Garden Pest & Disease Guide

Identify and treat 62 common garden pests, diseases and weeds in Ireland.

Annual Meadow Grass
Weed
Annual Meadow Grass is one of the most ubiquitous annual grass weeds in Irish gardens.…
Aphids
Insect
Aphids are small sap-sucking insects that affect virtually every type of garden plant in Ireland.…
Bindweed
Weed
Bindweed is one of the most notoriously persistent perennial weeds in Irish gardens. This twining…
Blackspot
Disease
Blackspot is a fungal disease that is the most common and serious disease of roses…
Blight (Potato & Tomato)
Disease
Blight (Potato & Tomato) is a devastating fungal-like disease that can destroy potato and tomato…
Botrytis (Grey Mould)
Disease
Botrytis (Grey Mould) is a fungal disease also known as grey mould that affects many…
Bramble
Weed
Bramble is one of the most thorny perennial weeds in Irish gardens. This vigorous thorny…
Cabbage white butterfly
Insect
The large cabbage white butterfly is one of Ireland's most familiar garden butterflies, but its…
Canker
Disease
Canker is a disease causing sunken, dead areas on bark of trees and shrubs that…
Capsid bug
Insect
Capsid bugs are small, green or brown plant bugs about 6mm long that cause distinctive…
Carrot fly
Insect
Carrot fly is one of the most persistent pests for Irish vegetable growers. The adult…
Caterpillars
Insect
Caterpillars are the larval stage of butterflies and moths, and many species cause significant damage…
Chafer grub
Insect
Chafer grubs are the larvae of chafer beetles, living in the soil where they feed…
Chickweed
Weed
Chickweed is one of the most common and prolific annual weeds in Irish gardens. This…
Cleavers (Goosegrass)
Weed
Cleavers (Goosegrass) is one of the most scrambling annual weeds in Irish gardens. This annual…
Clubroot
Disease
Clubroot is a soil-borne disease that causes severe swelling and distortion of roots that affects…
Coral Spot
Disease
Coral Spot is a fungal disease that causes bright coral-pink pustules on dead wood that…
Couch Grass
Weed
Couch Grass is one of the most aggressive perennial grass weeds in Irish gardens. This…
Creeping Buttercup
Weed
Creeping Buttercup is one of the most aggressive spreading weeds in Irish gardens. This low-growing…
Damping off
Disease
Damping off is a common and frustrating disease that affects newly germinated seedlings, causing them…
Dandelion
Weed
Dandelion is one of the most common perennial weeds in Irish gardens. This deep-rooted perennial…
Dock
Weed
Dock is one of the most persistent perennial weeds in Irish gardens. This deep-rooted perennial…
Downy Mildew
Disease
Downy Mildew is a fungal-like disease that thrives in cool, damp conditions that affects many…
Earwig
Insect
Earwigs are familiar insects in Irish gardens, easily recognised by the curved pincers (cerci) at…
Fireblight
Disease
Fireblight is a serious bacterial disease that makes affected branches look scorched by fire that…
Flea beetle
Insect
Flea beetles are tiny jumping beetles, usually 2-3mm long, that pepper the leaves of brassicas,…
Fusarium Wilt
Disease
Fusarium Wilt is a soil-borne fungal disease causing wilting and yellowing of plants that affects…
Garden Algae
Weed
Garden Algae is one of the most primitive plant growth on hard surfaces in Irish…
Grey mould (botrytis on ornamentals)
Disease
Grey mould on ornamental plants is caused by the ubiquitous fungus Botrytis cinerea, the same…
Ground Elder
Weed
Ground Elder is one of the most troublesome perennial weeds in Irish gardens. This spreading…
Himalayan Balsam
Weed
Himalayan Balsam is one of the most invasive non-native annual weeds in Irish gardens. This…
Honey Fungus
Disease
Honey Fungus is a the most destructive fungal disease of trees and shrubs in Ireland…
Horsetail
Weed
Horsetail is one of the most ancient and extremely persistent weeds in Irish gardens. This…
Ivy (Invasive)
Weed
Ivy (Invasive) is one of the most vigorous self-clinging climbing weeds when growing out of…
Japanese Knotweed
Weed
Japanese Knotweed is one of the most invasive non-native weeds and the most destructive invasive…
Lawn Fairy Rings
Weed
Lawn Fairy Rings is one of the most mysterious lawn problems in Irish gardens. This…
Lawn Moss
Weed
Lawn Moss is one of the most persistent lawn weeds in Irish gardens. This non-flowering…
Lawn Thatch
Weed
Lawn Thatch is one of the most common lawn problems in Irish gardens. This layer…
Leatherjacket
Insect
Leatherjackets are the larvae of crane flies (daddy-long-legs), and they are among the most damaging…
Lily beetle
Insect
The lily beetle is a strikingly beautiful but devastatingly destructive pest of lilies, fritillaries and…
Liverwort
Weed
Liverwort is one of the most primitive non-flowering weeds in Irish gardens. This flat, green,…
Mare's Tail
Weed
Mare's Tail is one of the most extremely persistent perennial weeds in Irish gardens. This…
Mealybug
Insect
Mealybugs are small sap-sucking insects covered in a distinctive white waxy coating that gives them…
Onion fly
Insect
Onion fly is a common pest that attacks onions, shallots, leeks and garlic in Irish…
Oxalis
Weed
Oxalis is one of the most persistent bulbous weeds in Irish gardens. This small perennial…
Pearlwort
Weed
Pearlwort is one of the most small mat-forming weeds in Irish gardens. This low-growing perennial…
Phytophthora Root Rot
Disease
Phytophthora Root Rot is a devastating water mould disease that attacks roots and lower stems…
Powdery Mildew
Disease
Powdery Mildew is a fungal disease characterised by white powdery patches on leaves and stems…
Ragwort
Weed
Ragwort is one of the most poisonous biennial weeds in Irish gardens. This biennial or…
Red spider mite
Insect
Red spider mite, more accurately called two-spotted spider mite, is a tiny arachnid pest that…
Rust
Disease
Rust is a fungal disease that produces characteristic orange, yellow or brown pustules on leaves…
Scale insect
Insect
Scale insects are small sap-sucking pests that attach themselves to the stems, branches and leaves…
Silver Leaf Disease
Disease
Silver Leaf Disease is a fungal disease causing a distinctive silvery sheen on leaves that…
Slugs
Insect
Slugs are one of the most destructive garden pests in Ireland, thriving in the country's…
Snails
Insect
Garden snails are among the most recognisable pests in Irish gardens, carrying their distinctive spiral…
Stinging Nettle
Weed
Stinging Nettle is one of the most common and painful weeds in Irish gardens. This…
Thistle
Weed
Thistle is one of the most prickly perennial weeds in Irish gardens. This spiny perennial…
Thrips
Insect
Thrips (singular: thrip) are tiny, slender insects about 1-2mm long that feed on the flowers,…
Verticillium Wilt
Disease
Verticillium Wilt is a soil-borne fungal disease that blocks water-conducting vessels in plants that affects…
Vine weevil
Insect
Vine weevil is one of the most damaging pests in Irish gardens, attacking both ornamental…
Whitefly
Insect
Whitefly are tiny white-winged insects that infest greenhouse and conservatory plants throughout Ireland. The glasshouse…
Wireworm
Insect
Wireworms are the larvae of click beetles, living in the soil for up to five…

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