On Mon, 4 Nov 2002 09:17:57 +0000 (UTC), "AWM"
wrote:

2 years back when I moved into a new house I planted a late flowring
cherry, it is not doing as well as it might having been badly attacked by
aphids and having to put up with a poor clay soil described by the builders
but no one else as top soil. The extreme and almost continous rain my areas
has had to put up with over the last 2 years hasn't helped.
It was planted in a peat based compost with added sharp sand and was fed
with "Fish Blood and Bone", it is well supported and hasn't been pruned.
I was think of using potash rich feed but is this a good choice and when
should this be applied. ?

Hi,

Maybe you have over fertilised in your anxiety about the quality of
the soil. Another respondent has dealt with this but I would just lay
a shit load of mushroom compost around the base and let the worms and
micro-organisms do the work to make the food available to the roots.
It's very hard to over fertilise on this manner.

The aphids will have much more detrimental if the plant is weak for
some reason and will set up a vicious circle which won't much be
helped by chemical insecticides which will destroy, to boot, all the
natural predators.

Have you thought of giving it some "companions"? I believe there are
various companions which deter aphids. I don't think it's just the
plants themselves but the organic compounds they put in the soil and
then get taken up by the plant to be protected - thereby making it
less appetising to the blighters.

I believe garlic is a good companion for this purpose so I suggest
an under planting of this - not the bulbs from supermarket shelves
(Mediterranean) - but a hardier variety (sativum?). I believe other
pungent plants such as Artemisia and Chamomile have a similar effect.

Then, as the cream topping, plant a clump of a sacrificial
herbaceous plant nearby which will attract on to it the aphids.
Different aphids for different plants however. Are there any other
plants in your garden which sometimes get the very same aphids (look
at them with a magnifying glass). If push comes to shove, try a clump
of nasturtiums but with these the aphids will probably be vying for
the meal with black fly.

Once everything is back in balance you should have a colony of
predators such as hover fly, lacewings and guzzling ladybirds which
will dine, thrive and multiply on the bugs they find on the
sacrificial plant and pick off any that stray onto the Prunus. You
never said which variety - some are more susceptible than others.

It's worth a try to work with nature rather than against it.

Grow a little garden.

Hussein