I have this in one part of my garden and have been trying all year to get rid of it. I agree that it's a very attractive plant, but it just spreads so much that it smothers anything. I'm all for wild flowers, infact i have a wild flower border but this is just too invasive to have near the garden, so i've been digging it up and planting bits of root well away from the house down the side of our field.
I'm hoping that one year of constant digging up the shoots that appear all over the area will kill it.. we shall see.
Thank you for answering my question as to the type of catapillars that are feeding on my rosebay willowherb. They are chubby characters, about the length of my little finger, browny black in colour with 2 decorative eyes on their rears.
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I stand corrected. Thank you oldchippy
I'm hoping that one year of constant digging up the shoots that appear all over the area will kill it.. we shall see.
The ones with eyes on the rear are usually hawkmoth caterpillars.
http://www.wildlifeinsight.com/british-caterpillar-galleries/british-moth-caterpillar-galleries/
Elephant Hawkmoth caterpillars like willowherbs
In the sticks near Peterborough