Kate Bradbury

tomato plant pests

Sounds like red spider mite, Gina. If you mist the plants daily to increase humidity, the spiders should move on. More information here

Kate

WASPS!!

Hi moonchild1984 and Urszula, wasps aren't as bad as many people make out, and very few people die from wasp stings. I got stung by wasps as a child and lived to tell the tale! Wasps are usefull allies in the garden - they eat caterpillars, flies and beetles, many of which are usually regarded as pests.

However there's a great product called the Waspinator, which you hang in your garden to deter wasps from entering. It looks like a wasp nest so, being territorial, wasps won't enter a garden if they think there is already a nest there, as they fear they'll be attacked.

Information on the Waspinator is here: http://www.waspinator.co.uk/

Kate

Vine Weevil

Hi Tracey, vine weevils do love strawberries! There's no guarantee the grubs won't eat the immature roots of your veg, but it might deter them (I've never heard of vine weevils eating carrots, parsnips and leeks). It's a good idea to lay a thick layer of gravel over the soil surface to prevent the adult beetle laying eggs in the compost, but I wouldn't recommend this when soing seed! Alternatively, you could use nematodes (http://bit.ly/HkZ1BA) to safely kill the vine weevil grubs. Apply this to your trough twice a year and you'll still be able to grow strawberries.

Hope this helps

Kate

Dispute

Hi Percy, as a compromise why don't you let the thistle flower but then cut the flower off before it seeds? Then you get to enjoy your thistle but it won't spread all over your garden.

Kate

Clearing a large area of Ground Elder

Hi Rose7, thick black plastic, cardboard or weed-supressant membrane (which can be expensive) for a year would probably do the job, though ground elder is quite difficult to eradicate. I'm interested to see that you're hoping to turn it into a wild area... ground elder and nettles are pretty wild already. Nettles in particular are fantastic for ladybirds, butterflies and moths, many of which are in decline. And ground elder has flat, umbel-type flowers, which are particularly suited to butterflies and hoverflies. So it might be worth saving time and effort and just leaving your wild patch, as it sounds like it is already a great wildlife habitat.

Kate

All year round Wall basket - drought resistant!

Hello NJJ272, it sounds like Mediterranean herbs are the perfect option for you. Does your wall get a lot of sun? First I would consider lining the baskets with an old plastic bag to conserve moisture in the compost (the coco matting liners should hide this). Add a few drainage holes so any excess water can drain. Then plant it up with lavender or rosemary. These plants thrive in dry, sunny conditions, so do well from a little neglect. The lavender will need deadheading and a bit of a prune to keep it in shape (many people do this after flowering, but I do so in spring, so the birds can eat the seedheads in autumn and winter), and you'll need to repot the plants every year or two, when they get rootbound. Lavender alone has attractive foliage, and of course lovely flowers in summer, and rosemary has pretty blue flowers in spring. From the size of your baskets I'd probably just go with lavender. You can have a mini, fragrant, bee-friendly hedge jsut outside your back door!

Hope this helps

Kate

Bluebells, Bluebells!!!

Hello April. It sounds like the area is pretty perfect as it is. What about adding some wild garlic, which traditionally grows with bluebells, and will provide ground cover from early spring to autumn.

Kate

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