Gardener’s Cuttings
Siberian irises come in from
Slugs and snails the number one pests
the cold
Here’s a fact which won’t surprise many gardeners -slugs and snails were the
number one problem on the 2009 Top 10 garden pests list, according to the Royal
The Siberian Iris collection was
Horticultural Society
started by Jennifer Hewitt at Clee
Hill which contained the first yellow
The Entomology team, based at Wisley, have compiled their annual list of garden
Iris sibirica ‘Butter & Sugar’ as well
pests, based on the enquiries by members during the last year. In second place
as older cultivars such as ‘Mrs Rowe’,
were harlequin ladybirds; third place went to the infamous scarlet lily beetle; with
traced back to 1916. When Jennifer
vine weevil and chafer grub in fourth and fifth place respectively. The cool, wet
became unable to continue looking
conditions of the 2009 summer were ideal for snails and slugs.
after the collection, she passed it on
The non-native harlequin ladybird produced the second largest number of enquiries,
to Kim Davies' Lingen Nurseries. The
although it is not a pest in the conventional sense. Since its arrival in 2004, it has
subsequent closure of this nursery
caused a nuisance by coming into houses to hibernate in the autumn. It has also been
put the collection at risk.
given a bad reputation as a destroyer of native ladybirds and other aphid predators.
Plant Heritage's latest Collection
RHS Principal Entomologist, Andrew Halstead, says ‘’Adult harlequin ladybirds and their
saviours, Alun and Jill Whitehead, iris
larvae feed mainly on greenfly and other aphids, so are helpful to gardeners. They will eat
specialists have been raising irises of
other insects if aphids are in short supply but it remains to be seen whether the arrival and
spread of this new ladybird will have an undesirable impact on other aphid predators’’.
all types in their garden and nursery
since 1996.
The top 10 pests of 2009 and 2008
1 Slugs/snails
2 Harlequin ladybird
3 Lily beetle
4 Vine weevil
5 Chafer grubs
6 Viburnum beetle
7 Pear leaf blister mite
=8 Ants
=8 Rabbits
Harlequin ladybird –number two
10 Capsid bugs
pest to be found in gardens
The RHS Entomology team are asking gardeners
to take part in an on-line survey of scarlet lily
beetle, berberis sawfly, hemerocallis gall midge and
rosemary beetle.
"We provided a new home for the
Specialist Nursery
surviving plants, filling gaps in the
For more details go to:
collection with over 100 irises from
http://www.rhs.org.uk/Science/Plant-pests • Ferns
our own borders" says Jill Whitehead.
• Tree Ferns
The resulting glorious display - at
Garden Museum hosts Christopher
• Hardy Exotics
its peak from the end of May to
Lloyd exhibition
• Palms & Bamboos
early June - was formally awarded
The first major retrospective of Christopher Lloyd's
Jurgen Schedler
National Collection® status in 2009.
life and work since the plantsman's death in 2006 is
Crawford, High Street,
Spetisbury, DT11 9DP
to open at London’s Garden Museum this spring. The
Telephone: 01258 857 240
Compost still a mixed bag
Garden Museum will open a new exhibition on 1 April Mobile: 07711 567 428
There is still huge disparity between
— Christopher Lloyd: A Life at Great Dixter.
Email:
info@crawfordferns.co.uk
the quality of different composts
The exhibition will bring together personal objects from
www.crawfordferns.co.uk
according to new research from
Great Dixter, recollections and stories from friends and
Which? Gardening. The annual
colleagues, examples of his writing and pictures of his
compost trial shows gardeners may
garden.
Mill Cottage
be wasting their money on products
It will be the first time this selection of Christopher
Plants
that should be avoided as they
Lloyd's possessions, and those of his family, have been
Rare and
produce small, sickly looking plants.
on public display, including his gardening galloshes
Unusual Hydrangeas,
B&Q Multipurpose, B&Q Sowing and
and his Glyndebourne shoes, designs by architect Sir Ferns, Epimediums, Erythroniums
Cutting composts and consistent
Edwin Lutyens and photographs from the family's
& other unusual perennials
private darkroom.
performer New Horizon Organic and
www.millcottageplants.co.uk
Peat Free Growbag all received Best
From his childhood at Dixter, through his education as
Buys for seed sowing composts, while
a gardener and the early days of the nursery business,
OPEN BY APPOINTMENT
01749 676966
B&Q Multipurpose, B&Q John Innes
to his later life and career, visitors will be able to
No.2 and Westland West + Multi
examine the links between Christopher Lloyd's public
Henley Mill, Henley Lane,
Purpose Compost were given Best
persona and his private interests and enthusiasms, from
Wookey BA5 1AW
Buys for growing on small plants.
his annual pilgrimages to Scotland and Glyndebourne
SALLY GREGSON NCH
to cooking, contemporary design, and correspondence.
GARDEN DESIGN & CONSULTANT
PROPAGATION COURSES
8
Country Gardener
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