Hi From SW Victoria in Australia

[antesoo]

Hi Folks, Nice to find a like minded group to share ideas with.
I am recently retired and just moved onto a country 3/4 acre of fruit and nut trees.

I chose this place for its underground water and established trees- didn't care what the house was like but now find it costing me heaps in renovations as borers have eaten it out from under.
I have installed three water tanks, a chookshed and am having a bore put in, as it seems water is less than 20 mt down and very reliable here. My neighbour has a similar block and it is all LAWN !!! Aghhhh He waters it constantly so it is very green. I am wondering about a solar pump for the bore. Anyone have experience with these?

The ground is great - very fertile with rich highly volcanic soil. So far I have struck lots of fig trees and am growing small leaved Lillypillies for hedge/windbreak to the west, and maybe to swap, I have heaps on the go.
I am also having to learn to live with new bugs here as I came from a desert environment in the Wimmera - no snails there - too dry.

Now I have slugs, snails and zillions of harlequin bugs - any ideas for controlling them organically?

[Michaelangelica]

Now I have slugs, snails and zillions of harlequin bugs - any ideas for controlling them organically?

Welcome
There are many threads on controlling snails and slugs here. (Duck(s) is a good remedy) Just search in the upper right hand search space on this page.

As for harlequin bugs, nasty buggers spit at you!
A friend used to knock them off trees into a pail of water. I think she may have used some cleaning liquid on the end of the stick (bleach?)
You could try washing them off with a hose and then spray tree with seaweed fertiliser and add lots of other fertiliser/mulch to help the health of the tree. (test the pH too)
This will help the tree build up its own resistance to disease and bugs

[antesoo]

Thanks for the welcome. The harlequin bugs -I have read- have a waxy coating that repels most sprays organic or otherwise.I have way too many on my vegies (they have stripped the rhubarb to sticks) to knock them into a bucket.Chooks don't eat them as they are toxic to birds too.
Ducks for slugs and snails I can do.My pondliner arrived today from Home & Outdoor on Ebay, so now I need to dig a pond-8mt x 5mt !!! oh my back! LOL HMMM how do I get to have frogs and ducks together I wonder - oxymoron?

[labradel]

hi i was from the wimmera and am interested where in the wimmera were you from for me nhill is my home town

[Terra]

Welcome
ive killed a lot of harlequin bugs using a rechargeable "car" vac cleaner , if you find a gathering suck them up and empty into hot water , you learn to scan for them and stomp on them horrid things .

[briansworms]

Dig the pond and the frogs will come. I put in a pond for my turtles and the frogs moved in too. I suppose they must be quick frogs or slow turtles. Put in some native fish to control the mozzies. Here in Qld I enclosed my pond with 25mm wire mesh to keep the Cane Toads out.

Brian

[teela]

Hi and welcome antisoo. I'm just interested in your pond building as I am thinking of making a similar sized pond here. Do you think a liner is strong enough? I was thinking about concrete but then you can get cracks...? Was the liner very expensive and does it come in standard sizes. I'd love to make 2 ponds connected by a creek but we'll see how we go with the first one for now. We have also looked into solar pump and filter for the pond. And a solar pump for our bore was something I was thinking about too but apparently our bore is too deep.
I too moved from a dry area to a wetter (well usually) area. Takes some getting used to...and all those different varieties of weeds!

[briansworms]

Pond liners come with usually a 20 year warranty. I used a pond liner about 5 years ago for my turtle pond. I also built a home made gravel filter about 4 years ago. It holds a cubic metre of just river rock. The filter has never been cleaned and the water is still crystal clear. I put a link below.


http://forums.permaculture.org.au/sh...2095#post82095

[antesoo]

I Put a liner in a pond I built in the Wimmera and it lasted the 14 years before I left without a problem. You do need to layer some sand and maybe old carpet or underfelt underit so no stones move up with the weight of the water. Cement is not environmentally friendly and can leach lime into frog ponds for the first year or so.

Labradel: I was from Blackheath between Horsham and Warracknabeal a seven acre pimple on my neighbours 4000 acres! LOL Big sky country but too dry for my liking and that last 11year drought just about finished me and my garden.
Now I am in cooler wetter climate and so far with the exception of harlequin bugs - enjoying the change

Terra: I can just see you vaccing those darn bugs up, but we are talking zillions and not in any one place, and right to the top of my almonds and fig trees, between every leaf in the silverbeet.Stripping the rhubarb leaves, cabbages, broccoli etc etc and all this on 3/4 acre of lots of garden and fruit trees- think a forest and you get the idea- so I cannot see how I could do it. I will proactively search out their nesting sites next season and get the little blighters before they grow .I am told they like certain weeds including marshamallows to breed on, but I back onto farmland so I am never going to have full control of weeds outside my fenceline. When I hose the rhubarb they run from every direction and boy can they move. I need to find a predator for them and host it.Still looking! LOL

[antesoo]

Teela, I brought the pond liner on ebay there is one company there that sells lots of sizes and not bad prices- very strong and guaranteed - they are a full company but use ebay to enhance their sales= it arrived in three days and is exactly like the last one I brought. Just search pond liners on ebay in AU and you will find it.