Each plant is different and it is essential that you get to know your plants so that you recognize if they are in distress and can then rapidly remedy any problem.

        When your plants are not getting what they need often discoloration to the foliage of the plant.  Also the plant's growth will slow. It will not be growing the way it was and there will be little to no new growth. Also, the plant will seem to be more sensitive to the amount of water it is getting, as well as increased sensitivity to heat and cold.  If a plant is getting too much fertilizer, then sometimes the leaves will look scorched, although this is not a problem when using natural mulch from a compost pile.

       There are specific gardening soil deficiencies that have specific symptoms, which if diagnosed, can allow the gardeners to rectify the problem and bring their plants back to health once again.  If the plants have a calcium deficiency the leaves of the plant will look hook shaped and the tips of new growth will die without seemingly without cause.  To fix this problem, mulch needs to be added that is calcium specific and the plants will soon be back to normal again.  Another deficiency that has noticeable attributes is magnesium. If there is a magnesium deficiency the leaves of the plant will turn a yellow colour.  Epson Salts will normally rectify this issue.

Wash off aphids: If small plants or shrubs  are infested  with aphids, sprinkle  them  with wood ash or talc. The next day hose down the plants that have been treated.

Prevent pests from climbing tree trunks: Grease bands placed around trunks at 30cm from the ground,  prevent climbing pests, such as the wingless  females  of the winter moth, from reaching the branches. Apply  the bands  from October  to January, then the moths emerge  to lay their eggs.

Welcome useful insects:  Beneficial insects,  such as ladybirds and lacewings, which feed on aphids and other  pests,  cannot prevent these  insects from proliferating  but they  ease  the problem by keeping their numbers at a manageable  level. Most helpful insects need flowers  to feed on when they reach the adult stage, so offer them the ones  they prefer:  Compositae (sunflowers,  marigolds,  asters, cosmos,  and oxeye  daisies)  or Umbelliferae  (wild carrots,  fennel and angelica).

 

Aphids on the run:  Aphids  are discouraged  by the extreme bitterness  of aloe, a plant from hot desert regions. Dissolve 1g of aloe resin (available from a herbalist  or hardware  shop) in one litre of water  and use a large  paintbrush  to cover the trunk and branches  of vulnerable trees with the mixture.

A sex trap for codling moths:  The caterpillars of codling moths can decimate your pear, apple and plum trees by burrowing into the mature fruit. You can buy traps baited with capsules that give off pheromones  - synthetic sexual substances similar to those  given off by the females  -  capable of attracting male  codling  moths from a great distance.  Use these from April to August to catch the male moths  and reduce  the mating  chances of the females.