Quote:
Originally Posted by kika
My neighbour offererd to come spray verderame on my trees. Had no idea what it was and have since found out and declined the offer for the time being.
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My dictionary says that '
verderame' means - logically enough - verdigris which,
according to Wikipedia, has been used as a fungicide. Given that it's also toxic to humans, I imagine it would probably deal with at least some insect problems you might have. However, it's not something I'd want sprayed around my garden.
I wonder, however, if your neighbour's reference to 'green copper' might not have been a colloquial term for
copper sulfate, or some variation on what's called Bordeaux mixture in English speaking lands. They do seem to spray this stuff with abandon here (look out for the vinyards with totally blue leaves in a couple of months), although I have heard it suggested that agricultural chemical manufacturers pander to this tradition by including an inert blue-green powder in their products.
I do think you're right to jsut stand back and pay attention to what's going on in your garden this first year. A notebook or computer diary might be helpful: something I always tell myself I should keep, but never do and so always end up forgetting how things progress as the days trip by.
Myabruzzohome is right about trees having a natural lifespan. Cherries are supposedly good for about 20 years only, although I suspect the one in our garden with a trunk 18 inches in diametre is a lot older than that and it's in very good health with a good crop of cherries developing. Myabruzzohome is also right about lack of water being a problem, quite a few trees in our garden either died completely, suffered die-back or looked very unhappy and produced little or no fruit during the 2006-07 drought here.
I hope you discover over the next few months that things are a lot brighter in your garden than you currently suspect.
Al