Welcome to Garden King's Plant Doctor Blog, where our experts discuss and answer all your gardening questions. This week I'm talking about banishing blackfly, removing balled rose blooms and great products now in store to make your gardening life easier and more enjoyable.
We've had lots of lush growth encouraged by the recent heavy rain our garden's are looking greener than ever! Sadly this makes the perfect breeding ground for aphids and blackfly. It's best to keep vigilant against blackfly as infestations can stunt & distort growth, weake
n the plants and transmit viruses. Blackfly infestations needn't be a worry, treat them promptly and you'll stop them in their tracks! You could use Westland Plant Rescue Bug Killer for ornamental plants. Follow the simple instructions and spray in the early morning or evening when beneficial insects like bees and hoverflies are unlikely to be flying about. Plant Rescue Bug Killer for Ornamentals is a fast acting bug killer which offers long lasting systemic protection for up to 12 weeks and contains added fertiliser for healthy plant growth. This handy ready to use formulation can be applied all year round for the control of spider mites, aphids scales, white flies, thrips and mealy.
Rose bloom balling is a common sight at the moment. The wet weather has left roses with water-saturated outer petals. In the cooler weather, these petals struggle to dry out before being scorched by the hot sun. The scorched petals become dry and stiff which trap the inner petals and prevent the flower from opening. Mycelium fuses the inner petals together creating the "ball". This problem also affects peonies and camellias. If your plants are showing balling, remove the balls and stalks as this will encourage another flowering stem to form.
We've got two great products now in stock designed to make your gardening life much easier. You'll have seen a popular weeder on TV recently called Fiskars, we stock this great product at £39.99 which you can use to quickly and easily pull weeds from the ground in one quick motion. No bending, no digging just a clean, efficient removal. As well as the Fiskars model we also stock a similar tool from Gardman; its functionality is very similar and at a great price, the Gardman Carbon Steel Weeder. They were £29.99 and we have them reduced to £10.
Last up, it's patio cleaning time and we stock two great long handled patio brushes that remove weeds simply and effortlessly. Spruce up your outdoor bricks, pavement, patio and garden paths with a sturdy, hardworking weed brush. They're ideal for keeping the cracks between interlocking bricks and stones free of moss, weeds and other debris. You can use them anywhere that regular brooms and gardening tools don't fit. We stock wooden handles ones for £9.99 and metal handled for £12.99 - replacement heads are available for both models.
If YOU have any suggestions, questions or comments - feel free to drop us a line (we'd love to hear from you!). You can email plantdoctor@gardenking.co.uk, call us on 01283 550 516, add us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.
Happy gardening x
