Bugs

Slugs? They're ferocious. Or squirrels

Squirrels have nipped the flowers off my tulips...

Probably slugs, after many years of trying all sorts of options either nematodes or slug pellets - ones without metaldehyde which harms wildlife

Pigeons? They are very partial to fresh greenery.

I have some success at keeping slugs of new, tender plants by making mini cloches for them from empty plastic bottles with the caps removed. After a couple of weeks the plants establish enough for you to remove the bottle. I do litter picking in my town so sadly have a never ending supply of bottles.

Plants in pots and tubs are easier. I stand the tub on my gravel for a few weeks to let the plants establish. Slugs seem to dislike crossing the gravel.

I've got moats around my pots of hostas and young lilies. I stand the pots on stones in a tray and fill that with water. They're not standing in the water, just on their own little island and the slimy little burgers won't swim across

In my garden it’s deer or rabbits. I have to cover vegetables up with netting and grow flowers they don’t like.

grandMattie

Pigeons? They are very partial to fresh greenery.

They totally ruined Mums young lilac tree, broke it all down eating the new leaves🤬

My Forrest flame is under attack, the leaves have sooty mould. Got some neem oil & going to try that when I purchase a spray bottle.
Teaspoon of neem oil
Teaspoon of dish soap (only got cherry, does it have to be plain?
Mix the two, then add litre of warm water giving it a good stir
Pour into a spray bottle
1/2 the ingredients for a preventative measure.
Spray liberally top & underneath leaves.
Hopefully will sort my plants.

The RHS advises against using soaps or detergent to get rid of sooty mould.

Sooty mould is caused by sap sucking insects. The best way to deal with sap sucking insects is to do nothing and natural predators will come and deal with them for you.

Anything that interferes with the natural processes in your garden will upset the balance. Gardening organically is better for the environment, the ecosystem in your garden and saves money on expensive chemicals that just upset the balance of life going on in your flowerbed.

Surely, getting rid of the sap-sucking insects prevents the problem causex by their excretions.
That's what I read at the RHS.

Encouraging birds is a longer term solution.

It does NotSpaghetti, but f you get rid of the sap sucking insects then you don't give the predators opportunity to move in and do the job for you.

Ladybirds and their larvae, predatory midge larvae, earwigs, beetles and wasps all control sap sucking insects.

Once you build up a body of predators in your garden you don't need to keep treating the culprits.

Oh that’s interesting to know!
I had conflicting information from a gardener, to use neem & dish soap.
Never seen a lady bird in our garden.

What about neem on its own in warm water as it’s natural?

Next door has the same problem with their Forrest flame

I agree it’s so disheartening to see your plants full of holes or gone altogether. I’ve bought a few bedding plants this year but they’re all ruined now. I get so fed up with it. I did find sawdust seemed to stop them nibbling my newly-planted peas (my DH was doing a DIY project) but mostly it’s hopeless. Someone upthread mentioned attracting predators to the garden but how? My garden is small and surrounded by other gardens where nobody seems to care much. I would love to grow veg but I know everything would be chewed. How on earth do organic growers do it?

I garden organically and have very few problems with pests. The way to attract predators is by gardening organically, don't use any pesticides or herbicides, let the pests come and the predators will come along to deal with them. Also, don't be too tidy in your garden...leaf litter and patches of longer grass or a tangle of plants give the small creatures and bugs somewhere to live. Your pests give them something to eat and, if you leave out a bowl of water with some pebbles in (to stop the bugs drowning) I promise the predators will come.

The key is to holding your nerve when the pests arrive - just recently I had black fly on a plant and I really wanted to pick them off. I resisted and within a couple of days they were gone, something had come along and dealt with them.

Thanks to everyone who has responded, it is interesting to see the differing views. I’d love a bigger garden but have to make the most of containers in a small back garden. No grass.
My instinct is to now stick with egg shells and hope someone can suggest companion things that may deter and protect.

We have gardened organically too - as long as we have ever had our own garden - as students more than 50 years ago.

I would, however, get rid of "problematic" insects I'm afraid and not rely on nature alone to protect my precious seedlings (for example).

If you have any clever ways to keep the squirrels off tulips and unripe but un-nettable figs though - I'm definitely open to suggestions!
🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷

Pigeons have decimated my plum tree year after year and this year I hung old CD’s in the branches in an effort to deter them (Cliff Richard - that should do the trick!) because there are a large number of plums setting and I’d rather like to have some! It seems to be working.
Some pests you have to resort to searching out and picking off by hand - like the grubs that were hatching in the growing points of my delphiniums.

I had issues last year, new veg plants being decimated. Turned out the culprits were a couple of pigeons that had moved into the neighborhood. I had to net all of my veg until they grew bigger and the pigeons lost interest. Shame they didn't like the weeds.

I planted half a dozen new plants a week or so ago. I always surround them with slug pellets. spray with something supposed to deter rabbits, deer and squirrels and, you guessed it, the flowers have been eaten off all of them apart from the scabious. I'm fighting a losing battle.

Greyduster

Cliff Richard = the ultimate deterrent.

Try a saucer of beer to entice slug……..they like the smell, and apparently drown whilst drinking the beer. If there is no slugs in the saucer the following morning and the plants are still being munched then you’ll at least eliminate the slugs.