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Hedge pest identification and advice required!

jmknllpjmknllp Posts: 2
in Problem solving

Hi everyone,

Please forgive me as I am by no means an expert gardener or even an amateur for that matter!!

I need some advice on garden pests on hedges and how to remove them. I think I am dealing with two separate pests as you can see below the two hedges are different and on one hedge you can see the pests, whereas on the other you can only see the damage! Could anyone advise what the pests are and how to get rid of them?

Unfortunately I have no idea what the hedges either but i'm sure anyone in the know could identify them from the pics below.

image

image

image

Looking forward to receiving some words of wisdom!

Thank you :) 

Posts

  • Hortum-cretaeHortum-cretae Posts: 979

    Firstly, the plants are both the same elaeagnus cultivar (elaeagnus x ebbingei 'Maculata',  the greyish leaf in the top pic being the new growth. Secondly, the 'pests' in the top pic could just be resting there having hatched out. There's little that bothers elaeagnus. The bottom leaves are too torn to have been chewed by vine weevil, and the old leaves are a bit tough for caterpillars, too. It looks more like mechanical damage, like hedge cutter.  What I would say is that the new growth looks good and healthy, so nothing much to worry about 

    H-C

  • nutcutletnutcutlet Posts: 27,354

    That would be my assessments as well. Those little insects wouldn't be able to produce the damage seen



    In the sticks near Peterborough
  • jmknllpjmknllp Posts: 2
    Hortum-cretae says:

    Firstly, the plants are both the same elaeagnus cultivar (elaeagnus x ebbingei 'Maculata',  the greyish leaf in the top pic being the new growth. Secondly, the 'pests' in the top pic could just be resting there having hatched out. There's little that bothers elaeagnus. The bottom leaves are too torn to have been chewed by vine weevil, and the old leaves are a bit tough for caterpillars, too. It looks more like mechanical damage, like hedge cutter.  What I would say is that the new growth looks good and healthy, so nothing much to worry about 

    H-C

    See original post

     Thanks very much for your advice! Do you have any idea what kind of insects they might be just out of curiosity?

  • Hortum-cretaeHortum-cretae Posts: 979

    I wish my eyesight was that good!  No, I don't know, sorry. 

    H-C

  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 86,946

    I think there are several different types of insects there but I can't see them clearly enough to name them - however I can't see anything that looks alarming.  I'm sure they'll provide a tasty meal for the small birds which are doubtless scouring your garden looking for food . image


    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • Karen470Karen470 Posts: 1

    Hello. I was searching for advice on dealing with the pests in the top pic so saw this thread and probably too late to reply, but they are elaeagnus suckers. See RHS advice: https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=869

    a real pest! Whilst birds may eat some, if they take hold they can do real damage. If you look underneath the leaves, you'll see the nymphs/sap which is slightly sticky. I've just been pruning my tree to take off the worst affected leaves before they start hatching out again! I tried spraying with washing up liquid diluted in water but it seemed to have no effect.

    Good luck.

    Karen

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