Viburnum Beetle

Yesterday was the first time in very many years that I have had to go out and buy chemicals for the garden. We have a serious infestion of viburnum beetle and three viburnums are very badly affected. According to the RHS viburnum beetle has become the number one pest .

These are variegated viburnums and are about 7ft tall and 6ft diameter and we have the choice of spraying or removing them. It would be too much work to remove them and I won't let the little bugs defeat me. It's just a week or two too early to spray so I may do it next weekend if the weather is right. Then give it a few weeks before I remove the the brown and eaten leaves and give it another spray. I hope that will eventually get rid of them.

Fortunately these viburnums are far enough away from our veggie plot for no chemicals to be able to drift there. Our garden has been 'organic' for over 30 years.

 

It started a couple of years ago but wasn't too bad but has gradually got worse. You had better keep a close eye on yours just in case.

 

I'll take some photos and put them up this evening.

 

I think I understated the size of each bush. This is one of them and doesn't look too bad from a distance.




But as you get closer you can see the problem













Most of this was last year's damage.

The beetle goes into the soil at the end of summer after laying its eggs in the tips of the growing shoots. The eggs hatch and the grub (?) starts on the leaves and can skeletonise it completely but tends to move from one juicy leaf to another causing damage.

It only seems to have affected our variegated viburnums.