Kindra Clineff
22.07.2023 - 04:47 / irishtimes.com
Q: Can you tell me what this insect is? It’s feasting on my dahlia leaves. I don’t use insecticides in the garden so can handpick and squash them if I have to. If they’re not going to do too much harm I’m happy to leave them alone. DK, Co Waterford
A: You’ll be delighted to know that there’s no need at all to spray, squash or handpick this colourful little fellow, which is a very beneficial garden insect known as the red soldier beetle that does a lot of great work on behalf of us gardeners. It’s not responsible for the damage to your dahlias but instead was probably there to hoover up any spider mites, aphids or honeydew on the plants or to feast on the flowers’ pollen and nectar. Its love of pollen and nectar means that it also plays a useful role as a pollinator, yet another reason to value its presence in the garden.
The adult beetles emerge in high summer and are most active on warm, sunny days. They’re well known for their ostentatiously amorous displays as well as their particular fondness for umbelliferous-type flowers such as cow parsley and hogweed, which has earned them the nickname of the hogweed bonking beetle.
After mating, the female beetle then lays her eggs in the soil, which hatch out into small, dark, ground-dwelling caterpillar-like larvae. These larvae also play a beneficial role in the garden by preying on slugs and snails.
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As for the damage to your dahlias, this is probably being caused by slugs and snails, which love to feast on the leaves and flower buds of these showy, frost-tender tuberous plants. Earwigs and the caterpillars of some
Kindra Clineff
Native to the Mediterranean and Asia, dill has delicate, feathery foliage and lovely golden-yellow flowers in mid-summer. It’s one of the easiest herbs to grow and readily self-sows by dropping seeds in the garden which will pop up again next year. It’s pretty enough to plant among your flowers, and pollinators love it.
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Birds make a great addition to your garden, they’re great to look at and they’re useful as well. For instance, they will eat slugs, snails, aphids, insects and other well-known troublemakers.
Q: We have a Malus (ornamental crab apple tree) in our back garden, which has grown from small to its present 20ft over 15 years. It buds and flowers nicely, but then turns a bit shabby. It doesn’t seem like a healthy tree. Can you help? We are debating whether we need to remove it and replace it. If it does need to be removed, what replacement would you suggest? CF, Co Kilkenny
The growing season might be in full swing, but there are still ways to upgrade your garden game. From keeping out unwanted pests (or pets) to building your own customized trellising and irrigation—it’s time to make your beds work smarter, not harder. We’ve got five ways to customize your planters this summer that will not only make things look fantastic, but will take your growing capabilities to the next level. Whether you choose to tackle them all or just add one to your list of weekend to-dos, I promise it will be a noticeable refresh with rewarding results.
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Autumn may seem a strange time to start a gardening business but it is the time to focus on what you want to do. Get all your ducks (or seedlings) in a row and ensure you have the detail sorted and with that I include enough cash to see you through and chosen customer groups. How to Start Your Own Gardening Business An Insider Guide to Setting Yourself Up as a Professional Gardener is a useful tutorial if you want to set up a gardening business. I recommend you consider your aspirations and limitations carefully and either set up a ‘Life Style business’ or consider becoming a qualified, professional career gardener.
As gardeners mature they enter a purple patch in their life and potentially in the garden. Some of the best plants with purple or coppery coloured leaves take several years to mature like the notional gardener. Amongst the favourites must be the copper beech and the many Acers with reddish leaves.
A: As much as wild ivy provides a very important habitat for birds and insects, and the arboreal form (the older, shrubby growth which produces flowers), and is a really valuable source of nectar, it can also be problematic in established gardens where it can damage built structures as well as some established, older trees such as your apple tree. With the latter, very heavy ivy growth can eventually cause death by overburdening the tree’s leafy canopy, which in turn can result in (a) broken branches, leading to an increased risk of disease and (b) destabilising of the tree’s root system, increasing the risk of it falling in a storm. Very heavy ivy growth in the canopy of a fruit tree can also reduce the amount of light needed for healthy growth, interfere with blossom set and slow down ripening of the fruit.
Native to Mexico and Central America, the dahlia (Family asteraceae) is a bushy and beautiful flowering perennial. The dahlia is Mexico's national flower, and its tuberous roots were eaten by Aztecs before the Spanish Conquest. Following Central America's colonisation, the dahlia was exported to European nations, where it thrived even in countries with harsh or cold winters. Since the 18th century, botanists, taxonomists and gardeners have held a certain fascination for the flower, identifying over 850 different species each with unique petal or stem structures (this number includes the plant's hybrids, too). Since dahlias are extraordinarily varied in appearance, they also tend to be categorised by the shape of the flower, with 10 categories that include anemone, peony, pompom, ball, decorative, cactus, single and waterlily.