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Unhappy viburnum tinus

AstraeusAstraeus Posts: 336
in Problem solving
Here are some photos to show the condition of my v.tinus Eve Price. It's one of five and the others have put on some nice green growth this year but this one isn't looking healthy. The top picture is the new growth (or its attempt at!) and the bottom is last year's growth.

Any ideas what is going on and what I could do to help it?


Posts

  • PalustrisPalustris Posts: 4,307
    Viburnum beetle infestation. Hard to deal with.
    You can squash or pick off the larvae and adults by hand, or you can remove and bin or burn the infested shoots. Alternatively, you can spray the larvae from mid-April to early May with any insecticide recommended for a broad spectrum of plant pests.

  • bcpathomebcpathome Posts: 1,313
    I’d cut it back to the good growth and start again .Don’t put the cut bits for garden recycle but .
  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    @Astraeus Agree hard to deal with, it can completely decimate V Tinus. It is all about breaking the life cycle. It can overwinter. I have seen some really bad infestations yuk! I have even dug one up for someone because it was so bad they wanted to grow something else.
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
  • AstraeusAstraeus Posts: 336
    Thanks folks.

    I've read into it and seen it suggested that the most damage will have already been done by the larvae so best to trim off the damaged parts and not worry about insecticide this summer but to get ahead of the curve next spring. A shame to lose a year's growth because the clematis using it as a support is growing wonderfully!
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