something is eating our Vibernum Tinus

blackcoffee

Our front 'hedge' has been poorly for a while, today we finally decided to take action, mainly as my husband is giving it an annual trim tomorrow night, and so hadnt realy inspected it before.
not sure am I allowed to upload pictures to show what it looks like ? Please tell me off If I am not supposed to.
(hope this works)

Healthy & badly nibbled bit



close up




this is a back of one of the leaves, incase this looks familiar, it a sort of cotton wool rock hard blob, can you see it ? it isnt on every leaf so it may no be the casue, we have thoroughly inspected for insects and cant see or find anything, apart from spiders. (do they eat leaves?)

Kay_Peel

I had exactly the same thing on my Viburnam Tinnus two years ago and did some research.

I found out that it was the larvae of the Vine Beetle. It doesn't cause too much damage, I was told, but it made my tree very unsightly. The advice given was:

1. Put some fat balls on the viburnum from November to early spring. The birds will eat the eggs that have been laid on the new shoots.

2. Cut back most of the disfigured branches in early Spring and let some light in. The adult beetles will be hiding in the leaves. I cut it back quite hard and it rewarded me with lots of replacement shoots. Two years down the line and you wouldn't know that I had hacked it to bits.

As I was working on the Viburnum a very cheeky robin was standing a few feet from me having a feast on the branches that I was about to put into my 'green waste' bin. The fat balls kept the birds working on the Viburnum throughout the winter, I'm sure.

And I haven't had any chewed leaves since I followed the advice. :j

:beer:

blackcoffee

we had thought that hacking it back would be an option, its on our front lawn running along side the cul de sac pavement so we just wanted to keep it 'pretty'

but thankyou so much for replying. xxx

Davesnave

There is a viburnum beetle, but it produces damage even worse than that which you've experienced:

http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/todo_now/faqs.php?id=179

Been there, had that!

I think Kay means vine weevil, which is a beetle. It's the adult that chews chunks out of the leaves; the larvae feed on roots. You will find adults most prolific after dark. Achieving fewer adults means reducing larvae first, and here nematodes are pretty effective, if the ground can be kept moist.

westiea

hi

found this and wondered if you have any vine weevil loving plants near by that could be the the adult beetles nursery for the grubs - Heuchera, Polyanthus, Primulas, strawberries - in pots are the worst as they are sheltered!

Worth having a dig around at base of infested plants too and see if the grubs are there.

Link here for various chemical and organic treatments.