It’s appropriate that vine weevil rhymes with evil. Peter did a spot of weeding in one of the polytunnels late last week and showed me a dozen or so Saxifrages and Heucheras with the top growth falling off – he knew exactly what it was. Sure enough there they were the little b***tards, curled up snug as you like amongst what little remained of the roots. I can’t squash things – just a personal hang-up – but I can drop things into a jamjar with petrol in. The little grubs wriggle a bit then pickle in no time. I think the very mild spell must have brought them into active feeding. Fortunately the problem seems to be contained within a batch of old plants which are now in the bonfire pile, minus as many of the grubs as I can find. I’ve spot checked the rest of the tunnel and can’t see anything else. But it’s time to test Nemasys L – a newer nematode biological control which alledgedly works in lower temperatures. Vine weevil seems to be ubiquitous in nurseries and gardens now, so I’m not losing sleep over it.
Something has devoured 20 pots full of crocuses in one night, scattering the top growth around and leaving no trace of the corms. Squirrels, we think. So, somewhat after the horse has bolted, we’ve covered the lot with chicken wire. It won’t keep the mice off though. I tried one of those plug-in sonic things in the potting shed and found fresh mice droppings right underneath it a few days later.
But on a brighter note, all this rain reminded me about drainage. I had a brief chat with Pete on the subject last week and he came in on Tuesday with it all planned out – he’d been laying awake at might planning it apparently! Half the nursery is now equipped with plastic perforated pipe drainage in gravel trenches. He doesn’t muck about when he decides to get something done.
One Response to “Mice, drains and vine weevils”
Hi Sue, and thank you! At risk of indulging in a mutual blog love-in, yours is my favourite….
Helen, Petasites flower in winter, but are mostly grown for their leaves which can be substantial. Petasites paradoxus is well behaved with lovely silver leaves about 10″ across. Petasites japonicum which we also have is much more substantial with leaves up to a metre across – I’ll post pictures of both later in the year.