More oil on the hedge

kw: gardening, hedges, pests

As I reported last May, I sprayed our hedge with horticultural oil spray to control privet rust mites. The trouble with them is, by the time you discover they are there, they've already done most of the damage they are going to do this season. So here it is, June, and I ought to have re-sprayed a month ago. The spraying last year reduced the problem a lot, but not completely. I spent a couple hours Sunday afternoon spraying, in hopes it would do some good this year.

I noticed on the back of some affected leaves, larger critters, barely big enough to see without magnification, and faster moving. Further digging at horticultural web sites got me an identification: privet thrips. Fortunately, they are also susceptible to oil spraying, but a heavier dose is recommended. As it happens, I did use a heavier dose this time.

We decided to put this on our calendar for next year, in early May: spray again and see what arises in June.

Oil down that hedge

kw: gardening, hedges, pests

This little mite, seen here in an image from Branching Out at Cornell, bedevils privet, camellia and similar plants. It takes a strong magnifier or microscope just to see them; they are less than a quarter of a millimeter long (about 1/100 inch). Eryophyid mites are unusual in having only four legs. They crawl very slowly and some call them "worm mites", but they are smaller than even the tiny C. Elegans nematode.

I have about 400 feet of privet hedge, and though I sprayed with oil last fall, I see signs of privet rust mite damage. So I bought two quarts of horticultural oil today, and I plan to spray both sides of all the hedge plants tomorrow. Fortunately, this oil is not toxic, just a bit messy. It smothers the little critters.

Last fall, shortly after spraying, I cut back the hedge on one side where it fronts a sidewalk, that it was overlapping rather seriously. The open side is beginning to fill in with new growth, so this is the perfect time to spray through the hedge to the back side of the leaves on the other side.

Hedges

kw: opinion, yard maintenance, hedges

Since moving to the East Coast, for the past ten years we've been the proud owners of a privet hedge-nearly 300 feet thereof! Being do-it-yourself sorts, we bought an electric hedge trimmer and a set of hand hedge shears.

Five months of the year, we need to trim this monster, monthly at the very least, and every three weeks is actually better for the plants. Since we do a section at a time, as we're able, it takes nearly the month to get done, at which time we start over. My wife doesn't like to use the electric, so she actually does quite a lot of work with the shears!

I won't belabor it. Suffice it to say, I'll never buy a house with a hedge again.