In message , Baz
writes

I would like to know how others in this group go about getting rid of
insects. For example my 2 cherry trees have been infested with blackfly
and I dowsed them with liquid soap to no avail and had to use Provaro in
the end. Problem solved. Likewise with whitefly on the brassicas and moth
on the peas.
In a nutshell, nothing seems to work. Just pesticide. That works.

I have had a very strange experience this year. In Reading I have a
smallish back garden with three apple trees, three plum trees and a goat
willow. This last I planted there some fourteen or fifteen years ago by
mistake (I didn't know what it was because I found it growing in one of
my pots). By the time I identified it, it was rather too big to move and
so there it was, getting bigger and bigger until it was taller than the
house! So early this year I decided to do something about it. I cut it
down to about seven foot in height.

The relevance of this story is about to become clear. The willow struck
out with dozens of new shoots which are now a foot or more long and are
thick with aphid. I thought about trying to get rid of them - until I
noticed that my plum trees, normally very attractive to aphids, were
completely clear and look more healthy than they have done for years.

I relate that for what it's worth!

David

--
David Rance writing from Le Mesnil Villement, Calvados, France