Friday 18 May 2012

I’ve got the Viburnum Beetle Blues!


I have worked hard over the last few years to rid my Viburnum opulus of this dreaded beetle (Pyrrhalta viburni). I have made regular, furtive trips into the garden with the sole mission of ridding my beautiful shrub of this hideous beastie!



It became an obsession to hunt them down; Firstly squashing the larvae with my fingers between the leaves (yuk), then dealing withthe beetle itself, I would spend at least half an hour drowning the blighters, sometimes even mid coitus (which gave me even more pleasure!). All this sounds terrible I know - but I love this beautiful shrub and over the last few years my poor specimen has struggled to produce even just a couple of flowers atop its ravaged lace-like leaves.


Now, at last! my hard work has paid off and this year I have a beautiful shrub with umpteen snowball like flower heads and not a trace of my arch enemy. What shall I do now that I have all that spare time on my hands? Shall I spend time looking with joy at my newly resurrected bush? No! - for I have just spotted a lily beetle demolishing my Lilium superbum – let the killing commence!

For more information about the Viburnum beetle check out these links:

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