are going very well so far. I’m going to adopt your ladybird strategy by planting some friendlies, just to make sure aphids don’t find their way through my protections. Thanks again!
Great article! I did not know there are over 7000 wasps they are an undeservedly maligned group of mini beasts! And I love that moth, your posts are making me want to find some time to learn moth trapping I would love to know more about the moths on our holding! 🤩
Excellent. My evidenced backed recommendation to clients to not use wood raised beds is a hard sell. Aesthetics is the strongest impediment.
Wasps 100%. I encourage them by leaving some old meat hanging near by. When I ran my farm, getting stung once or twice a season was worth not losing thousands of dollars in green house crops or lose time economy dealing with aphids. Also, sweet alyssum with its hover flies make a huge difference.
Thank you for these. My nemesis is ants farming aphids on lots of my plants. There are a lot of ants and ipso facto a lot of aphids so the plants struggle. Any tips would be gratefully accepted!
That's not something I've experienced, so I'm not really sure... maybe encourage ladybirds which would eat the aphids, then the ants would go somewhere else?
Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and experience! All this information is so helpful! I know it's a lot of work to write it all down! Thank you!!!
Awesome tips! I have a similar article, with completely different tips in the wings. I may be sending it through this Sunday, and if not, sometime soon, :)
Indeed, the best strategy is to encourage wildlife...
(But I have to admit, after 25 years of gardening, and having created a large garden teeming with wildlife between the sterile lawns of the neighbours, we decided to fence our garden - much against my principles - because the deer from a nearby forest had discovered that our garden provided all kind of delicious things, much better than pine needles...)
Very interesting post. Aphids tend to be my biggest pests, so encouraging ladybirds and hoverflies with companion flowers really helps. Marigolds and sweet alyssum work well for me.
Absolutely wonderful article with such useful tips in line with my gardening morals. Thankyou! I'll be digging a pond then!
Thanks so much for your comment! I'm glad you found it helpful.
Fantastic article, thank you for sharing. Such wonderful insight! As a Tuscan Kale lover I have been long frustrated by cabbage worms despite how lovely the cabbage whites look flying around my garden it wasn’t worth the gaping holes in my Kale leaves. More recently rats started eating my Kale plants down to a nub. So I bought a mitre saw and set to building up from the wooden bed base, adding two layers of protection including; hardware cloth to stop the rats, and insect netting to stop the cabbage whites from laying eggs. It’s my first year with the new construct and things are going very well so far. I’m going to adopt your ladybird strategy by planting some friendlies, just to make sure aphids don’t find their way through my protections. Thanks again!
Thanks for reading! Good luck with your anti-rat contraption 😀
Great article! I did not know there are over 7000 wasps they are an undeservedly maligned group of mini beasts! And I love that moth, your posts are making me want to find some time to learn moth trapping I would love to know more about the moths on our holding! 🤩
Wasps are so underappreciated, as are moths! I bet you have loads around.
The crushed eggshell moat is genius!!!
One of the side-effects of having chickens is I have a lot of eggshells, so it's good to find uses for them!
Brilliant, thanks. :)
Thanks for reading!
Excellent. My evidenced backed recommendation to clients to not use wood raised beds is a hard sell. Aesthetics is the strongest impediment.
Wasps 100%. I encourage them by leaving some old meat hanging near by. When I ran my farm, getting stung once or twice a season was worth not losing thousands of dollars in green house crops or lose time economy dealing with aphids. Also, sweet alyssum with its hover flies make a huge difference.
The wooden edges did look pretty, but I'd rather not have the slugs! Wasps are great, aren't they, and so underappreciated.
Thank you for these. My nemesis is ants farming aphids on lots of my plants. There are a lot of ants and ipso facto a lot of aphids so the plants struggle. Any tips would be gratefully accepted!
That's not something I've experienced, so I'm not really sure... maybe encourage ladybirds which would eat the aphids, then the ants would go somewhere else?
Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and experience! All this information is so helpful! I know it's a lot of work to write it all down! Thank you!!!
Thanks for your comment. It's one of those posts that had been floating around in my head for a while so it's good to get it all out!
Awesome tips! I have a similar article, with completely different tips in the wings. I may be sending it through this Sunday, and if not, sometime soon, :)
Great article!
Indeed, the best strategy is to encourage wildlife...
(But I have to admit, after 25 years of gardening, and having created a large garden teeming with wildlife between the sterile lawns of the neighbours, we decided to fence our garden - much against my principles - because the deer from a nearby forest had discovered that our garden provided all kind of delicious things, much better than pine needles...)
I'm sure I'd make the same decision there too. I'm lucky to not have to deal with any large pests like those!
Great article! 👏👏🐝🐝 the wasp part was my favourite 🧡
Thank you! Nature is just amazing, isn't it 💚
💯🙋♀️