PREDATORS, parasites and pathogens perform perfectly.
This six word tongue twister is not written to confuse you but to inform you that, in the world of organic pest, disease and weed control, there will almost certainly be an opposite force somewhere in the world that nature has allowed to evolve to keep the perceived problem under control.
Remember Newton’s Law of Motion – “for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.” All we, as gardeners have to do is to find it!
Over the centuries, unfortunately, we have brought plants from across the globe, looking only at their beauty or commercial value and ignoring, in most cases, how those plants fitted into the natural environment from which we chose to extract them.
Virtually all of our glasshouse pests have come from warmer, foreign climates, riding unseen on a piece of plant tissue ripped from a tropical rain forest or similar – scale insects, mealy bug, glasshouse whitefly, glasshouse red spider mite are all perfect examples.
Many of our most invasive weeds have been brought in by plant hunters as ornamental garden plants – giant hogweed, Himalayan balsam, Rhododendron ponticum, Japanese knotweed, to name but a few.
This problem has got worse in recent years, as the global market place seems to run out of control and, for our part, is only scantily checked by Her Majesty’s Border Agency staff – the result is that sudden oak death, scarlet lily beetle, box blight and many more previously unseen and unheard of problems are now plaguing our gardens, at a time when the quantity and diversity of suitable chemical controls is gradually but inexorably declining.
This dilemma now means that gardeners, growers and farmers are having to consider organic alternatives to add to the army of techniques for the management of these plagues that seem to be developing into biblical proportions.
Worldwide research into suitable predators, parasites and pathogens has increased dramatically over the last 25 – 30 years and is probably almost comparable to the gradual decline of man-made chemicals – read Newton’s Law of Motion again in the first paragraph!
Look out for nematodes to control vine weevil, slugs, chafer grubs and many more – visit www.nemasysinfo.com and visit www.greengardener.co.uk , www.biological-control.co.uk and www.buntingandsons.co.uk for more information on other types of biological control.
Further research by non-profit making organisations such as Garden Organic have shown us that, by gardening with nature, we can gradually increase the range and diversity of natural predators, parasites and pathogens that will help to keep pests, diseases and weeds down to manageable levels without us even knowing that these natural balancing acts are going on.
Ground beetles and centipedes consume slug and snail eggs as well as the resulting baby molluscs unseen by us, ladybirds and hoverfly larvae consume aphids in vast quantities and blue tits run up and down the trunks of fruit trees in winter, eating vast quantities of overwintering aphid eggs, without any interference from us.
I wonder what else is going on out there to help keep perceived problems at bay?
Take a look at the Garden Organic website to get more ideas on these and other organic gardening concepts – www.gardenorganic.orgh.uk or call them on 024 763 3517 for more information on their work and their gardens at Ryton near Coventry.
In next month’s article in the series I will be looking at susceptibility and resistance of our garden plants to problems and how we can help to ensure that these genetic features are preserved for future generations of gardeners and growers.
To contribute your thoughts and ideas to this series of articles, write to me at Graham’s Organic Alternatives, Features Office, Huddersfield Daily Examiner, Queen Street South, Huddersfield, HD1 3DU.
