Dealing with insect issues in early summer

We're barely into summer and already there are issues with insects.

Many gardeners are complaining of the black aphids that are in abundance this year and I've had quite an infestation of them myself. Aphids have soft pearshaped bodies, about 3 millimetres long, and are known to be green, black, pink or red in colour. They cluster in groups on plants like roses, tomatoes, beans and many ornamental shrub varieties. In fall, winged females mate with winged males and lay eggs that will hatch into wingless female aphids; then the adults die. During spring and summer, the female offspring reproduce asexually, to bear live young.

As a sap sucking insect, aphids are attracted to the yellow-green of young shoots, where they know there is plenty of sap and the shoots are easily penetrated. They excrete 'honeydew', a sweet byproduct of the sap taken in, and it can become a sooty mould on leaves, to spread disease.

The easiest way to dislodge aphids is with a blast of water from a hose or a spray bottle, or an organic insecticidal soap can be used to coat their bodies and suffocate them (something like Safer's soap, which is legal to use).

Mock orange with aphid damage. In my case, with being away, black aphids got out of control on the new growth of my mock orange and at the risk of losing my flowers, I had to prune off the top 10 to 13 centimetres to be rid of them. Also, we moved a 'Diablo' ninebark earlier in spring, and the trauma from moving such a mature shrub make it susceptible to the same aphids. Again, I cut all the affected branches off the shrub and it has come back pretty well.

The best organic management for aphids is to try and attract beneficial insects, such as ladybugs, lacewings, preying mantids and parasitic wasps, to control them. Bags of ladybugs can be purchased at some garden centres, and they should come out of a refrigerated area to ensure they are alive. Several hundred are packed in a cotton bag, and the cool air keeps them dormant until introducing a warmer temperature, then just go around the garden letting a few escape from the bag onto plants.

Preying mantis egg cases can also be purchased to hatch and distribute in the garden.

Ever notice that clusters of aphids have ants travelling up and down the stems along with them? Remember, the 'honeydew' is sweet and the ants have figured out that if they farm the aphids and milk them — stroke them lightly with their legs — they'll secrete this tasty liquid that the ants love.

And, that brings me to the second pest this year, ants. There are ant hills in the middle of perennials, along the driveway, in the unilock walk and anywhere else they've had the opportunity to excavate.

Boiling water or club soda poured down the holes may kill most of the nest. It is also known that they don't like cinnamon, so try sprinkling this around. Diatomaceous earth (several brands available) is a white abrasive powder made from ground-up shells that punctures their bodies when spread over ant hills.

Ants are always found on peony buds before they open, and this is because of the waxy coating that the ants find irresistible. They don't kill the peonies, nor do the peonies need the ants to open; this is just another instance of the ants recognizing a good thing.

Contact Judith with gardening questions at lavendercottage. rogers@gmail.co m.