Vine Weevil Horror

Hi we've just had our garden done & were initially thrilled with the results after waiting some considerable time to afford it! It seems as soon as the garden was finished I noticed chunks out of leaves on some plants. After targetting slugs & snails for a few days we realised there must be something else present so we went out after dark & found several vine weevils. Following investigation we've used nematodes a couple of days ago, but I have a couple of questions - I'm consumed by this; we go out after dark every night & pick vine weevils off our lovely plants & kill them - this is not how I envisaged enjoying our lovely garden would be. If we sit outside (not often at present) I'm looking for signs of damage all the time. Does anyone have any other ideas for killing the adults please - is there a deterrent & is there any hope for our plants? If we have to replace plants, what plants DON'T vine weevils like? I'm new to this - hope this isn't too long but I'm desperate!! Thanks, Eddie

 

Dont get too bothered eddie, we all have to put up with a certain amount of damage by pests.
You've applied the nematodes that work on the grubs so you should be OK, just dont let the ******s get you down.
The grubs do more damage to the roots than the adults to the leaves.

 

Eddie you have my deepest sympathy, vine weevils are one of the most annoying pests known to man. In my experience vine weevils understand what your favourite plants are and they target those. In my case it was a strain of double primroses that i had raised. They were unique and the only ones of that variety in the whole world and I had built up the stock to half a dozen plants. It was only too late that I found out what the grubs had done. They also did in several of my hardy cyclamen. These things take 3 years from seed to flower but did they care? Absolutely not. I swear they must be evil personified, sent to test the sanity of gardeners alongside the likes of Rachel de Thame and Monty Don.
I am wondering if you have bought in a lot of plants they have come in from the same nursery? I doubt you will get all the adults - they are all female by the way, they practise virgin birth so just one can start an infestation.
I think they will be laying in late summer so there are chemicals you can water on in autumn to kill the grubs.
They love plants in pots in peat compost, its the extra warmth. They particularly like fuchsia, primulas, cyclamen. The damage the adults do in notching the leaves is nothing to what the grubs do. They eat the root systems or hollow out corms, killing the whole plant.
You can lay out corrugated cardboard at night. The adults hide in there during the day and you can then knock them out into a bucket. Might reduce the numbers a bit and it is easier than prowling round at night.

 

hi eddie - gardening only in containers i understand your frustration

geoff - lol, you're right about them liking only favourite plants, they can't get enough of my tricyrtis...

provado do a vine weevil killer if you're not organic. i am, so use the nematodes twice a year and i think they're pretty effective - tho i've nothing to compare to cos i don't dare stop.

they've been out in force in the last few days though and i've stepped on a few - satisfyingly crunchy i find...

 

I planted 2 Actaea and 2 Filipendula in a border, the Actaea ended up with mildew and Filip with Vine Weevils - I was not a happy bunny! Anyway, I used the provado and removed any leaves, mulch etc. from around the base of the plant, seems to have done the trick. I like Geoff's idea of cardboard instead of the leaves for them to make a home in... nice trap!