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Using pesticide on shrubs/plants for bees
motorman1
Posts: 42
Hi,
I bought these shrubs for the Bees and Butterflies but find they are both effected annually by pests. Caropteris gets a pest which deforms growth tip and new buds. Buddleia gets a caterpillar nesting in it's growth tips too. Deforming leaves. 
I end up with a sick plant
Last edited: 13 May 2017 11:34:30
0
Posts
The simple answer is no you can't.
The caterpillars that you are going to kill, will become the butterflies you are trying to encourage.
When you don't even know who's in the team
S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
Just nip out the affected leaves. If it's greenfly, just wipe them off or spray with water. A healthy plant will shrug off most pests quite easily. Buddleias are very tough - you can prune off those ends (after the caterpillar has gone) or remove distorted leaves and it'll grow plenty more. Mine are like that just now. It will still be covered in flowers later in the year
Encourage some wildlife into the garden too. That means you don't have to resort to chemicals which kill all the beneficial insects and predators as well as the pests.
Last edited: 13 May 2017 11:40:41
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I think it means the shrubs suffer so bad that they cannot produce flowers. If I keep taking the buds off then there'll be no flowers or growth. The Buddleia is Buddleia weyeriana and this one seems to get it quite bad. The Caryopteris is a bit of nightmare too. I gave up on it at my parents and now at mine.
Yes, if plants get hit by slugs then I keep them for a while using the Iron type pellets then I put something else in which is hopefully unaffected.
These two specimens are not too great to be honest. Normal Buddleia gets this issue with caterpillars but less so. Off to the compost heap for these two. The two plants are fantastic and I think the Buddleia weyeriana is longer flowerig (I think) and maybe the best for insects. Shame it gets attacked.
As I thought, the bin for these two.
try blasting the bugs with a hose nozzle set on jet.
If shrubs/plants are very crowded it makes them weaker, and therefore more vulnerable too. Is that the case with these? Strong, healthy plants in general, can shrug off pests more easily. Correct pruning also helps.
The best defence against pests is to attract plenty of birds into the garden - along with the jet of water approach, as Hosta says.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...