On May 13, 11:31 am, "Mary Fisher" wrote:
"Des Higgins" wrote in message

...



On May 12, 9:47 pm, "Pete C" wrote:
OK, I know they have their place in the garden, but I have more than my
fair
share!! I have a cane by my front door to wave like a madman, in front of
me
each morning to avoid a faceful of webs and their occupants. My pergola
is
covered in webs........they run from walls to any garden
plant................ggggrrrrrr. I don't want to exterminate them, but
I'd
love to discourage at least some of them. Any ideas??
Thanks from a web haired....
--
Pete C
London UK

Just swat away the webs from where you do not like them if they are in
your way. They are harmless and highly beneficial in the garden (eat
lots of insects and get eaten by birds) and I do not know of any way
to deter them other than moving to an apartment without a garden.

Des

You get spiders (and their webs) everywhere there are insects.

Mary

I remember going to a stately home, with large gardens, one September
and it was not until I had walked around the herbaceous borders for
about fifteen minutes thinking "there is something not quite right
here", when I realised what it was.

There was not a single spiders' web across any of the plants,
anywhere. Nor did there seem to be any insects.

I spent another ten minutes walking around before leaving, as it made
me feel so sad that some form of insecticide must have been used to
kill anything that moved on the flowers, and had either killed the
spiders directly or as a result of them having no food.

Some peoples' obsession with the 'tidy garden' ideal does seem to be
so destructive, despite the fact that many chemicals were made illegal
for horticultural use some years ago.

The OP should try and be happy that they still have garden spiders,
and brushing away webs each morning is a small price to pay.