ALTHOUGH summer is the pesty time in gardens and who will ever forget last summer, with the leaf miner and huge grasshoppers, it is surprising how many pests survive the cold and wet winter.
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An ever-present problem is scale, particularly on camellias, but also keep an eye on Buxus micro micro (dwarf box) and lilly pillies.
Heavy infestations will require spraying with Antiscale.
A good preventative is regular applications of Pest Oil, but consider this a preventative rather than a cure if scale is bad.
Ants and sooty mould are indicators that scale is present.
The sooty mould (black covering on the leaves) will need applications of copper oxychloride to eliminate this fungal problem.
Soaking a rag with kerosene and tying it loosely around the infected plant's stem for a couple of days will deter the ants that are transmitting the problems from plant to plant.
Scale on roses should have been eliminated at pruning time when sprayed with lime sulphur, which should only be used when roses are dormant.
Keep an eye out during the next few months for louse scale which may attack the stems of roses.
This pesky white louse scale also attacks palms and bird nests ferns and should be sprayed with Antiscale which should be repeated in 10 days time.
Azaleas will be setting buds ready for spring flowering but beware of spider mite, which they are susceptible to.
The early signs of this mite are leaves speckled with yellow and bronze or even a silvery appearance.
This pest needs to be sprayed with a systemic spray such as insect and Mite Killer.
The persistent rain can be blamed for root rot which affects native plants particularly grevilleas.
They can be healthy today and within a couple of days become brown and loose in the ground.
If noticed early enough apply a systemic fungicide such as Fongarid and try to improve drainage, although that is almost impossible this winter.
After heavy-rain periods I apply dolomite around my garden, particularly to the roses.
This week I have had several inquiries regarding Japanese box becoming brown, this can be attributed to wet feet and certainly the dolomite will help.
Also throw down applications of lime to the lawn as the rain will have leached the lime (as well as any other nutrients) which will need to be replaced when the lawn begins growing.
Trees and shrubs will certainly be lacking in iron and other elements which should be replaced before spring, so apply an all-purpose fertiliser.
