Just dreamed up a separate thread for this would be interested in responses - you have unlimited votes to find the 'Garden pest of the year' and also to post possible solutions to these various 'pests' - or are we the real pests in actually presuming (against all the laws of nature) that our gardens belong to us. Here are the candidates: Voles: Have eaten all my celery and half my carrots in the past - voracious little beasts. Have tried stinky smells, solar vibrating devices, flooding nests - but eventually fencing off endangered plants (also underground) with wire mesh. Snails: Can't say I have much of a problem here - other neighbours dream up incredibly barbaric solutions here - even our local Buddhists get aggressive here. Cabbage White butterflies: Can decimate cabbage plants in a few days. Aphids/ants: Put together because the latter farms the former. Have successfully banned both from fruit trees, but still to find a solution for blackcurrant bushes. seldom cause more than superficial damage. Tics: When you think that all has gone well in the garden and then realize that you need to remove 3-4 of these with pincers - normally I'm quite good at this. Wasps: Give them their own way and they will have all your fruit before you get to it. Honeybees: Why are they on the list ? Basically about as much part of the nature as milk cows and play a significant role in reducing wild bee and bumble bee populations. If you have a beekeeper close to you then don't be surprised if bumble bees become scarcer. Deer/wild boar: Probably only a problem to people in the middle of nowhere like frenchie and myself - unfortunately you can't just shoo away a wild boar ! Mosquitoes: And at the end of the day you get one of these bastards eating you whilst trying to sleep ! The neighbours cat: Or could it be him ? Us: Or even us - are we the biggest pest in the garden, disturbing the natural order of things by building greenhouses, sheds or laying down unnecessary tiles etc. ? All posts welcome, even sympathy ones
I have hundreds of voles, although I cannot claim to have counted them. I just see holes where they exit their underground operation planning centre, but they do not trouble me as much as moles. Lots of compost, watering when it doesn't rain, and with a bit of luck you might attract some worms. Moles believe that you are providing them with an invitation to dine out at your expense, and the next thing you find is that your nice row of peas or beans is heading towards the sky on the top of a molehill. They also love coming up along the green lane that leads to my fields, and you can suddenly find that one of your feet disappears down a hole. Cabbage whites are a pain, and I used to spend far too much time removing caterpillars from my greens. I did find a mixture that is regarded as organic, and seems to work, although it requires doing every two or three days. I did read that you can put a net about a foot above your cabbages and it disturbs their flight path, but haven't tried it. Slugs and snails have not been a problem this year as it has been far too hot and dry, but I have had great big orange slugs in years when it has been damp. Because of their colour they are easily spotted and take the aerial route to an adjoining field. Ants really have loved this hot dry weather, and I have been bitten to death by the little blighters when doing a bit of hand weeding. Thinking it was time to turn my compost I discover that one of my bins had become home to a nest, and there was quite a commotion as I started to turn things over. Only way to deal with them is ant powder, and I feel little sorrow in bumping them off. Walking towards the entrance of my fields the other evening just as it was getting dusk, two fully grown deer flew out of my field no more than a couple of metres away from me. They were quite a size and would have done me a fair bit of damage if they had jumped on me rather than over the hedge. They also take a delight in stripping bark from young trees, and because of their size can reach to quite a height. All of the areas that I grow vegetables in are protected against them by wire fencing after I found that a row of brussels had been demolished by them. Wild boar are around, but so far although I have seen signs of them rooting away at the grass, they have not caused any damage. I always take a good look around in my wooded areas just to make sure that there is not one lurking, as I don't really want to have to take refuge in my shed when I should be getting on. I try to live with these things we regard as pests, preventing them getting at my food rather than killing them off, and am quite happy to accept that sometimes I might get better results if I went down the chemical route. There are some things such as potatoes that I cannot grow in my soil, so I just don't try anymore. Go with nature and accept what you can grow is my advice to myself these days.
I accept the go with nature bit Frenchie, but grumble and do what I can to prevent damage. The one on my list which is not nature is, however, the honey bee. We have too many beekeepers in the area where I live, and, unfortunately, it is not really regulated as it should be. With the loss of hedgerows and meadows, together with fields full of either milk cows or maize the nutrition for wild bees and bumble bees has become drastically reduced - unfortunately some people come to the wrong conclusion and think that the best way of protecting bees is to become a beekeeper and harvest honey. Wild honey bees left the German landscape in the 18th Century and so what is being introduced is a highly bred bee which is being bred to reduce aggressiveness and increase honey production. Whereas honey bees, under natural circumstances, only reach populations of around 5-10 thousand per hive with the help of the beekeeping industry they reach 70,000+. So, under a mistaken idea of environmentalism, they unleash hives of that size onto a landscape which does not have enough nourishment for the few wild bees and bumble bees still in existence. Domestic honey bees can also hand diseases onto the wild population. People have developed a false idea about the vulnerability of bees, thinking that the honeybee is being referred to - in reality they could be replaced at any time through breeding programs (honey production is the highest it has ever been). Wild bees cannot be replaced in the same way and we rely on the bumble bee alone to pollinate all beans, tomatoes, blackcurrants, and about 40 other products which we eat - they also pollinate most fruit trees on windy and wet days when honey bees won't venture out. So of all the guests in my garden domesticated honey bees are actually the least welcome because they outcompete insects which we badly need. My only solution to this has been to plant flowers which I know can only be pollinated by bumble bees (because of the depth of the nectar) such as red clover.
We have a Dutch neighbour who kept bees until he had an Asian Hornet get into his two hives and within a couple of days wiped them all out. Maybe we are lucky but I still see lots of wild bees. The Asian Hornet is a real problem and is spreading a little further across Europe every year. There were reports that they were just starting to appear in Germany a couple of years ago. There are traps made to catch them designed for bee keepers, but there has been information on our village notice board about contacting the council if a nest appears, and they will send their specialist team along to zap it.
I caught an asian hornet in my front porch last year (hence the Avatar) and I released it, then wondered if I should have killed it I saw it again the next day on the other side of the same window Have not seen it since My only pest this year has been the weather One extra visitor has been Jackdaws and extra Magpies, they have scoffed all the food in the bird feeders and all my strawberries Less roadkill to eat which also means more squirrels
Asian hornets are mostly found in the South West of Germany Frenchie - although one has been found as far north as Hamburg. Personally I wouldn't know the difference between them and the European hornet (other than perhaps size, and the fact that European hornets are active at night whereas the Asian ones aren't). European hornets are a protected species here and my personal contact with them has been ok. in fact they seem like the gentle giants of the insect World. The European ones perform a great service in that they hunt mostly flies and also the wax moth (which has become such a threat to bee colonies). The main dangers for wild bees are land use change and loss of habitats, environmental pollution, climate change, use of pesticides, diseases and invasive alien species. I guess that the Asian hornet qualifies as an invasive alien species - but this applies also to honey bees - there is no such thing as a native honeybee ! I have had this conversation so often with beekeepers - often they are well meaning, and think they are doing something positive for the environment - but the reverse is the case. The jury is still out on the Asian hornet - they do not appear to be more aggressive to humans than the European variety and the loss to beekeepers is negligable - in fact they may, like the European hornet, be positive for beekeepers in that they hunt many insects which could be dangerous for bees such as the wax moth. They also hunt wasps but there is very little evidence that they are more dangerous for wild bees than birds would be.
Many pesticides have been banned in France much to the dismay of some farmers, but they seem to be getting the message as hedgerows that were grubbed out are starting to be replanted, not always in the same place, but good to see. We have had an explosion this year of sunflowers, often in places where maize had been planted year after year, so along with oilseed there is plenty for wild bees. I probably have seen more wild bees this year than I have for a very long time. Quite a large part of this area has turned green politically, so although it is too soon to tell it will be interesting to see what changes it brings about.
https://theconversation.com/keeping-honeybees-doesnt-save-bees-or-the-environment-102931 Good article here about the possible dangers of excessive beekeeping for the environment. In Germany it is illegal to keep bees within 2 kilometres of a nature conservation zone, but elsewhere it is hardly regulated, with amateur beekeepers setting up everywhere - there are an estimated 100,000 beekeepers in Germany, the environment cannot cope with this on top of all the other problems we have.
Full War is being declared on our neighbours wasps.. Found one nest by accident in a barbecue... Flushed it with smoke and now sprayed it... The main nest in the eaves of his roof we are just steeling ourselves for a night attack.. Might wait till after my dentists trip... Can't have too much trauma!
If you see an asian hornet in the UK you are required to report it to the authorities who will do all they can to eradicate it/them. I would have to add to your list Vine weavels Slugs
Scully, why is there so much paranoia about the Asian hornet ? I think we are talking about Vespa velutina (the Asian hornet) as opposed to Vespa Mandarinia (the Asian Giant Hornet) - if so they are no more dangerous to humans than European hornets would be. Or is it the fact that they sometimes attack honeybee hives which is the problem ? The problem here would be that the European hornet is a protected species (is that not the case in the UK ?) and I doubt that the average layman can tell the difference - the Asian hornet is slightly smaller and has yellow legs, but I don't think too many people are going to really identify it properly.
Everyone in our hamlet is struggling with wasps at the mo... I am a peaceful man in principle.. BUT...
The nest has been attacked tonight after discussion with various villages a night attack with torchlight and full wasp repellent gear, thanks to a neighbour, high pressure poison spray delivered.. No evidence as to how successful we have been.. No wasps fled the nest... Tomorrow will tell...
The problem is that it can wipe out honey bees, which is not good news. I know bee keepers are very concerned about it. https://www.ceh.ac.uk/news-and-media/news/report-asian-hornet-sightings
