This is the journal of my endeavours to grow a range of fruit, veg and flowers from seed, grow organically, and my attempts to create a personal paradise with 1/2 acre of maintained gardens and 1/2 acre wild meadows. Northern Ireland's average daily high temperatures are 18 °C (64 °F) in July and 6 °C (43 °F) in January. Soil type: Clay

Monday 19 August 2013

Garden Pests


In case you don't like plant munching creepy crawlies or things that sting... this post contains a few, with photos! 

Pictured left: primarily slug damage. If you look closely you can see some slime trails on the plant leaves. I try to grow organically; apart from using occasional slug pellets (the need for this I blame on Ireland's rainy conditions where slugs thrive). I also make an effort to do evening walks to de-snail and de-slug the garden (evidenced below). 
Above: Slugs and snails in all shapes and sizes. I've grown to appreciate them, however, they are still a nuisance to my plants!
Do you spot something dark on the above nasturtium? I was walking by and did a double take.
Below: upon closer inspection looks like large butterfly eggs had hatched but hadn't time (yet) to do much damage.
These were in clear view so I was able to see them and dispose of them.
However....  these turnips (below) have been devoured by caterpillars - luckily the turnips can still be eaten but the leaves look quite bad.  
Below: caterpillars taken off the turnip plants.

Now to things that sting...
To the right of this path is a walled garden with shrubs and various plants. This time of year plants start to need tidying and shrubs need trimmed. I was out with my secateurs and garden shears when...
I got stung by a wasp - tank tops and gardening not a great combo. Then I noticed several wasps flying about and going in and out of the middle of a large heather shrub. I assume they  have a nest in there. I'm wondering should I try and get rid of the nest since it's in an area I use regularly?
The wasps seem to have a nest right in the middle of this heather shrub (where the whole / opening is)!
Anyone have any experience with wasps nesting in garden shrubs; or tips on what action to take?

Copyright: All words and photos are property of Kelli's Northern Ireland Garden.

7 comments:

  1. Yuck! Doesn't it make you wonder how people managed to grow anything before chemical slug-killers were invented??? If you want to get rid of the wasps' nest I think you will have to resort to chemicals - or get a professional in to assist. Would your local council be able to advise, perhaps?

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  2. It's a difficult one with the wasps and trying to ;remove' them without killing the shrub!

    As for those 'eggs' they look strange and butterflies usually lat them under the leaves.

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  3. Ugh! I am not a fan of any of the pests you mentioned or showed, especially wasps. We have plenty of them here in Florida in bushes. In fact, when I trim, I first take the long blade shears and punch the bush a bit and if there are any inside, they will swarm out. I manage to step back, not to get stung. Usually they are really small wasps, but still vicious. To kill them, I use a chemical wasp spray, if I can see the nest. If not, I am just very careful not to disturb them. Big hornet nests are a different thing. Do you have those in Ireland? Hornets made a big round bomb-looking nest and that is dangerous. Usually they are high up, though.

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  4. That's a fair selection of things that go squish in the night Kelli! Those wasp stings can hurt!
    I've never experienced a wasp nest in the garden before so can't offer any advice except your local authority might be able to help, at a cost though!

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  5. I didn't have any experience with wasps but caterpillars have eaten my whole crop of kale! I was upset. Next year Im going to cover the plants. I was really looking forward to eating kale all autumn :(

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  6. Beer traps work really well on the slugs here. They're cheap drunks. I'd use a spray chemical wasp killer. They are so aggressive and can sting multiple times. Those striped caterpillars look like tent caterpillars, which can kill a tree and anything else. I'd check your local bug guide and them squish them if they're not going to turn into butterflies.

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  7. Ick! Nasty stuff. So annoying to find my leaves with holes, especially the ones I intended to eat like my chard!

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