With the calendar page turning I suddenly have relented that Summer is on it’s way out and it’s time to get my head into the Autumn garden. I actually love this time of year, however this time I have a lot more clean up than normal to take care of. My garden is starting to look pretty ‘funky’ with the courgettes looking quite moldy and the foliage of the cucumber beginning to turn in colour. With our recent move to the country I haven’t kept up with my garden routine the same way I usually would and I can certainly vouch for spending just a few minutes once a month for a quick once over for preventative care.
I find gardening is great for mentally accepting the close of long hot days, fish and chips at the beach and warm light evenings. With it being a little too cool and dark to enjoy all of those lovely recreation activities, I can turn to invest my energy into tidying the garden, picking the last of fruits and even making green tomato and purple bean chutney; a kind of Autumn ritual I have at this time of year. I noticed that the small fruit on my cucumber had not gotten any bigger, so last weekend I pulled out everything that has stopped producing and made some pretty special raw fermented goodness with the last of the tomatoes, courgettes, carrots and cucumbers.
In the garden shed I have unpacked boxes and picked over last seasons part used compost teas and found my Neem granules to protect the veggies against sucking and chewing pests for a bountiful harvest ahead.
Neem granules and Neem oil are from the Neem tree and are an organic product available at your local Palmers. Quite simply it should be in every gardeners supply cupboard. Neem works so well to control infestation; you will find that within a short time you will no longer need to spray for all sorts of bugs that overcome the garden and fruit trees quickly. You really can’t bypass Neem if you wish to be growing a healthy garden and reduce maintenance time outside.
Neem works on everything from grass grub, mealy bugs, nematodes, carrot flies, aphids, whitefly and gall. I like to use the granules in the ground and then spray my cabbage, broccoli, kale and cauliflower in Autumn to overcome aphids, white fly and green caterpillar. The best thing is that Neem does not affect worms at all so is very safe to use in the garden.
Try this method to protect your Lawn this Autumn from Grass grub
- Mow the lawn to 2 cm in length.
- Rake up trodden moss and dry grass from the turf.
- Sprinkle Neem granules at a rate of 80 grams per square meter of surface area.
- Water the lawn well and leave any additional planned treatments for 3 months.
The Neem will kill the lifecycle and breeding capacity of the grass grub, so will manage the dreaded brown off – a sure sign of infestation.