Pest and Diseases

By Denis Crawford

Gardening for wildlife has been in vogue for some time, but gardening for insects seems to be gaining in popularity. How do you create an insect garden without increasing pest numbers?

This Pest Files was inspired by an article I read on BBC online titled ‘Why you should let insects eat your plants’.… Continue reading

By Denis Crawford

Several invasive insects currently of concern to the horticultural industry have something in common – the ability to travel long distances in horticultural material.

If reading a newspaper recently might make you think that we are under threat from invasive insects from all points of the compass, you would be right.… Continue reading

By Denis Crawford

Conventional wisdom tells us that the bush will recover after fire, and that the wildlife will return. It’s not that simple.

I’m not likely to forget February 13^th 2024. It was the day a bushfire descended on my local town of Pomonal, destroyed 45 homes, many sheds and other structures, kilometres of fencing, and over 2700 hectares of bushland and private land.… Continue reading

By Denis Crawford

Insects that spread plant diseases are known as vectors of that disease. It’s important to know that some insects are more efficient vectors than other others.

Insects which transmit plant diseases are mostly sap-sucking insects of the insect order Hemiptera.… Continue reading