Biological controls

Raymond was the first person ever to use biological controls in a commercial set up in England.

Back in the 60s and 70s his family were growing lettuces, cucumbers and tomatoes in the Lea Valley and rather than using the sprays so popular then and seen as the answer to every pest problem, Raymond experimented with the parasitic insects that control whitefly, red spider mite, aphids and vine weevil. These are Encarsia formosa, Phytoseiulus persimilis and nematodes against slugs and vine weevil.

In the growing season, we have a delivery of the 'good' bugs once a fortnight and they are distributed around all the greenhouses which is why our customers so often ask us what the peculiar little paper sachets are that hang from wires and branches. Nematodes are watered onto the ground when the soil is warm enough. Bio controls really do work but it is essential that sprays are not used in conjunction with them because of course, all the helpful bugs will get killed off, too!

We encourage a lot of bird life into the garden and birds fly in and out of the greenhouses, nesting in them and using the many feeders we have there all year round. If a plant in the garden has aphids on it, we hang a bird feeder nearby and while queuing to use the bird feeder, the birds find the bugs.

A few years ago Matthew threw his jacket over a wire, forgot about it and came back next morning to find a wren nesting in the collar so that was one jacket out of use for quite some time. Sometimes, a plant can't be sold because a bird is nesting in the pot or in one of the fruit trees lined up in the sales area and our grand daughter was thrilled to find a blackbird's nest in a large potted up tree in a poly tunnel, just inches from where people are working. Our Cedrus atlantica contains a rookery and we see buzzards almost every day.

A cardboard tray full of seeds and crumbs is usually on the sales table and blackbirds, sparrows, chaffinches and robins are regularly seen feeding happily just inches away from staff and customers. Apart from the pleasure of watching the birds, they're a vital part of our need to control pests and they play their part enthusiastically. They use our ponds to drink from and on the tea room lawn there is a granite trough with a small fountain which is a much-enjoyed bird bath. They're often seen queuing up for the bathroom and shoving each other out of the way.

Jackdaws strut bossily around the tea room lawn picking up leather jackets and nest in the chimney of Sacha's study. The scolding and chittering that goes on drifts down the chimney and is very amusing, especially when you see the dogs trying to figure out where it's coming from!

Because there are a lot of badgers round here we don't get many hedgehogs but we do find them from time to time, or rather the dogs do and they have a particular 'hedgehog alert' bark which is monotonous, puzzled and insistent! Again, hedgehogs are very useful allies in the gardener's perpetual struggle against things that like to chomp on prize plants. We have a lot of bats flying around here in summer and some are nesting in a shed in which we keep garden tools. Bats eat a lot of insects and are very welcome for that alone, never mind the entrancement of watching their evening aerobatics on warm, dry nights.

If they can, Raymond or Matthew will answer your questions on biological controls via email. Please click on the link below to ask your question but please don't be impatient if your answer doesn't arrive immediately. Both work a full day on the Nursery every day, so their time is a bit thinly spread!


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Hill House Nursery
Landscove nr Ashburton
Devon TQ13 7LY
01803 762273
(click here to email us!)