Forum home› Problem solving
This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.

Bay tree being eaten

emma688emma688 Posts: 22
in Problem solving
Just wondered what might be eating my bay tree. I repotted it earlier this year and there was no obvious sign of vine weevil.
Any help would be greatly appreciated

thanks

Posts

  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    That looks as if adult vine weevils have been chomping on them 😠 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • philippasmith2philippasmith2 Posts: 3,742
    Agree - they do like a bit of flavour every now and then :)
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    I queried similar last year and decided it must be vine weevil but my tree is big enough to cope and next door's sparrows may have had something to do with it. Anyway. No problem this year.
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • emma688emma688 Posts: 22
    Thanks for the replies, really helpful. This may seem a daft question to ask, but do I need to treat it or can I leave them and let winter sort it out. I can’t see any obvious bugs on the plant itself - will it eventually kill the tree? The plant is in a pot and approx 1m x 1m and it well established. 

    Thanks
  • didywdidyw Posts: 3,573
    Adult vine weevils eat the leaves but it is their larvae that do the most damage, under the soil eating the roots.  You can buy nematodes that come in a packet.  You mix them with water and water the pot with them.  It should be OK to do it now as the soil will still be warm and the nematodes can get to work eating the grubs.  But if you can get the plant out of its pot and examine the soil and you see C shaped grubs, you can tip that soil out and let the birds eat the grubs and replant in fresh soil.
    Gardening in East Suffolk on dry sandy soil.
Sign In or Register to comment.