Summertime problems

No let up from pests and disease

- Ruth Hayes

PESTS and diseases are part and parcel of the summer garden and each year we are braced to tackle aphids, caterpillars, whitefly, rusts, mildews and blights, to name a few.

However, this week we were invaded by a most unexpected pest – a mole.

Moles are usually active in late winter early spring so it was a surprise when, over the course of two or three days, five large mounds of earth appeared in the lawn and on a border.

There was little I could do other than scoop up the earth to add to our beds, flatten the affected areas of lawn, sprinkle the bare patches with mole deterrent and hope that’s the end of that.

The main problems to appear over the next few weeks will be the re-emergence of slugs and snails, aphids and whitefly on greenhouse toms and vine weevils in patio containers.

These can all be dealt with using chemicals or nematodes. Widely available online or ordered from garden shops and garden centres, these are microscopic worms that kill pests but are safe to use around children, specific pets and garden wildlife.

Common diseases are mildewed and moulds that thrive in warm, still, damp conditions exacerbated by closely planted summer growth starting to go over, creating lots of soft, dying material.