Where Are The Garden Predators - Garden Pests are Winning
Posted by Rodger at 3 Jun 2011, 11:09 AM 
Categories: Garden Pests and Garden Pals
Tags: gardening aphids garden pests garden predators
Categories: Garden Pests and Garden Pals
Tags: gardening aphids garden pests garden predators
Where are my garden predators when I need them?
For many years now I have no sprayed insecticide on anything in my garden.
The only exception has been that for the last two years I have had to resort to spraying my Jacobs Ladders that were being decimated by grey caterpillars. Nothing seemed to predate them and there were just too many plants and caterpillars to o round removing manually.
The first two or three years were difficult but the no spray has worked well with the natural predators gradually overcoming the pests. However this spring it is different. I have never seen so many blackfly on my Achillea. I left it to nature to do its business but all that happened was that the infestations got heavier and more destructive. I used my early season trick of using the hosepipe to blast them off but they were back again in no time. The plants were suffering so badly that I felt I had no choice but to resort to the dreaded insecticide spray.
The spray has certainly improved the situation but they will have to have a second spray if the good guys don’t turn up soon.
So why haven’t the good guys turned up in their usual numbers to feast on my garden pests?
One reason could be the very harsh winter. Maybe it has killed off as many if not more of the garden pals as garden pests and the pals are just not breeding quickly enough to deal with the pests.
Or maybe the strange weather has something to do with it. We had an unseasonably hot April followed by a cold and wet May. Perhaps that unusual heat has caused an abnormal earlier than usual breeding of pests and the pals have been held back by the cold May.
Mother Nature has a way of sorting these things out and one pleasing sign is a ladybird now gorging on the blackfly on one of the Achillea. Just spotting this one ladybird means that the spray can will be hidden away at the back of the garden shed and hopefully forgotten about.
Incidentally, so far this year there is no sign of any caterpillars on the Jacobs Ladders. Perhaps the two year spraying regime has broken the cycle. I really hope so because I am always concerned that I may accidentally kill some of my pals while disposing of the pests.
For many years now I have no sprayed insecticide on anything in my garden.
The only exception has been that for the last two years I have had to resort to spraying my Jacobs Ladders that were being decimated by grey caterpillars. Nothing seemed to predate them and there were just too many plants and caterpillars to o round removing manually.
The first two or three years were difficult but the no spray has worked well with the natural predators gradually overcoming the pests. However this spring it is different. I have never seen so many blackfly on my Achillea. I left it to nature to do its business but all that happened was that the infestations got heavier and more destructive. I used my early season trick of using the hosepipe to blast them off but they were back again in no time. The plants were suffering so badly that I felt I had no choice but to resort to the dreaded insecticide spray.
The spray has certainly improved the situation but they will have to have a second spray if the good guys don’t turn up soon.
So why haven’t the good guys turned up in their usual numbers to feast on my garden pests?
One reason could be the very harsh winter. Maybe it has killed off as many if not more of the garden pals as garden pests and the pals are just not breeding quickly enough to deal with the pests.
Or maybe the strange weather has something to do with it. We had an unseasonably hot April followed by a cold and wet May. Perhaps that unusual heat has caused an abnormal earlier than usual breeding of pests and the pals have been held back by the cold May.
Mother Nature has a way of sorting these things out and one pleasing sign is a ladybird now gorging on the blackfly on one of the Achillea. Just spotting this one ladybird means that the spray can will be hidden away at the back of the garden shed and hopefully forgotten about.
Incidentally, so far this year there is no sign of any caterpillars on the Jacobs Ladders. Perhaps the two year spraying regime has broken the cycle. I really hope so because I am always concerned that I may accidentally kill some of my pals while disposing of the pests.
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This is very informative. Garden pests are indeed a huge problem for gardeners. I hope the natural predators will sooncome out and exterminate all the pests in your garden.
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