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#1
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Giant Willow Aphids...
Hello. By way of introduction, my name is Flick, I'm gardening in West Sussex on the solid clay (we've made cups out of it!) of a flood plain through which a small stream runs. The garden is quite small, about eight metres by twelve and the southern half is in the shade of several Oaks who graciously provide me with the means to improve the soil each year. I've recently moved a curly willow from a neighbour's garden into my own. The tree is a beautiful specimen (it was ten feet before moving and a lovely shape) and if not moved immediately would have been binned, so despite the time of year (June) we bit the bullet and moved it anyway. A full day's slog digging out the root system paid off and we managed to transplant the tree without losing too much of it's root system. We cut back about half the body of the tree to minimise stress after moving. Predictably, the plant went into shock. All the leaves crisped and curled and soon enough it started dying back from the extremities. I kept on watering and sure enough (much sooner than I expected) new leaves started to appear a week or so ago along the main branches. Tenacious trees, willows! This morning I've been out to cut back all the remaining dead wood, and generally tidy it up a bit. I've discovered several colonies of Giant Willow Aphid that weren't there before. I'm of the understanding that these can do quite significant damage to Willows in general, and given that this particular plant has had more than enough stress already this year I'd prefer not to leave it to the birds and other insects to take care of them. What can I do to get rid of them? Preferably without using particularly ecologically unfriendly or harmful chemicals, my garden is not exactly organic, but I do try to minimise the use of noxious substances if at all possible and I've not had cause to use any for several years, if it can be avoided I'd prefer not to start again now. Flick. -- I'm not concerned about the glass being half full or half empty. I've always got another bottle. |
#2
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Giant Willow Aphids...
On Sat, 10 Jul 2004 14:04:53 +0100, blaadyblah
wrote: Hello. By way of introduction, my name is Flick, I'm gardening in West Sussex on the solid clay (we've made cups out of it!) of a flood plain through which a small stream runs. The garden is quite small, about eight metres by twelve and the southern half is in the shade of several Oaks who graciously provide me with the means to improve the soil each year. I've recently moved a curly willow from a neighbour's garden into my own. The tree is a beautiful specimen (it was ten feet before moving and a lovely shape) and if not moved immediately would have been binned, so despite the time of year (June) we bit the bullet and moved it anyway. A full day's slog digging out the root system paid off and we managed to transplant the tree without losing too much of it's root system. We cut back about half the body of the tree to minimise stress after moving. Predictably, the plant went into shock. All the leaves crisped and curled and soon enough it started dying back from the extremities. I kept on watering and sure enough (much sooner than I expected) new leaves started to appear a week or so ago along the main branches. Tenacious trees, willows! This morning I've been out to cut back all the remaining dead wood, and generally tidy it up a bit. I've discovered several colonies of Giant Willow Aphid that weren't there before. I'm of the understanding that these can do quite significant damage to Willows in general, and given that this particular plant has had more than enough stress already this year I'd prefer not to leave it to the birds and other insects to take care of them. What can I do to get rid of them? Preferably without using particularly ecologically unfriendly or harmful chemicals, my garden is not exactly organic, but I do try to minimise the use of noxious substances if at all possible and I've not had cause to use any for several years, if it can be avoided I'd prefer not to start again now. Flick. Many people here swear by a spray of soft soap or household detergent for attacking aphids and many other garden pests (see the thread on blackfly). I use Fairy Liquid, but I guess any detergent will do. One good squirt into a 5 litre pump sprayer, but the concentration isn't critical (fill the sprayer with water first, then add the detergent, otherwise you get loads of froth). But whether it'll work on those big beasties, I've no idea. We had them on a willow in our garden when I was a teenager, and IIRC they were the size of match-heads and on the branches, not the leaves. -- Chris E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net |
#3
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Giant Willow Aphids...
"blaadyblah" wrote in message ... Hello. By way of introduction, my name is Flick, I'm gardening in West Sussex on the solid clay (we've made cups out of it!) of a flood plain through which a small stream runs. The garden is quite small, about eight metres by twelve and the southern half is in the shade of several Oaks who graciously provide me with the means to improve the soil each year. I've recently moved a curly willow from a neighbour's garden into my own. The tree is a beautiful specimen (it was ten feet before moving and a lovely shape) and if not moved immediately would have been binned, so despite the time of year (June) we bit the bullet and moved it anyway. A full day's slog digging out the root system paid off and we managed to transplant the tree without losing too much of it's root system. We cut back about half the body of the tree to minimise stress after moving. Predictably, the plant went into shock. All the leaves crisped and curled and soon enough it started dying back from the extremities. I kept on watering and sure enough (much sooner than I expected) new leaves started to appear a week or so ago along the main branches. Tenacious trees, willows! This morning I've been out to cut back all the remaining dead wood, and generally tidy it up a bit. I've discovered several colonies of Giant Willow Aphid that weren't there before. I'm of the understanding that these can do quite significant damage to Willows in general, and given that this particular plant has had more than enough stress already this year I'd prefer not to leave it to the birds and other insects to take care of them. What can I do to get rid of them? Preferably without using particularly ecologically unfriendly or harmful chemicals, my garden is not exactly organic, but I do try to minimise the use of noxious substances if at all possible and I've not had cause to use any for several years, if it can be avoided I'd prefer not to start again now. If you actually want to put paid to them, take off the boxing gloves and let them have it by any available means. Franz |
#4
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Giant Willow Aphids...
On Sat, 10 Jul 2004 18:07:52 +0100, Chris Hogg wrote:
On Sat, 10 Jul 2004 14:04:53 +0100, blaadyblah wrote: Hello. snip Giant Willow Aphids and Introduction What can I do to get rid of them? Preferably without using particularly ecologically unfriendly or harmful chemicals, my garden is not exactly organic, but I do try to minimise the use of noxious substances if at all possible and I've not had cause to use any for several years, if it can be avoided I'd prefer not to start again now. Flick. Many people here swear by a spray of soft soap or household detergent for attacking aphids and many other garden pests (see the thread on blackfly). I use Fairy Liquid, but I guess any detergent will do. One good squirt into a 5 litre pump sprayer, but the concentration isn't critical (fill the sprayer with water first, then add the detergent, otherwise you get loads of froth). But whether it'll work on those big beasties, I've no idea. Apparently not... that was the first thing I thought of and I tried it ten minutes after I found them. They're still alive if a little sudsy! Perhaps I'll have to keep going at them. I'll be out there wiping them off tomorrow at this rate. We had them on a willow in our garden when I was a teenager, and IIRC they were the size of match-heads and on the branches, not the leaves. Yup, they're definitely on the large side, and they're hanging around in patches on the underside of the branches towards the bottom of the tree. The little ones are about the size of match heads, but there were one or two super-bugs when I took a look early this evening, I'm not sure I want to get on the wrong side of them, these things were a quarter of an inch long! Flick. -- I'm not concerned about the glass being half full or half empty. I've always got another bottle. |
#5
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Giant Willow Aphids...
On Sat, 10 Jul 2004 17:50:38 +0000 (UTC), "Franz Heymann"
wrote: "blaadyblah" wrote in message .. . Hello. This morning I've been out to cut back all the remaining dead wood, and generally tidy it up a bit. I've discovered several colonies of Giant Willow Aphid that weren't there before. What can I do to get rid of them? Preferably without using particularly ecologically unfriendly or harmful chemicals, my garden is not exactly organic, but I do try to minimise the use of noxious substances if at all possible and I've not had cause to use any for several years, if it can be avoided I'd prefer not to start again now. If you actually want to put paid to them, take off the boxing gloves and let them have it by any available means. Heh, it might come to that yet, they don't seem to be responding to detergent and threats... Flick. -- I'm not concerned about the glass being half full or half empty. I've always got another bottle. |
#6
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Giant Willow Aphids...
"blaadyblah" wrote in message ... On Sat, 10 Jul 2004 17:50:38 +0000 (UTC), "Franz Heymann" wrote: "blaadyblah" wrote in message .. . Hello. This morning I've been out to cut back all the remaining dead wood, and generally tidy it up a bit. I've discovered several colonies of Giant Willow Aphid that weren't there before. What can I do to get rid of them? Preferably without using particularly ecologically unfriendly or harmful chemicals, my garden is not exactly organic, but I do try to minimise the use of noxious substances if at all possible and I've not had cause to use any for several years, if it can be avoided I'd prefer not to start again now. If you actually want to put paid to them, take off the boxing gloves and let them have it by any available means. Heh, it might come to that yet, they don't seem to be responding to detergent and threats... Get cracking with a proper systemic insecticide. That is the only way of making sure that *all* of them get a bite at the cherry, so to speak. Franz |
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