Green tree frog in my frog friendly garden

During the last lot of rain I heard the calls of three different stripey marsh frogs around my garden!I also heard the deep calls of a green tree frog!

This is so exciting because it has been a few years since I heard our native frogs in my garden. Unfortunately the frogs had been driven out when cane toads overtook my garden. Cane toads out-compete our native frogs for food and they will even eat the frogs.

So why is it important to have a frog-friendly garden?

Frogs tell us so much about our environment. If you have frogs in your garden it means that the area is low in toxic chemicals.

Frogs absorb pesticides, herbicides and other chemicals through their skin and these chemicals kill them! So you won’t see or hear frogs if you or your neighbours use chemicals. This includes all manner of weed killers based on glyphosate, as well as lawn weed and feed products.

How to create a frog-friendly garden?

Pot of water chestnuts where the sedge frogs love to hide

Frog-friendly gardens are easy to create! The first step (and for some people the hardest) is to stop using nasty chemicals!

Then you need to create the perfect environment for the frogs. You can do this by adding a natural water pond or water feature. I use lots of pots for my frog ponds. You can fill them with plants such as water lilies, lotus, water irises and even edible plants such as water celery, watercress and water chestnuts.

Frogs also need places to hide from predators and to keep cool, so it’s important to leave plenty of mulch and leaf litter around. They also need some rocks or logs to sit on and sun themselves. My frogs love using garden statues that I’ve placed in the garden.

Next you need to eliminate cane toads.

These are an introduced pest that will out-compete your native frogs for food. They have even been known to eat native frogs!

Cane toads can be eliminated manually by collecting the frogs and placing them in the fridge until they go to sleep. You then move them into the freezer and from there out into the garbage on garbage night.

I use biodynamic peppers to control cane toads (Magical Biodynamics) . The peppers work on making my garden inhospitable to cane toads so they go elsewhere. This allows space for the frogs to move back in.

Create the perfect environment and the frogs will come! And you will have the joy of knowing that your garden is safe for frogs to live in. And that means that it’s safe for you and your family!

Your Edible Garden Guru

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I had a query recently asking what a white powdery substance was on a grape leaf? They actually said “it looks like powdery mildew, but it’s not on zucchini”! It looked like powdery mildew because it was powdery mildew.

It got me wondering “how many other gardeners consider powdery mildew a disease restricted to plants of the cucurbit family?”

Most gardeners will have struck powdery mildew on their cucurbits (i.e. cucumbers, cantaloupes, pumpkins etc). It shows up as a white or grey powder on the leaves. While it generally doesn’t kill your plant, it can significantly impact your crop as the plant can’t produce lots of fruit while its energy is being drained off and the plant is trying to fight the disease.

Powdery mildew actually affects a wide range of plants, not just zucchini, pumpkins and squash. It can affect both edible and ornamental plants. Edibles that can be affected include carrots, apples, grapes, tomatoes, eggplants, peas and beans and capsicum to name a few. Ornamentals can include chrysanthemums, gerberas, dahlias and roses. In fact it’s probably quicker to write a list of plants that aren’t affected!

So what is powdery mildew? Powdery mildew is a fungal infection. The fungal spores attach to the leaves of the plant where they drive filaments or threads into the leaf structure to draw the nutrients away from the plant. The fungi then develop fruiting spores which can be transmitted by wind or water splashes. The fungus thrives in warm, dry conditions and warm, humid conditions.

Powdery mildew is actually caused by a range of different fungi, some of which are specific to a species of plant while others can affect a whole host of plant species.

Prevention

There are several things the organic gardener can do to prevent powdery mildew in their garden:

• Grow the plants in the conditions they need to thrive. With veggies this means plenty of sunlight. Struggling and weak plants are more susceptible to attack.
• Don’t crowd your plants. Allow plenty of room for air circulation.
• Encourage beneficial insects. The orange/yellow lady beetle actually eats the fungus!
• Good hygiene is essential, as it is with all gardening tasks.
• Clean tools with a weak bleach or hydrogen peroxide solution between tasks,
• Remove infected plant material and put it in the bin.
• Do not compost as the spores will hibernate and can then infect other plants.
• Crop rotation assists by removing susceptible plants from the soil for several seasons.
• Don’t over-fertilise as lush new growth is more susceptible to the fungi
• Morning watering is best. Some say to not wet the leaves, although scientific evidence shows that water can interrupt the sporing cycle.

If you find that you continually battle with powdery mildew then you may need to investigate the range of crops that have been developed to be resistant to the fungus.

Lady beetle feasting on powdery mildew

Treatment

If you find that you have an attack of powdery mildew, there are several organic treatments. These include:

• Spraying with milk. This is the number one organic solution and, surprisingly, it works better than many commercial treatments. The standard spray is 1 part milk full-cream milk to 10 parts water, but I find a 25 percent solution works better. For severe infections you may need a 50 percent solution. Milk can also help to prevent infections if you spray your plants weekly;
• Spray with a sodium or potassium bicarbonate solution. I find you need to add a soap to help the bicarb adhere to the leaves;
• Spray with Neem oil. Again a small amount of soap or white oil will assist it to stick to the leaves;
• Dust with wettable sulphur or spray with lime sulphur;
• Use a commercial biofungicide.

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Pests are a natural part of gardening, whether we like it or not! Depending on the season and the weather, your garden can suffer from caterpillars, scale insects, mealy-bug, grasshoppers and a myriad of other insect invasions.

Ants

In my garden I used to have an annual invasion of scale insects. They didn’t limit themselves to any one plant species. It seems that they were happy to attack all manner of plants including gardenias, eggplant, ferns, citrus trees and fig trees. They particularly loved attacking my ferns!

It may have something to do with the fact that I seem to be living atop an ant farm! Ants and scale have a particularly nasty co-dependent relationship.

If left unchecked, a scale infestation can result in the death of your plants from loss of vital nutrients. Also, the black sooty mould, which also accompanies such an invasion, can get in the way of the plant photosynthesising.

So, what can cause a scale invasion?

Scale and others pests mostly attack plants that are under stress or already weakened. I have found that it is beneficial to check that the plant is getting enough nutrients. This isn’t just adding more fertiliser. What you may need to do is check the pH of the soil (What is the importance of Soil pH for plant growth?) If the pH is wrong the plant may not be able to access nutrients. Even if they are present!

I don’t like using pesticides to control scale

I don’t like using pesticides, so each summer I used to go through vast quantities of organic pest oil! Each winter I would spray my citrus plants with lime sulphur to try and kill off the scale as it over-winters. I managed to eliminate scale from my garden, except from my ferns! And you can’t spray ferns with pest oil or Neem as they kill the ferns!

Scale

Also, if you apply pest oil on a hot day you can cause almost as much stress to your plants as the scale is causing!

Until one day! I was soo exasperated by ongoing scale attack on my ferns, that I decided to experiment with a biodynamic pepper! (see Biodynamic Peppers).

The result was almost immediate! By the next morning the scale were still there, but the ferns were looking like they had a new lease on life. And it has continued to work, controlling the scale!

You can also continue to use Neem oil as it seems that the Neem oil penetrates the leaves to poison the scale from within, while at the same time the oil covers the outside of the scale and suffocates it!

If doing this, also add a few drops of whatever vegetable oil you have in the cupboard to the Neem oil to help it settle on the plant and not be washed off immediately.

So, if your garden is suffering from an attack of scale, why not try using a biodynamic pepper as well as spraying with Neem oil. See also beneficial insects Good Bugs in your garden #1

If my experience is anything to go by, your scale problem will be resolved! I will be only using Neem oil from now on for all future infestations. Let me know how you get on by leaving a comment.

Happy gardening 🙂

Rohanne, your Edible Gardening Guru

Related Posts

Why is Soil pH important for plant growth?

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Hoverfly

I raise this as many gardeners reach for chemical poisons to deal with insect and pest invasions. They do this without thinking these poisons also affect the good bugs!

This was demonstrated following the decision by the Big Green shed, and other stores, to cease selling some systemic insecticides. These insecticides include Confidor and Bug Killa. Many gardeners queried the decision. As a result they wanted to know what would be provided as an alternative!

The reason that poisons like Confidor and Bug Killa are no longer being sold was precisely due to their impact on good bugs.

These insecticides contain a class of poison know as neonicotinoids. Neonicotinoids have been strongly implicated in the death of bees. And in aiding the collapse of bee hives in Europe and the UK.

The ban also applies to other products such as Conguard and Lawn bug killer, which also contain neonicotinoids. Surprisingly, Advantage/Advocate, used to kill for tick protection on your pets also contain neonicotinoids!

So what are good bugs and why do we need them?

Bee pollinating

Good bugs include a range of insects that actually benefit plants and therefore we humans also benefit!

Good bugs include bees and other beneficial insects, including dragonflies and hoverflies. They help us because they pollinate flowers, which produces fruits and vegetables.

They also help by killing and controlling some of the bad bugs that infect our plants. Without good bugs, we would have no food!

The problem with random use, and overuse of insecticides is that there is a knock-on effect.

These insecticides also poison frogs, lizards and skinks, and even birds which feed on the poisoned insects.

Speaking about alternatives!

When you speak to gardeners about alternatives, like letting nature do the work with good bugs, you often get a blank stare. If you are lucky you will get questions like “There are good insects?”. Or “How long will that take?”.

Try and get the gardeners to explain what the actual problem is that they have been using the pesticide to treat, often it has been a case of mis-diagnosis! People have been spraying neonicotinoids to deal with fungal diseases and even with things that show that a plant is healthy!

We have been trained to want a quick fix, without understanding what it is that we are fixing! Results with a simple spray of a poison!

But do people realise that they are potentially poisoning themselves and their families?

The manufacturers and suppliers maintain that when these poisons are used correctly there are minimal adverse impacts.

However, they have no control over how the general public use these chemicals!

I have been told about gardeners who sprayed neonicotinoid poisons every weekend as a prevention against insect attack!! Sadly they could not understand that they were also preventing their crops from being pollinated!

I hope the insect world has enough intelligence to declare these gardens a “No fly zone”.

Let us know what you think about the use of insecticides like neonicotinoids and the decision to cease selling these products.

Happy gardening

Rohanne, Your Personal Garden Expert

Related Posts

How to deal with Common Destructive Pests in the Garden

http://www.thedelectablegarden.com.au/beneficial-insects-and-your-veggie-garden/

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I was reading a blog the other day that said that companion planting was a gardening concept that worked a treat in the northern hemisphere, but not so well down here in Australia.

This made me wonder what was meant by this statement. Do we grow smarter bugs down here? Or maybe we think that companion planting is a panacea for all our gardening problems, helping to deal with any and all pests or diseases that can beset our garden.

Sadly companion planting can’t stop pests and diseases from entering our gardens and wreaking havoc. Nor is it a cure-all for everything that can go wrong in your garden. But it can help!

Calendula are great companion plants

For those of you who don’t know, companion planting is the practice of growing plants together for the mutual benefit of both plants. Companion planting is not an exact science.

I divide the combinations of companion planting into ten main types or benefits. These include:

1. attracting beneficial insects to your garden by providing them with food and nectar;
2. keeping away the bad bugs and diseases, either by emitting a strong smell that swamps the smell of tempting fresh vegetables or by fumigating the soil to disrupt pests like nematodes;
3. visually confusing pests by disguising the shape of desirable vegetables. Many bugs actually search for their preferred crops based on what they look like;
4. acting as a sacrificial plant that gets eaten instead of your prized plants;
5. increasing plant growth by improving access to nutrients;
6. reducing water requirements and water consumption;
7. helping control weeds by providing a green mulch that smothers out weeds;
8. enhancing the flavours of each crop;
9. stunting the growth of other plants;
10. providing shade and staking.

I use companion planting a lot in my garden.

Ever since I realised that the concept of growing veggies in rows was so against the natural order, not to mention that it provided the veritable smorgasbord for the bugs! Once you realise that bugs can search out your tender vegetables by both sight and smell you start to get a greater appreciation for mixing things up a bit!

Basil is great planted alongside tomatoes

I love growing sweet basil alongside my tomatoes to increase the crop and use Landcress as a great sacrificial plant to protect my green leafy crops against cabbage white butterfly.

Another legendary combination is planting garlic underneath you roses to deter aphids. My dad was a big fan of this combination and his roses never suffered from aphid attack. We always had a good supply of home-grown garlic as dad really loved his roses ?

There are also some legendary combinations to avoid as they can either stunt each other’s grow or actually attract more pests to your crop. Corn and tomatoes are one of these combinations.

One of the underlying concepts of companion planting is to work with nature and to plant as nature would have done so. So now I have veggies growing all through the garden and flowers growing in my veggie patch alongside the veggies.

If you use companion planting in your garden let us know some of your favourite combinations and their impacts.

Happy gardening

Rohanne, Your Personal Garden Expert

The post Companion Planting in Australia appeared first on Delectable Garden.

Pests on plant

Normally this request is also accompanied by a desire for it to be in a single application as “I don’t have time to be spraying these insects or weeds regularly”!

Many people don’t seem to understand that for a poison or pesticide or weedicide to work as instantly and effectively as they have requested, it is usually a strong poison.

Poison

By definition, this means that it is not going to be safe for their children, pets or even for themselves!

Sure we may require a bigger dose of the poison to kills us than that which we use to kill the insects. But instant death may not be the only outcome!

Many of these chemicals, like the glyphosates used to kill weeds are now being shown to cause cancers in humans.

Poison

And yet people continue to want to poison themselves and the earth! Just to get rid of an insect that might even be doing good!

This week I spoke to a gardener who was trying to eradicate the microwasps hovering above their lawns. They were sure that these wasps were the reason for their dead lawn. In fact, the wasps were busily killing the lawn grubs that had caused the damage! Although I treid to explain this, the person still wanted to poison the wasps!

Praying Mantis egg sack

As you can probably guess, the answer to the question of whether I can recommend a strong poison that is safe is always NO! I cannot recommend a strong poison that will kill insects and weeds and not have the potential to affect children or pets.

In fact, as many of my regular readers will know, I am a big fan of helping mother nature do the job of sorting out troublesome pests in my garden. I have found that she often has a safe and effective solution that does not require me to spray any insects or use any poisons.

Not only that, by not spraying I have been happy to welcome natural pest killers into my garden. Like the praying mantis egg sack above and the green frog below in my garden!

Green tree frog

Happy gardening

Rohanne, Your Edible Garden Guru

The post What is a safe garden poison? appeared first on Delectable Garden.

Conventional wisdom says that you should not compost dog poop as the poop can contain pathogens that can get into the soil.

Doggy doo

And I certainly would not want to add dog poop to my compost bin, mainly because of the smell and the possibility of generating more flies!

However, I have discovered that it is possible to compost dog poop using a worm tube!

The tube is buried in the ground and indirectly feeds your plants without any of the problems associated with pathogens. And, as it is buried and covered there is no problem with flies or with bad smells!

Worm tube

So, how to do this?

First, you have to select the site for the worm tube.

It is best if this gets some sun, but also some shade. I try and position my worm tubes so that they are located close to trees or plants that would love the extra nutrients.

Then you have to dig a hole. At least 30 cm deep is preferable so all the worm holes are covered.

Also, you want to minimise the chance of flies getting in, so the deeper the hole the better 🙂

Once the hole is dug, position the worm tube and backfill until the tube is stable.

The next step is to put some coir peat or equivalent material in the base of the tube. I know it looks just like more dog poop, but it isn’t!

Coir peat

This provides a good base for the compost worms that you are going to add to the tube.

These are the little guys that are going to do all the work, munching through the dog poop!

Not my idea of a good meal, but apparently they don’t mind!

Compost worms

Next, you add the doggy doo. I am finding it best to do a dog poop pick up early morning, just after the dogs have been out to do their toilet. Because this minimises the amount of time the flies have to find the droppings and lay their eggs!

And in summer it minimises the amount of time the doggy doo can dry out, helping to make sure its enjoyable for the worms!

Finally, top the dog poo with a layer of sawdust and an occasional handful of lime. This helps ensure that the tube does not smell when you open to add more poop!

So, more nutrients for your plants and less waste to the municipal tip. A win-win for everyone!

Happy gardening from Rohanne, Your Personal Garden Expert:)

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They eat lots of mosquito larvae, caterpillars, ants and other pests that attack your edible fruits and vegetables.

Sadly, native frog numbers are in decline due to declining habitat and our use of poisons in the garden. Frogs have thin skins that readily absorb common garden chemicals, including those in weed and feed lawn mixes.

Sedge frog in the garden

Native frogs will also die if they eat poisoned insects.

That is why it is better to avoid using pesticides. It is also better to use organic fertilisers from plant or animal sources, as inorganic fertilisers (and some organic ones) contain wetting agents that can be toxic to native frogs.

It is also important to have cool places where the frogs can live especially during our hot summers.

I have several shallow frog ponds in my garden, where the native frogs can live and breed. At present I have several stripey marsh frogs in the garden as well as some sedge frogs. The frogs eat mosquito larvae and other insects which helps to keep the garden healthy.

I also add pacific blue-eye fish to the water ponds to help keep them clear of mosquitos. The pacific blue-eyes are native fish that don’t eat frogs eggs so are best for these types of ponds.

Stripey marsh frog in the garden

I love listening to them call each other as I am drifting off to sleep. By having the frogs make a home in my garden it tells me that my garden is healthy so I can safely eat the plants that I grow.

Why not try and make your garden more frog friendly? If you provide the right environment they will come! Even better, join with neighbours to extend the frog friendly habitat.

Happy gardening 🙂

Rohanne, your Personal Garden Expert

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The post Frog Friendly Gardens! In the night garden – a story of native frogs appeared first on Delectable Garden.

I was reading a blog on another website the other day about destructive bugs in the garden. Above all, I continue to be amazed at the number of gardeners that reach for Confidor, Bug Killa and other poisons to deal with unwelcome pests in their garden!

White cabbage moth

Being a gardener who is focussed on the Edible garden, I don’t want to spray my plants with anything that I don’t want to be putting into my body!

Even though I know that, Yes, there are “safe” withholding periods, and Yes, you can rinse the stuff off. However, I often eat foods that I pick while I am walking around my garden

Most importantly, the rinse off treatment doesn’t work for systemic poisons that have become part of the plant!

One of my go-to treatments for most bugs is Neem oil!

For those yet to discover this magical solution, Neem oil is created from the oil of Neem trees. I started using Neem oil a couple of years ago and I continue to be happy with how quickly and effectively it deals with many destructive bugs. Because this includes garden bugs such caterpillars, grasshoppers and scale!

Most importantly, this doesn’t negatively impact most of the good bugs in your garden. That is unless you want to attract butterflies into the garden, as its pretty non-selective in taking out all caterpillars! Just be sure that you don’t spray the Neem oil directly on to any of the good bugs like bees or hoverflies!

Chinese cabbage destroyed by caterpillars

As you can see from the photo, the white cabbage butterfly is probably my biggest challenge. And I’m not in a hurry to attract more of these into my garden! The good thing is that Neem oil deals with these critters effectively!

It is also one of the only solutions to the Blue Cycad moth, which can destroy a cycad plant in minutes!

Happy gardening 🙂

Rohanne, Your Personal Garden Expert

Related posts

Good Bugs for the Vegetable Garden

The post How to deal with Common Destructive Pests in the Garden appeared first on Delectable Garden.

ALIASES

I am the young larvae of moths and butterflies and will often be called after my parents, such as the white cabbage butterfly nymph caterpillar.

DESCRIBE YOURSELF

I’m a child star, and appear in a really well known children’s book! It’s true, I am a very hungry caterpillar, and even though I am very young. My enormous appetite is impressive! Coming in many sizes and colours, I am very recognisable.

I’m even known to be striped or spotted. I hatch from an egg and from these humble beginnings I rapidly grow. By the time I’m a teenager I can be from 25mm to 40mm long.

KNOWN ASSOCIATES

Mostly I associate with my siblings, although other moths and butterflies may also have laid their eggs in the same veggie patch.

WHERE DO I HANG OUT

I Love leaves, especially soft, fleshy ones, some fruits and fleshy young flower buds. I’m good at hiding and have some great camouflage techniques!

HOW DO YOU KNOW IF YOU’VE BEEN MUGGED BY CATERPILLARS

Your plants’ leaves are full of holes; there are loads of my dark green or black droppings around, and your fruit and flower buds have big bore holes in them!

MODUS OPERANDI

I love eating and chewing leaves and sometimes boring into fruit. I’ll work late into the night and often chew young plants right off at ground level! When I’m an adult, I fly around laying eggs for the next generation to emerge.

HOW DO YOU MAKE CATERPILLARS FEEL UNWELCOME

Squash me and my mates by hand or pay the neighbourhood kids to do it! It’s icky but effective! Collect me in a bucket and feed me to the chooks! Encourage or release some of my well known enemies like Assassin Bugs, Ladybirds and Lacewings (see also Good Bugs in your garden #1). Release some Bacillius thuringiensis bacteria (sold as Dipel or Vegetable Dust powder) to kill me and all members of my family. (It hurts no one else in the garden!). Put solar butterflies in your garden as I don’t like competition from my own sort and I don’t know the difference between real and fake butterflies. Cover your edible crops with fine mesh or similar. Then my beautiful mum can’t land and lay her eggs.

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