GRUBBY GARDENING

PESTS. Grubs, non-beneficial insects and fungal diseseases all equal trouble.
Call them what you will but these tetchy troublemakers are at large all over the garden at the moment.

Luckily, Peter Cundall has come up with some excellent solutions.

In my garden I love seeing the chooks scratch around and eat those aphids, scurrying caterpillars and grubs.

If only they could climb trees and eat black spot on the roses!

Here the girls are hard at work tearing up grass

where I wanted to put in a new vegetable bed.

So far I have planted an apple tree and a lemon tree as well as inheriting another citrus and a plum which was discovered when i removed kilos of ivy from a shed wall.

As Sir Cundall advises, now is the time to check your fruit trees for insects and any fungal growth. He said it is important to collect coddling moth cases and ensure your clear up and removal of weeds and lawn clippings near fruit trees is carried out to ensure you don't spread diseases or insects.

Any infected growth such as fruit or leaves should be removed and thrown out in the rubbish, not put through the compost.

Companion planting

CHOOKS make the ideal companion to the vegetable garden.

I know, you are thinking how the little devils can so often dig up a bed of newly planted seeds or devour a whole row of broccoli seedlings in one fell swoop.

But once your plants are established, particularly the hardier types such as pumpkins and potatoes, the hens will happily scratch away and leave them alone.

Not only will they eat caterpillars and other pests straight off the pumpkins, they kindly fertilise the soil nearby.

When you need a garden bed dug up and turned over in preparation for the next season of crops, these little humdingers have no no rival.