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Viburnum beatle

KatrinaguyKatrinaguy UsernamePosts: 3
in Problem solving
Advice. I have a Viburnum opulus roseum - Snowball Tree, it’s around 50 yrs old . For years it has been beautiful but the last couple of years it has suffered from an attack from the viburnum beetle . Is there anything I can do to stop this from happening, I don’t really want to use sprays . Should I prune it back harder? I have attached some photos showing how it was ,also after the attack from the beetles and one from now . Any help would be much appreciated thank you.

Posts

  • Pete.8Pete.8 Billericay, EssexPosts: 6,184
    What an amazing sight in full bloom!

    It's not something I've had to deal with, but there are details here from the RHS on how to rid your beautiful shrub of these pests- 
    https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=556

    I hope you manage to get it under control.
    Good luck!
    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • Allotment BoyAllotment Boy North London Posts: 2,983
    We have one of these too. It does cause the leaves to be disfigured but it doesn't seem to cause long term problems.  I have sprayed there  are organic sprays available. 
    AB Still learning

  • trowel and errortrowel and error Posts: 9
    I also have the same problem with my viburnam opulus and unfortunately the dreaded beetle has moved on to the evergreen viburnams too.  Spraying helps but does not stop the yearly onslaught, so this year I have decided to experiment.
    I have read somewhere that the beetle overwinters in the soil around the base of the plant and travels up the trunk/branches from the soil in early spring.  If this is the case, I am going to put some grease bands around the base of the plant.  Perhaps the beetles will come to a sticky end.  The only problem is I am not sure whether the beetles crawl because if they can jump or fly the experiment will not work!



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