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Moved to new house - help me save this plant!
Wally McNee
Posts: 3
Hi guys,
I've moved into my first house and was wondering if there was a way to save this bush? Its around 15 feet long and the whole bush seems to be diseased.
0
Posts
I think that might be Viburnum beetle. If it is, you can save the plant by treating it with an insecticide. Provado do a good one which you need to use a couple of times during the year following the instructions on the container. You can also cut the shrub back and get rid of the damaged leaves and it will reward you later with lots of new growth.
I was going to dig mine out when I saw the damage but as it was going to be a big, tough job to remove it I decided to give chemical warfare a go first. I was really impressed with the result and the plant bounced back good as new after the treatment and some hard pruning. I believe it's important to get the timing right though as the larvae are the ones that do the damage and they appear early in the year. They also make a terrible smell which I initially mistook for cat poo! Hard to believe that tiny bugs can make such a disgusting and pungeant smell!
Have a read here https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=556
What insecticide would you recommend?
I'm not sure whether it might be better to spray first. If you trim while they are still alive you risk spreading the live ones to another part of the garden. I think I would spray first, make sure they are all dead then cut it back quite hard to get rid of all the damaged leaves. Viburnum are pretty tough and generally respond well to hard pruning.
See what anyone else thinks about whether to spray first or cut first.,
Thank you so much for your help! I will take a trip to B & Q tomorrow to get some insecticide!