Rose Garden Pests

Archive for November, 2009

Great ways to learn gardening

November 12th, 2009

A passion for gardening makes gardening fun! Impulsive gardening can be very costly and time consuming and might be at times discouraging. Gardening can be rewarding, therapeutic and a way of exercising. Knowing that you will be playing a part in the beautification of your community is reason enough why you will follow these great ways to learn gardening. Warning! This can become addictive.

Your neighborhood

Look around your neighborhood; pick a home where the gardening style appeals to you. Complement your neighbor on their garden, and let them know what their garden do for you. Ask your neighbor questions about the plants in their yard and how they are maintained. Build a relationship with that neighbor so in the future, you can exchange ideas.

Your local gardening center/nursery

Usually at this center you will find a wide variety of plants, which will be labeled, such as trees, shrubs, evergreen, perennials, annuals, shade, sun, partial shade. All these are relevant information which will help you to have a broader idea of plant materials. Ask the attendant questions! Plants are usually delivered when they are in bloom, so you will get an opportunity to choose your colors. Usually the labels on the pots will make recommendations of the planting conditions, spacing and also companion plants.

Your local county extension service

A wealth of information can be found here, there are staffs on site that will have answers to your questions. Classes might also be available to address different segments of gardening. Information on native plants, diseases and pests, soil composition, fertilizing, pruning and propagating are available here. Mulching, weeding and watering are also important information you can get here.

The World Wide Web

Everything can be found here, from garden designs, shade gardens, sunny borders, island gardens, water gardens, annual beds, perennial gardens, rose garden, low maintenance gardens, winter gardens, spring gardens, summer gardens, container gardens, rock gardens, butterfly gardens, and the list goes on. Use your favorite search engine and search away.

Learning by doing

This is the fun part of it all, putting your knowledge to work. Starting out small might be your best bet. Find a spot in your yard that you will almost always see. Of course you will know by now the type of soil, whether it is a sunny or shaded area. You will have decided by now the theme of that garden. You would have also decided if you want it to be mixed with evergreen, perennial and annuals. Keep in mind that if you plan to have colors in your garden try and limit yourself to three. Remember, gardening is an ongoing process; there will always be room for growth. Be creative and have fun.

Pest control in your garden

November 11th, 2009

Dealing with aphids in the garden.

First of all what are aphids? They are a small pest that sucks the sap out of plants. The most common of the aphids are the green fly. They are most commonly found on roses, but you will find them on lupins too.

Then there is the aphids which are known as black fly. These can be found on nasturtiums and also broad beans. There are also hundreds of other types of aphid. Ones which attack bark. Ones that attack leaves, and ones that attack and eat roots. They all damage plants and can infect them with virus diseases.

How to detect aphids is the next step. Some aphids are not easy to see. You only realise you have them by the damage they cause. Rolled up leaves are one of the signs of cherry aphids. If you have cabbage plants watch out for the mealy aphid which you will find on the underside of the leaves. If you should see fluffy lumps on the fruit bark of your trees, then you can take it that you have the woolly aphid investing the bark.

If you are growing lettuce plants, and you notice that the leaves are turnig yellow. This could be a sign of the root aphid. Another sign could be the leaves wilting.

If some of your plants have a sooty mould on them, or are sticky. Look on the leaves above for pests.

The method of controlling the pests is of course prevention. If your plants are kept healthy they are less likely to be attacked by aphids.

By paying attention to correct feeding, you will keep your plants in good condition. You need to make sure though not to over use nitrogen fertilizer.

If you inspect your plants at regular intervals, and rub off any aphids as soon as you spot them. You will be able to keep an aphid attack at bay. You can also use one of the aphid sprays to rid the plant of them. Make sure you only spray the aphids and not the whole plant. Because if you spray all the plant you may kill the insects that prey on the aphids. These insects are beneficial in helping you with your pest control.

If you feed the birds in your garden in the bad weather months. They will repay you in the summer months by eating the aphids. A family of blue tits have been known to consume over one hundred thousand aphids in one year.

By keeping your weeds under control through the winter will help too. As some aphids often feed on clover and many other common weeds during this time.

To control aphids in your green house the environmentally friendly way, here is a tip that was given to me some years ago. Use pieces of sticky card. You can get these in art and hobby shops. What you do is put them around your plants on sticks. Get bright yellow ones. The adhesive on the card acts just like fly paper, and the aphids are attracted to the bright yellow colour.

South Florida gardening

November 5th, 2009

As a newcomer to South Florida, and as a relatively new comer to gardening, I have so far paid my dues to mother (tropical) nature. I first started planting tomatoes in my backyard in July. BIG mistake! Gardening season here does not start in earnest before November or December. In the summer, pests abound, and the heat help them flourish. My tomatoes started to rot from the ground up. My cucumbers (what was I thinking?) were eaten by iguanas. Even the parsley could not stand the heat and withered.

One of the best advice I can give you as a would be South Florida garderner is: go local. By this, I mean, buy plants that are heat loving, resistant to high-winds, and in general, forgiving. If you have just moved from a temperate climate with four seasons, you will have to do some reading. Some things that I grew up in the northeast, I would not try here (Roses!).

Myself, I only like “USEFUL” plants, so I mostly grow herbs, and tomatoes (they will thrive if you transplant them in december or january). My next experiences will be a vine (passion fruit), they grow quickly with the combination of heat/humidity so they should be ok to start now (march) and plus I will start them in containers.

Also be aware that even though this area does not have seasons per se, plants may have cycles like they do in the north. I have a black olive tree in my front yard that shed all its leaves in a matter of days in march. I was ready to have my mango tree cut last year because it did not produce ONE mango-then I learnt that mango trees skip years. Right now I am looking through my window at a mango tree that is covered with flowers (I must admit, I fertilized and watered it regularly). My boungaivillea like nothing so much as a good drought. They looked like spindly bushes a couple of months ago, now they are starting to sprout flowers like crazy.

That’s what is good about South Florida : even if something dies, something else will replace it very quickly. No need to wait for next spring.

Rose Garden Pests

Archive for November, 2009

Great ways to learn gardening

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Pest control in your garden

Related Posts:

South Florida gardening

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