Protect Your Garden

62 Replies to “Protect Your Garden”

1. Understanding what is happening to plants is the most important thing. I try not to intervene just squishing things I know are harmful, that way I know I leave some behind to feed the beneficial beasts that need some food to build up their numbers, so for the first aphids that always appear on new rose growth I squash most and then wait for the lace wings to appear to finnish the job. Balalce and equilibrium is what the garden needs which means their will be pests just they’ll be under control, we often forget that and think that once the preditor arrives there won’t be any pest left, it doesn’t work like that! good review as always Donna, thanks

   1. Perfect words Christina to describe the balance we need to maintain in our gardens. Best way is to make sure we give the plants the proper nutrients and let the natural order and predators take care of things. It seems to work the best for me too.

2. Hi Donna – thank you for the review – the plant diagnostics are invaluable but as I look around at some of the decimation I am tempted to reach for the bugspray (not that I will!). I’m not sure the fundamental premise of such books is valid ie that nature is balanced/in equilibrium without interference. Some years, according to weather etc things get totally out of hand – sometimes pest plagues and this year the capsid bugs have deflowered all the fuchsias. Any useful info in there about it?

   1. Laura I do agree that when the infestation is bad we do need to intervene. I like the eco-friendly ideas the author has when we do intervene. Unfortunately he does not mention capsid bugs.

3. I don’t think we have a tropical book like that here, most of the technologies are in individual small articles or scientific reports. I wonder why nobody compiles it into a book, maybe it is very expensive to do, and selling price will not be very affordable for us too!

   1. Perhaps it may be a book you could write…you have such great pictures of the flowers and insects!

4. With the changing weather patterns I have found that nature is out of sync. For example, many good creatures (such as bees, ladybirds etc) are out in an early spring heatwave and two weeks later a freeze means they have no food. This year we had so much rain in spring that the aphids got the upper hand, especially as the rain was followed by unseasonally high temperatures. I think this book may be of use to me and I have put it on my wish list. Thanks for the great review Donna!

   1. Yes Cathy weather plays a huge roll that we can not stop….it has made for some interesting things in the garden. Less Japanese beetles and loads of dragonflies with all the rain this year. The opposite of last year with the drought.

5. Sounds like an informative book, Donna. Love the inspirational quote about problems being opportunities. Have a good week ahead 🙂

   1. Thanks Loredana…glad you enjoyed the review.

6. A very interesting review Donna. I’ll check to see if the book is at our local library.
   I always enjoy the way you plan out your future posts. I’ll be interested in your Seasonal Changes features.

   1. Thanks….if you find the book let me know what you think. I hope you enjoy the Seasonal post. I have to plan out my posts with my crazy job or I would never blog I fear.

7. Great review Donna – I have to admit in the past, when I’ve encountered issues, I head straight for the internet. Perhaps it’s time I started a collection of decent gardening books. Thanks for kick in the butt I need 🙂

   1. Anytime Angie…this is a great book to start with!

8. What a timely review…this summer I am totally convinced that the only thing that would protect my garden would be giant glass cloches, with stainless steel bottoms…lol.

   Buggy doesn’t begin to describe it.

   Jen

   1. It has been buggy. This is a great book to learn how to prevent things, build up your plants with the best nutrients and then eco-friendly ways to deal with bad outbreaks.

      Hope things get better Jen!

9. As a MG I learned all about pest and disease and how to control them, but I found what worked best by leaps and bounds, was doing nothing at all. Like I said in my last post on my garden, I even let weeds go to flower, (but not seed) to bring in all kinds of birds and bugs that no ornamental garden plant could. I have even cultivated weeds that I have never seen but the bugs certainly like them. This has kept my vegetables all free of pests, tomatoes too. And a strange but happy thing happened with aphids. They like the weeds (the one I don’t know what it is) better and never attacked roses or vegetables. The birds happen to eat the aphids too.

   The real threat to tomatoes is the fungus and that is weather related, but a healthy plant will fight it off. Also, if the wasp population is high like in my garden, the bad insects never present a problem. I actually encourages wasps to the garden with sugar syrup just like I do with the hummingbirds. Sure having hornets and wasps is a bit dicey, but I have never been stung. Personally, I found caring about removing pests way too much work. Once I stopped caring, the garden never worked or looked better.

   1. Great advice Donna. Doing nothing should be first. And making sure your plants are healthy is next. I know that the cold June weakened my heirlooms as I neglected to cover them in the grow bags, but covered the tomatoes in the bed. The tomatoes in the bed are doing great.

      I rarely try to get rid of bugs, but I will deal with Japanese beetles as they destroy my beans, and no real predators.

10. Hi Donna, I really appreciate the book review and the way I could enlarge the photos to see the critter doing the damage to a given plant. I’m now sure if it’s been noted, but a perfect natural deterant to many of the pests that plague tomatoes is to grow garlic between the plants. If you use garlic as much as I do, it’s a perfect solution. Many bugs cannot tolerate garlic and the beneficial insects have no trouble with it. Many others have mentioned weather…..and I would add that tomatoes must have free moving air between the plants AND a good suckering program early on in order for them to be strong enough to withstand any molds, blossom end rot, or other fungus related problems. It sounds simple, but many gardeners crowd their tomatoes and there must be air moving around them.

    1. Susie you have hit on some very important points…circulating air and pruning is essential to keep the fungal diseases at bay and these are what plague my tomatoes. I have already decided to spread my tomatoes out more as they were giants this year and were out of control growing into each other. I was not able to keep up with the pruning they needed either.

11. This does look like a useful book. As many have already written, I usually use a hands off approach and let problems resolve themselves. Even so, it is always important what is happening with your plants and there are those crucial instances when intervention is needed. Have you read the book What’s Wrong With My Plant?

    1. I have read that book too Jason but found this book a better place to start. Then “What’s Wrong With My Plant” is a great resource for even more information.

12. The fact that you state this is your favorite book on this subject means a lot! I am always doing battle with fire ants. And grasshoppers! Plus, the section on deficiencies makes me want this book, as our water ph can make my plants deficient at times. I laughed at the quote about the slow pest vs. the fast pest, even though I bet that is absolutely right! Thanks so much for joining in!

    1. I always find it fascinating what pests create problems for others as with your climate. Grasshoppers are here but do little damage. But have a dry season and I am overrun with Japanese beetles in the thousands. Thanks for hosting Holley.

13. This looks like a great book. I have several books on the subject and find some more helpful than others. It sounds like this one is organized in a commonsense manner which seems to be the key to easily finding the info you need. I found the pests that afflict veggies are much more difficult to deal with than those on ornamentals, they seem to be much more persistent.

    1. I agree Debbie they can be very persistent. The book is definitely organized for ease of use which is why I liked it and it had so much more than others I have read.

14. Donna, This is a very timely posting for me. I was just thinking of writing a post about the pests and problems in my garden and how I deal with them. Maybe I should read this book first! I will be joining you for Seasonal Celebrations, but you will have to wait until Sept. 1 to find out the special event in my gardening life at that time every year. P. x

    1. I think you should still post about the pests in your garden. I am excited you will be joining in for SC and can’t wait!!!

15. Very interesting post. I like the quote about garden pests.

    1. Thanks Carver!!

16. I am not much on gardening these days, but when I was younger and had kids to raise, I continually helped my father with his small acreage of veggie garden and orchard. I remember two things he did to keep the garden organic without the use of pesticides, and that was to plant a row of garlic around his veggies…and the use of a spray bottle with soapy water. Those two worked like a charm. Oh, and the tomato worms…we’d just pick them off and ‘squish em’.

    1. Thankfully I have not had the tomato worms but I think the companion planting like garlic helps and it helps the veggies grow better with their special friends growing alongside them.

17. Nice review Donna. This has been the worst year for tomatoes since I’ve been growing them. I think most was brought on the weather this year.

    1. Sorry to hear this Karen. My heirlooms were doomed with this weather…but the hybrids are doing well so far. There are many preventions for our gardens but weather is one thing we can do little about.

18. I agree, not all ‘safe’ products are safe for all concerned in the garden. When I first really turned to organic gardening years ago, I was using an insecticidal soap quite liberally in the garden. However, even those can be problematic, either removing a food source for predatory beneficial insects, or heaven forbid, inadvertently spraying non-target species. So even though it was safe for us, and our dogs, I was probably still doing some harm. I’m always interested in other’s solutions to garden problems though. I’ll have to check this book out next time I’m at the library. Thanks for a thorough review.

    1. I agree Clare that we think we are doing no harm and in essence we are creating an imbalance. Hope the book gives you some useful info.

19. Sounds like a book I would like, too! Tomatoes can be tricky. Even “experts” sometimes have problems with them. I volunteer at a community garden. The man in charge is a veg gardening expert, and he admits we’re at the mercy of the weather when it comes to Tomatoes. I’m with you regarding the companion planting–it really works!

    1. I agree about tomatoes although I am finding if I give them some nutrients depending on their issue they appear stronger. Of course I have resorted to more hybrids as well.

20. This looks like a great book for garden problem solving. I enjoyed your detailed review.

    1. Thanks Tammy. Glad to hear you liked the review.

21. Thanks for this review. I have to check out this book. Though I am yet to have any disaster due to pests, but you never know what will happen, what might happen (fingers crossed, wood-touch). So, better be ready.

    1. This is the perfect book to learn how to be preventive. You are probably already doing much of what gardeners should to keep pests away.

22. The book sounds like a very comprehensive guide and well worth having as garden reference. Thank you for the excellent review. The one disease I always dread is clematis wilt, and I can’t seem to do anything to help once the poor plant gets it. I am trying to refrain from planting the large flowered types that seem more susceptible to the wilt

    1. Dorothy, I have not experienced this wilt. Sad to hear you cannot plant the large flowering variety.

23. Great post and comments… I will add this book to my garden library…. Michelle

    1. This will be a great book in your garden library Michelle.

24. Sounds like a great book! One thing I have learned regarding pests is that sometimes, not always, it is best to do nothing and let the plant develop its own defenses. Last year I had a particular hosta that was extensively eaten by bugs. This year the leaves are untouched.

    1. I agree Deborah. I am hands off unless the problem is serious enough and we may lose the plant.

25. This looks like a good book. I like anything that recommends a non-invasive, chemical free approach.

    1. Me too….it is a great beginning to learn more about what can plague a garden and what to do to prevent or treat.

26. I like the proactive approach of this book. It is a nice idea to get the upper hand on problems before they start.
    It has been a great summer all round, but I have never had so many serious problems-scale on my euonymus being just one of them. I am in a serious battle now to prevent the problem from spreading. This sounds like a book I sure could use!

    1. Jennifer so sorry to hear that you are having garden problems. I am not able to get out in mine and cringe at what I might find in a few weeks. Although the dry spell we had for 3 weeks may have helped. We shall see.

27. I reviewed this book a couple of months ago, not as thorough as you are though Donna. 🙂
    It’s a keeper for my bookshelves.
    Judith

    1. Judith now I know where I first heard of the book. Glad you did review it. I will add a link to your review as well.

28. The holes in your cabbage look all too familiar. No grasshoppers here though, or those devious lady beetles.

    1. Yes those holes are the wonderful Cabbage White butterflies. I learned to keep my cabbages covered to keep them from laying eggs on my veggies.

29. Sounds like a wonderful book. I think that more and more gardeners are realizing that with nonorganic methods the cure is usually worse than the disease.

    1. Agreed Carolyn. I hope the word spreads faster as we could do with less chemicals.

30. It’s been a really difficult Summer for pests
    and diseases here….so wet, the air so thick with humidity, rain almost every day, strange.
    Especially yellow jackets….I’ve had to use chemicals
    on many nests this year. Sigh.
    Your photos and journey are a joy…thanks for sharing.
    -Jennifer

    1. That is strange to have rain daily although that was our July. I was thankful for some dry weather in August.

31. Love that top shot!!! What an unusual capture!

    1. Thank you! I find if I just snap the picture of the bloom, I often get a surprise visitor in the same shot!

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