Simon's Blog - Garden Pests

Meteorologically today is the first day of spring, so as we all look forward to better weather and perhaps spending time in the garden, it only seems right that the Royal Horticultural Society have released their list of the things that wound up gardeners the most, last year.

Unsurprisingly, slugs are at the top of the list, in joint number one position with snails.

The slimy beasts generated a record number of inquiries to the RHS and it was all the weather's fault, as we enjoyed a warm but moist 2016.

At number two it's this pest.

That’s a vine weevil, which can infest a wide range of ornamental plants and fruits, especially those grown in containers. It's a double pronged attack as the adults eat the leaves whilst the grubs (see below) eat the roots.

Number three on the list is the fuchsia gall mite, which causes damage like this.

It was first detected in mainland Britain back in 2007, and is now widespread across southern England, where it causes serious problems for fuchsia growers, as it both sucks sap and then secretes chemicals, that can distort the growth of plants.

At number four it's glasshouse thrips.

They are small insects which can cause a fine pale mottled effect on the upper leaf surfaces of some glasshouse plants, by sucking the sap.

And at number five it's your woolly aphid.

It's quite common on edible and ornamental apple trees and the sneaky insects are hidden under the white fluff , that's often mistaken for mould.

Here's the rest of the top ten...

6 Tortrix moths

7 Box tree moth

8 Rosemary beetle

9 Viburnum beetle

10 Ants

The RHS also revealed the top 10 troublesome diseases...

1 Honey fungus

2 Phytophthora diseases

3 Box blight

4 Rust

5 Leaf spots

6 Powdery mildew

7 Volutella blight

8 Bacterial diseases

9 Scab

10 Wood decay