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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. |
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