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Sawfly
biofreak
Posts: 1,089
I have decided to move my strawberries and replace them by moving the gooseberries away from where they had sawfly this year, and planting them in the ex-strawberry bed. How do I stop sawfly coming back - will they move with the bushes. Should I treat them now or wait until the spring? All ideas welcome.
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Sawfly overwinter as pupae which hatch to the flying form in Spring. The flies mate and then lay eggs on the bushes. The chances are that there are pupae in the soil under the bushes, so when you move them dig over the soil where they were, stamp it flat and dig it over again. Doing that a couple of times will probably kill all the pupae. Remember to add manure or other fertilizer afterwards and before planting the strawberries in the area as the gooseberries will have used up most of what was in the soil under them.