Comments on: trouble in paradise: galls, beetles & more woes http://awaytogarden.com/trouble-in-paradise-galls-beetles-more-woes Organic gardening inspiration from Margaret Roach Sun, 12 Feb 2012 02:28:15 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Margaret http://awaytogarden.com/trouble-in-paradise-galls-beetles-more-woes/comment-page-1#comment-11851 Margaret Thu, 01 Oct 2009 11:15:58 +0000 http://awaytogarden.com/?p=5131#comment-11851 Welcome, Mary. Yes, it's always something; gardening is continual interaction with the good, the bad and the ugly to be sure. I suggest you grow viburnums that are <a href="http://www.hort.cornell.edu/vlb/suscept.html" rel="nofollow">rated least susceptible from this list</a> and don't give up on apples and their relatives. I have tent caterpillar each year but <a href="http://awaytogarden.com/calling-all-caterpillars" rel="nofollow">I do this to the webs</a> before the caterpillars pupate each spring. You can also spray with BT (a non-toxic caterpillar spray from the garden center). The key with all garden pests is to walk around regularly and check on things to catch them before damage is done (in spring I do this almost daily) and take immediate action. As for the pine sawfly issues, Ohio State has <a href="http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2555.html" rel="nofollow">a fact sheet about tackling that.</a> The mugho is a favorite for that pest. Pines do have a lot of issues in the Northeast lately, but I still grow them, many kinds, and again I check them for early signs. As for "trouble-free," nothing is, exactly, but definitely look at the viburnum list for some options there. I do well without any trouble also with variosu witch-hazel relatives (Fothergilla, Corylopsis, Hamamelis) but I couldn't make a garden out of them alone. :) Vigilance. There are few things I simply cannot grow because the pests are too bad, so I soldier on in most cases. See you soon! Welcome, Mary. Yes, it’s always something; gardening is continual interaction with the good, the bad and the ugly to be sure. I suggest you grow viburnums that are rated least susceptible from this list and don’t give up on apples and their relatives. I have tent caterpillar each year but I do this to the webs before the caterpillars pupate each spring. You can also spray with BT (a non-toxic caterpillar spray from the garden center).

The key with all garden pests is to walk around regularly and check on things to catch them before damage is done (in spring I do this almost daily) and take immediate action.

As for the pine sawfly issues, Ohio State has a fact sheet about tackling that. The mugho is a favorite for that pest. Pines do have a lot of issues in the Northeast lately, but I still grow them, many kinds, and again I check them for early signs.

As for “trouble-free,” nothing is, exactly, but definitely look at the viburnum list for some options there. I do well without any trouble also with variosu witch-hazel relatives (Fothergilla, Corylopsis, Hamamelis) but I couldn’t make a garden out of them alone. :) Vigilance. There are few things I simply cannot grow because the pests are too bad, so I soldier on in most cases. See you soon!

]]> By: Mary http://awaytogarden.com/trouble-in-paradise-galls-beetles-more-woes/comment-page-1#comment-11845 Mary Thu, 01 Oct 2009 04:28:33 +0000 http://awaytogarden.com/?p=5131#comment-11845 Having given up a year ago on apple trees that were being viciously attacked each year by tent caterpillars (my first major gardening loss), the next victim was my lovely arrowwood viburnum. It had grown happily for 10 years and was then destroyed by, what I later found out, was the viburnum leaf beetle. Now it's the dogwood sawfly which has eaten every last leaf on my lovely red twig dogwood. Oh, I forgot. I also lost a group of mugho pines to some kind of sawfly. I garden in northern NJ. Any shrubs that aren't so susceptible to pests? Having given up a year ago on apple trees that were being viciously attacked each year by tent caterpillars (my first major gardening loss), the next victim was my lovely arrowwood viburnum. It had grown happily for 10 years and was then destroyed by, what I later found out, was the viburnum leaf beetle. Now it’s the dogwood sawfly which has eaten every last leaf on my lovely red twig dogwood. Oh, I forgot. I also lost a group of mugho pines to some kind of sawfly. I garden in northern NJ. Any shrubs that aren’t so susceptible to pests?

]]> By: Margaret http://awaytogarden.com/trouble-in-paradise-galls-beetles-more-woes/comment-page-1#comment-9537 Margaret Sat, 13 Jun 2009 20:45:01 +0000 http://awaytogarden.com/?p=5131#comment-9537 Welcome, Jenni. Jack the Demon Cat and I just had the same conversation after the chippies ate 5 of 10 hills of pumpkin and squash seeds. Not good. He didn't have much to say in his own defense, frankly. Sorry you find yourself in the same boat. :) Welcome, Jenni. Jack the Demon Cat and I just had the same conversation after the chippies ate 5 of 10 hills of pumpkin and squash seeds. Not good. He didn’t have much to say in his own defense, frankly. Sorry you find yourself in the same boat. :)

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