The information below is a summary only. For details, follow links on this website to Pests, Fungi, Weeds and Disease.

PESTS

Traps

Sticky Insect Traps. Buy or make your own.

Snail/Slug (Gastropod) Traps. Upturned pot (snails/slugs) or beer trap (slaters/earwigs).

Bug Zappers. 240v plugins.

Provide Habitat for Predators

Increase Plant Diversity. Grow a large variety of herbs and ornamentals.

Insect Hotels. Home-made or commercial.

Nest Boxes. For birds or bats which use insects as food.

Frog Ponds. Attract frogs which are voracious insect eaters.

Lizard Sun-bathing Rocks. Smooth rocks in the sun attract lizards which eat insects.

Barriers

Fruit Bags. Bag fruit individually or in clusters on trees to exclude pests.

Wood Ash. Mound around the plants you want to protect.

Netting. 5mm x 5mm (or smaller) netting pulled taut over a frame/structure around the plant.

Corrugated Cardboard. Wrap around base of plant and secure with tape or string.

Wobbly Fences. Place around plants you wish to protect from possums.

Corrugated Iron. Deters deer which don’t like walking on unstable paths and make noise when trodden on. 

Repellents and Attractants

Companion Planting. Uses nature to attract, repel, enhance plant health and flavour.

Decoys. Try insect-attracting plants before the main crop, or outside the crop later.

Visual Bird Deterrents. Reflective materials e.g. mirrors, streamers, large hawk models.

Manual

Better WiseGardening choices include methods that have subsidiary benefits such as requiring you to do some physical activity, such as those below, which are great for your health.

Removal by Hand. Squash insects – drop snails/slugs into soapy water. Then compost them.

Water Jet or Hose. Hose pests off affected plants.

Fly Swat. Use swat to squash insect against a hard surface.

Pruning. Remove the heavily infested section of the plant.

Beneficial Agents

Domesticated Birds. Ducks, chicken or geese can help control pest numbers.

Introduce Predatory Insects or Parasites. These can be purchased.

FUNGUS

Avoid Moisture on Leaves, Especially at Night. Persistent moisture allows fungal spores to germinate. 

Exclusion. Introduce only healthy, vigorous, undiseased plant material.

Hygiene. Completely remove any plants that are heavily infested with untreatable diseases.

Solarisation. Cover soil with thin, clear or black plastic film weeks in the hottest months before planting crops.

WEEDS

Heat

Solarisation. Cover soil with thin, clear or black plastic film weeks in the hottest months before planting crops to kill emerging weeds.

Hot Water. Repeatedly apply near boiling water. Plant cells rupture, wilt then die. 

Steam. Repeatedly apply steam from some commercially available devices. Plant cells rupture, wilt then die. 

Direct Flame. Use a fuel powered flame burner causingplant cell rupture and death. Needs repeating.

Heavy Mulching. Cover with overlapping cardboard layers, then organic mulch e.g wood chips.

Prevention

Know Your Weeds. Identify them so that treatment can be effective.

Limit Soil Cultivation. Use no-dig gardening methods.

Competition. Plant vigorous plants close by to restrict light and germination.

Mulch. Prevents light from reaching seeds and prevents seed germination.

Hygiene. Control existing weeds, prevent seed build up, only bring in weed-free plants, keep tools clean.

Care with Fertilisation. Limit fertiliser use to only when necessary to avoid giving weeds and advantage. 

Manual

Removal by Hand. By hand or with tools to ensure roots are removed.

Girdling or Ringbarking. For woody weeds cut several centimetres of bark from entire plant.

Mechanical Cultivation (tillage). Using powered devices e.g. rotary hoe or tractor. 

ALGAE

Manual Removal

Although labour-intensive, this is possibly the quickest way to remove algae. Use gloved hands, a brush or a dip net. Collected algae can be added to the compost heap.

Organisms which consume algae

Add tadpoles or water snails. They use algae as food.

Barriers

Net the pond. This catches falling leaves which provide nutrients when decayed.

Grow a hedge around ponds. This prevents run off from nearby fertilized

Reduce nutrients

Fish Food. Reduce mount of fish food if the pond contains fish.

Fish numbers. Removing some fish to decrease faeces amounts which provide nutrients after decomposition.

Aquatic plants. Adding aquatic plants takes up algal nutrients. 60% of the pond surface can be covered.

Barley Straw

As barley straw decomposes it releases chemicals, possibly hydrogen peroxide, which slow algal growth. Tie in bundles or put in mesh bags near, if possible a waterfall or aerator which oxygenate the water and help straw decomposition.

Mechanical

Aerators. Moving water decreases algal growth by increasing oxygen levels to reduce algal growth.

Filters. A mechanical filter (or skimmer) draws water in and traps algae. Clean filter regularly.

UV light. Add a devices to shine UV light which kills some algae without harming other pond inhabitants.

DISEASE

Don’t Use Seed Which might be Diseased

Use certified disease-free seed or only from healthy plants.

Crop Rotation

Don’t grow plants of the same family in the same bed for at least 3 seasons to avoid a build up of pathogens in the soil.

Hygiene

Remove infected plant material. Plant debris/litter, seeds and soils harbour bacteria which spread by contact, rain splash, vectors and infected seeds.  Before and after harvest, dispose of infected plants/plant parts in sealed plastic bags in bins  – do not compost them.

Disinfection. Gardening equipment should be cleaned regularly {bleach/methylated spirits).

Prevent or Destroy Fungus. Use techniques described above.

Prevent or Destroy Virus. Plants cannot be cured of viral infections, so hygiene techniques described above for hygiene should be used.

Use Virus-Resistant Varieties. Where possible, find such seeds available commercially.