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mahonia pests

katdkatd Posts: 10
in Problem solving

I have a mahonia aquifolium which is 2 yrs old,it has small caterpillars which are eating the leaves right down to the stems,has any one any ideas what they are,do i need to get rid of them if so how.

Posts

  • nutcutletnutcutlet Posts: 27,445

    Pick them off if they're doing too much damage. Imagine how many beneficiial insects a systemic insecticde will kill offimage



    In the sticks near Peterborough
  • katdkatd Posts: 10

    I will pick them off if necessary but i don`t want to get rid of anything beneficial.

  • nutcutletnutcutlet Posts: 27,445

    I just let things be but that's how I run my garden. Things seem to balance themselves out over time.image



    In the sticks near Peterborough
  • LiriodendronLiriodendron Posts: 8,328

    I last used a systemic insecticide 40 years ago, just after I got my first "proper" garden, when I found an aphid infestation on a hypericum 'Hidcote'.  I can still remember the sound of ladybirds falling off the shrub image  and have never used it since.

    Picking caterpillars off by hand is time consuming and a bit gruesome, but to my mind is infinitely preferable to killing beneficial insects.  Sorry, Chris Beardshaw...

     

    Since 2019 I've lived in east Clare, in the west of Ireland.
  • katdkatd Posts: 10

    I think i`ll wait and see what happens,if it get`s too bad i`ll pick them off, from what`s been said it seems the best idea.

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