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 Aleck Harrison
January 2020
What’s Bugging You? WGC members were asked to name the pest/disease problems that had been pestering them over the past year. Top of the list was vine weevils followed by slugs and snails then rose issues such as aphids and blights. To understand how best to control them Aleck described the life cycle and breeding conditions favoured by these pests. Then suggested control methods including biological, chemical and physical. Biological control where possible favours the environment and gardener’s finances especially with nematodes which can initially appear expensive but reduce time and effort plus are more efficient for vine weevils and slug control. Aleck finished with a warning of pests and disease that are on the horizon and need a watchful eye; namely Xyella which is decimating the European olive groves and can infect many of our garden shrubs. Ash die back, Agapanthus gall mite, rose rosette virus and Asian hornets were covered with the message “DON’T RISK IT”. On foreign visits do not bring - plants, seeds, fruit, vegetables, flowers back to the UK as they all carry the risk of importing diseases that can destroy our plants, trees and crops. |
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January 2019
My Prickly and Succulent Friends! Echinopsis ‘For over his lifetime Aleck has cultivated Cacti and Succulents, he described the ups and downs he has experienced with them. You can come to either love them or hate them.’ During his talk he mentioned there were multiple compost compositions for cacti and succulents the easiest two are:- 2 parts John Innes No 2 + 1 part horticultural sand + 3 parts grit 3 parts good garden soil + 2 parts horticultural sand + 1 part Perlite or Pumice The important thing is to ensure the compost has good drainage. This Echinopsis (pictured) usually flowers in the evening of the longest day of the year and lasts but one day! During the frost free months Aeoniums (Tree Houseleeks) enjoy and are attractive in the garden. Here they thrived in a north facing dry situation and were only watered twice in the 2018 hot summer. |
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