AARRGGHH! Not again! I live in West Kent and have been robbed of my autumn red show from my Berberis thanks to these greedy little blighters! for the 2nd year running! Today I have finally seen them and am very cross that they have shredded my hedge - any ideas if they actually damage the bush - apart from eating the leaves and any idea which birds like to feast on these caterpillars? as I quite fancy the umbrella route but do not want to spread the infestation! any Advice gladly taken :O)
I have the same problem in Gosport Hampshire, I haven't sprayed much and they eaten the entire hedge which is a mature hedge of 15 years, does anybody know whether the sawfly has damaged the growth for next year please? Thanks - Sue
I came across these little fellas about 4-5 years ago. Yes they will come back year after year. If you spray you will have to spray upwards from under the leaves. Not my idea of dealing with the problem. I'm looking for something more predatory than chemical but found nothing so far. Alternative is let Virginia Creeper or somesuch grow over the Berberis and then you wont have to see the problem.
I noticed last night that my Berberis was almost completely bare of foliage and the branches covered in small caterpillars. Now i know what they are. We keep chickens and i picked a few off for them thinking i might have a solution but they refused to eat them. I put them on the bird table though and they were soon spotted by a robin who enjoyed the snack.
I have just looked up about this problem which I have never encountered before. I will now be looking for those caterpillars assuming that they have not already changed into sawflies. I live in Wendover, Buckinghamshire.
Two weeks ago I had a healthy 6yr old berberis in my front garden and now I have something that looks like a lace curtain. At least I now know what has caused it but I'm still waiting to find out if the plant will recover for next year. I'm in Wakefield, West Yorkshire and have never seen this happen before.
My berberis has lost most of its leaves this year, probably by the sawfly. If I prune it now in Oct/Nov and then spray with insecticide in the Spring is it possible for it to recover?
Am in Southampton, my beautiful mature 15 year old Berberis is pretty much no more due to infestation by what I know now is sawflies. Am going to get aggressive with the blighters this year as losing such a mature plant in the garden is just not an option! Best of luck everyone.
Reply. This insect is certainly spreading widely, as newly invading animals often do. Let's hope that natural predators, parasitoids or diseases follow shortly, to keep the sawfly in check.
Last year my enormous berberis hedge was eaten. We had no idea what was wrong until we saw tiny caterpillers climbing the house wall! The leaves have all returned this year and my hedge is looking beautiful, but I have noticed a multitude of flies around the base of it, I just know it is going to happen again! I dont want to spray, I have plenty of birds in the garden but they dont seem interested in delving into my thorny hedge. What can I do?
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