Pests and diseases

Ants – they’re the bane of peoples’ lives during the warmer months! As the mercury rises each spring, their characteristic hollowing-out of gaps in between paving slabs around the house and on terraces begins in earnest. Even the smallest crack in hard standings can quickly become an eyesore as ...
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Does your town – or even your garden – have the most slugs in the country? Is it a slime hot spot? And maybe, hiding under one of your garden pots, you’ll find the country’s BIGGEST slug, lurking in the shadows. During Slug Week (5-11 April 2021), families everywhere will be ...
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The days are growing longer, the soil and air temperatures are moving up and the pests in the veg garden and orchard are positioning themselves ready to attack – but help is at hand against a wide variety of these munching monsters. The nematode based, Nemasys Biological Fruit and Veg ...
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An army of microscopic worms has won a major gardening award, thanks to the rapidly expanding army of ‘grow your own’ enthusiasts. Late last year the readers of the esteemed allotment and kitchen garden enthusiasts’ magazine Grow Your Own voted Nemaslug as the pest control product of the year. ...
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Have you seen the box tree moth in your garden? This new pest first arrived on our shores in 2007 and is spreading north at an alarming rate, leaving trails of defoliated ornamental hedging in its wake. BASF and GreenGardener.co.uk are looking for gardeners around the UK to test ...
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In the majestic forests of Wales, an army of microscopic worms is engaged in a battle to save the trees from a very determined pest. It is all part of a master plan by Natural Resources Wales to find non-chemical solutions to solve its pest problems. Despite its name, the large pine weevil ...
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Unexpected yellow patches on garden lawns, magpies, crows and other corvids regularly pecking at the same spot and the grass being rotovated at night is an almost certain sign of chafer grubs or leatherjackets. And the time to treat them is now. The creamy coloured garden chafer grubs are about ...
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Following a poll on Twitter*, in which 40% of people had seen more slugs in their gardens, and a particularly soggy weather forecast for most of the United Kingdom over the next week, the Royal Horticultural Society is warning of a slugfestation this month .** BASF breeds microscopic worms known ...
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Most people are not aware of how to get rid of leatherjackets or even realise how they can affect their lawn. A Daddy Longlegs in full flight is annoying enough. But did you know that the grubs of this perennial pest, known as Leatherjackets, can destroy massive areas of grass? The trouble ...
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Ants love the hot summer weather as much as we do. Unfortunately, they can stop us from enjoying our gardens. “You need to take action now before they start biting and building more nests in your garden and lawn,” says Jon Manners at greengardener.co.uk, one of the leading distributors of ...
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The greenhouse at this time of year is at its most productive – and most vulnerable from pest attack. As the tomato plants ripen and aubergines and peppers come into flower, the pests will be queueing up for their share of the goodies -- and in damp corners and under pots beware the slimy trail of ...
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Finally, it’s official. After decades of sprinkling crushed eggshells around our precious plants, encircling them with copper wire or peppering flower beds with pine mulch, there is now proof positive that these are all lousy methods of deterring slugs and snails. A new short video shows ...
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