You're quite correct of course Ob. To be fair (and other than slugs), I don't really have much of a pest problem in the garden since the cessation of using any sort of insecticide. The number and diversity of the birds has gradually increased so any appearance of aphids doesn't last long! Nematodes helped but didn't touch the keel slugs though, so still limited (through much trial and error) to just 4 varieties of resistant potato. Going back to the birds, I saw (for the first time ever) a goldcrest at the weekend which was eating the overwintering aphids from the branch tips of a young Scot's pine. Smiled all day about that cheeky chappie with the jazzy haircut!
A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
Never had a goldcrest but had lots of other birds. In fact the pasture next to my Belgian garden was listed as a site of great bio-diversity, largely cos of all the birds visiting my garden to feed on all the goodies No pesticides chez moi except for sparse and judicial bio friendly slug pellets round emerging hostas and clems.
So far, in this garden, not a lot of small bird variety and snails instead of slugs. Needs some work to attract a greater range.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
Posts
So far, in this garden, not a lot of small bird variety and snails instead of slugs. Needs some work to attract a greater range.