Garden Pests And Diseases
How do I choose pest and disease-resistant perennials?
I suggest that you consult a good book, like "The Well-Tended Perennial Garden", and read which cultivars are resistant to pests . For example , there can up to twenty or more phlox that are resistant to mildew . There is no point in buying a border phlox that would be susceptible to powdery mildew, when you can have a wide selection and various colors that are now resistant.
How do I choose healthy garden plants?
We want to look for plants that look vigorous, and that's something you can tell from basically looking at the plant. No brown leaves, rotten stems, yellowing leaves, a lot of dead heads or dead flowers on the plant would be things to look for.
How can I prevent pest problems in my garden?
Sometimes when we have a monoculture, we'll get a pest that will come in and will just proliferate because it's species specific. For example, there's a pest known as a black blister beetle that will only feed on clematis, some asters, and so forth. So if the entire garden was comprised of that, this pest would pretty much decimate it. So having a nice, diverse cross section prevents destruction as a whole in the garden
What are beneficial garden insects?
There are certain beneficials such as the ladybugs, and there's also a beneficial parasitic wasp. Most of these feed on soft-bodied insects that are sucking insects. Many of the members of the umbelliferae family, which is now the apiaceous family, which are all the umbelliform plants, fennels, and angelicas will attract these beneficial parasitic wasps.
Which plants bring beneficial insects to my garden?
Members of the umbellifereae, or apiaceae, it's called now, family. That would be dill, fennel, angelicas; they attract a beneficial parasitic wasp that feeds on soft bodied insects like aphids and spider mites, which are some of our worst sucking insects in the garden.
How do I identify a pest problem in my garden?
You need to look closely at the leaves and the damage that is occurring. Are there holes? Is there stippling? Some of the suckling insects like the four line plant bug will cause a stippling, and they are a major problem now on many of the herbaceous plants. Holes can be caused by Japanese beetles or grasshoppers, which are very common in the garden, or a variety of other pests, so you need to look at the leaves and see what type of damage is occurring. You might also want to refer to a good pest book or go to your cooperative extension agent. Hopefully you've isolated the pest and have it in a little baggie dying, and you could bring that in with you.
How do I maintain healthy plants?
It's good to have a high organic matter soil, which keeps the plants growing stress-free. It's important to have the right plant in the right place. You hear this a lot from gardening experts, but we need to select the proper plant for the right location so that it will be stress-free and lower maintenance. We also need to look at proper care, that we're not watering late in the evening to promote disease and insect problems. Improving the air circulation around plants by either thinning the perennials or planting them away from a wall or a hedge will increase the air circulation and decrease disease.
How do I help an ailing plant?
Should I use chemical pesticides in my garden?
I'd like to say never, if at all possible. I have a theory that if a plant continues to have problems with either pests or disease, I give it three tries and then it's asked to leave the gardens. So there are so many diseases, and insect resistant plants that can be used in the garden, and I really would like to see homeowners shy away from the use of chemicals if at all possible.
Can chipmunks and squirrels cause damage to my garden?
Absolutely. Yes. They dig holes and they can cause problems at the root level. Sometimes they'll break plants. They can do quite a bit of damage. Many of the small rodents will also cause serious damage to your garden. I mean rabbits are horrible in a garden, and will do some major destructive damage. Raccoons are my nemesis. They can really cause some problems, because they like to come in right after you've planted some trees or plants and they will dig the entire plant out, and leave it on the soil. They will leave the plant on the soil as they're searching in the soil for any organics that you use. I will sometimes use corn gluten as a pre-emergent or as a way to prevent weed seed from growing and raccoons love it.
How do I keep small rodents and critters out of my garden?
What I like to do for small rodents, and actually you'll see this done at many of the public gardens, is utilize cats. We bring cats into the garden and they really help with small rodent control. The other thing is, for the larger rodents like deer, some of the latest research is showing that the scent of a dog around the garden will help deter deer. So, we use animals to combat animals.
