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Euonymus scale insect

B3B3 Posts: 27,505
in Plants
I've had to dispose of a mature euonymus that was killed by the scale insect. 
I want to replace it with something else. Does the insect attack any other type of plant?
In London. Keen but lazy.
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  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    other hosts include boxwood (Buxus), Bittersweet (Celastrus scandens), English Ivy (Hedera helix), holly (Ilex), privet (Ligustrum), honeysuckle (Lonicera), Paxistima canbyi, and Pachysandra terminalis



    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
  • floraliesfloralies Posts: 2,718
    That's a pity as they respond well to hard pruning before they kill the shrub. Apparently there are 25 species of scale insect!
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    Thanks @wild edges. Fortunately the plants from that list are out the back. The dead eunonymus was at the front. I hope the insects don't scramble over the house to get my green and white one which is covering a fence panel. The one that died was yellow and I didn't like it much anyway.
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • ButtercupdaysButtercupdays Posts: 4,546
    Funny you should ask that now :)   I've just been checking over the plants in the back porch for scale and found them, as expected, on the Oleanders and also on the old Ficus. Attacked them with some meths on cottonwool and the plants should be fine for a good few months. Though I can never get every single one, it gives the plants chance to recover. They seem to go for the more leathery leaves, the pelargoniums don't get them and neither do the begonias. I've never looked for scale outdoors.
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    One ailing small branch early last year. By the end of the summer it was smothered in insects. Now it's dead. They don't take long to kill a plant once they get hold.
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • floraliesfloralies Posts: 2,718
    I have taken mine down to ground level in the past, and it grew up again quickly the following year very healthy.
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    I wasn't careful. What's left of the trunk is split so I doubt it will survive. It's left a surprisingly big space. I'm quite looking forward to planting something else. 
    But that's good news if the one that I like gets it😊 @floralies
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    @B3They look really bad when attacked but will recover. I know of a hedge about forty plants in total. The golden form although silver Queen is just as prone to attack. Some of the hedge was affected some untouched and they are close together. 
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    @GardenerSuze. Just noticed that the silver queen leaves have gone floppy. It's too big to do the wiping thing. Do I need to cut it back to sticks or leave it and hope it recovers?
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    @B3 I think it is difficult to say at the moment it does seem early for them to really get going. I guess the mild winter is to blame. Even if it drops lots of leaves new ones will grow on the bare stems as it recovers, although it may take time for this to happen. You could then be facing yet another attack but in my opionion this isn't always the case either.
    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
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