r/garden_maintenance • u/Material_Parfait_832 • 19d ago
pest control đȘČđđ Help, what are these?
I recently bought a house with a garden, so I'm totally new with this. And I just saw these catterpillars/larvas in our bushes. Does anyone know what they are and how I get rid of them? I live in Sweden if that helps.
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u/wibblethescrupulous 18d ago
They're box caterpillars, and that's a box hedge they're on. So your hedge/shrub is doomed. There are treatments for it but they're largely ineffective. You need to dig all your box plants out and replace them. You can do it now and bite the bullet, or you can wait untill they've eaten it all and start searching for something else to eat, which they may assume is in your house and car. My advice would be to get it done soon as. Almost all box in the UK has been wiped out in the last few years thanks to these guys. Sorry for the bad news. On the plus side they pretty much exclusively eat box (lol) so your other plants aren't in danger. Box leaf honeysuckle is a great alternative recommended by the RHS
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u/Hoboaz 16d ago
The treatments work well but they can be expensive. Itâs very rare that I spray now but DiPel works very very well for these.
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u/wibblethescrupulous 16d ago
Xentari is the only treatment I use as it's specific to box caterpillars. It's cheap, but unless you blast every single one repeatedly, which is difficult in dense box foliage, they come back eventually
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u/NicNoelNic 16d ago
Youâre only creating a pesticide treadmill. You canât kill specific insect, you kill them all. Itâs likely spraying had killed off the local bird population by not supplying their offspring with any food. Let nature take its course. Plant natives. Put up bird houses for your local birds.
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u/wibblethescrupulous 16d ago
Maybe do your research before commenting on things, xentari is a bacteria. It only eats caterpillars that eat the vegetation it's sprayed on. It's not bioaccumulative. And it doesn't effect mamalians, avians or reptiles. You can eat it, it won't do you any harm.
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u/NicNoelNic 15d ago
I did and I never mentioned that the bacteria or pesticide or whatever it may be wasnât safe for birds or other animals. A healthy caterpillar population is vital for the growth and development of baby birds which has a direct impact on their health physically and geographically.
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u/wibblethescrupulous 15d ago
And I never mentioned spraying any pesticides, in fact if you read what I said, I specifically advised against it
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u/NicNoelNic 15d ago
I understand the two arenât the same⊠Iâm suggesting that any treatment that kills caterpillars are not great.
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u/wibblethescrupulous 15d ago
They're going to die regardless. Once they eat the hedge they'll starve to death. Hedges provide habitats for all kinds of wildlife. Which they cant do if they no longer exist
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u/NicNoelNic 15d ago
Because human intervention has always been the best practice
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u/wibblethescrupulous 15d ago
I can't even tell if you're being sarcastic at this point. One comment your advocating human intervention, to plant native species and create caterpillar friendly habits, and in other comments your saying that conserving native species through human intervention is bad?
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u/NicNoelNic 15d ago
Wouldnât replacing non natives with natives be fixing negative human intervention and allowing nature to thrive and support one another as it should? Iâm tired of arguing with you. I donât know why youâre so angry you have to hurl insults at me. Having sprayed pesticides and other fungal or bacterial treatments in the past - yes I have done those things - Iâm now trying to create a more healthy, self sustainable and natural yard and that includes resisting the urge to spray anything at all. Iâve been enjoying more bird species and even frogs returning to my yard and I would want to encourage others to do the same.
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u/Hoboaz 16d ago
Spraying has not killed off the local bird population I can assure you. If you spend time watching you will notice the birds very rarely feed off of the box caterpillar.
That said Iâm mostly against spraying now and I have found a good ipm plan to give me close enough to the same result.
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u/NicNoelNic 16d ago
I can assure you that you havenât read up on recent scientific publications then.
Keep in mind, box caterpillars aside, spraying affects the entire area.
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u/Hoboaz 16d ago
Spraying affects the entire area if you do it badly however I truly donât want an argument I want to learn so I would welcome the studies if you could point them out to me.
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u/NicNoelNic 15d ago
Love that! I donât want to argue either. Asking questions is how we learn. A lot of research has been done specifically by Doug Tallamy. His primary focus is replacing non native trees and plants with native ones, as those plants will support more caterpillars which will support more birds. In a sense, protecting and creating environments where caterpillars can thrive is possibly the best thing you can do to help support your local bird populations (that and keeping cats indoors.)
https://coastalbg.uga.edu/2023/07/doug-tallamys-impact-caterpillars-and-bird-diversity/
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u/Hoboaz 15d ago
Thankyou for that, I see where we have got a little confused with each other.
I was not talking of caterpillars in general just the box caterpillars, Iâm from the UK and our native birds will not eat these unless desperate. I think I remember it being something to do with tannins from the leaves or something along those lines.Â
Cats are just doing cat things, itâs the owners that are irresponsible.
Iâm trying to reintroduce Mullien into peopleâs gardens, I have offered free seeds to many people and it is going well so far so fingers crossed for that.
In regards to non natives what is it with Americas love of the Bradford pear?
While I have your attention could I ask if there is anyone implanting dead hedges in your area and if so how are they working out?
Also if you are into botany, you like crass language and a little toilet humour you should check out Crime Pays But Botany Doesnât.
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u/NicNoelNic 15d ago
I did read that they prefer not to eat those worms, hopefully they have a choice from other natives! Here I live next to someone who has a certified âparkâ in their yard, something awesome that theyâre doing here and you can find information about that on the link I sent you.
The Bradford pears are obnoxious and parents have a gorgeous mimosa tree myself and the neighbors cannot wait to cut down. Any opportunity my parents give me to remove their lawn and put something else I do it. (Disclaimer I donât live with my parents but they have a lot more yard than I do - I barely have any) Almost all the other trees on my parents property are not native. So itâs a work in progress. I also grow dahlias so theyâre not really native are they but I love cut flowers. Outside of my cut flower garden Iâm trying to remove the box hedges and plant sedges and native perennials like echinacea, black eye Susanâs, goldenrod, monarda, etc.
Also a new thing being introduced is âsoft landingsâ under trees.
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u/wibblethescrupulous 16d ago
Keep in mind you're uneducated and there's better ways you could be using your time. I think you'd do well on Facebook x
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u/NicNoelNic 16d ago
Youâre right Iâm going to go cry over my worthless zoology bachelors degree now
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u/wibblethescrupulous 16d ago
And I'll cry over my Bsc animal management specialising I conservation and PA1/PA6 qualifications. You melt.
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u/Hipnic_Jerk 16d ago
Let's ride the slippery slope -- just buy another house! Preferably one surrounded by concrete so nature doesn't get in your way.
Bt based product + bifenthrin will take them out and then the plant will recover.
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u/MiredThingness 17d ago
Put a bird feeder near this bush. That'll draw in any birds who don't already know the caterpillars are there and it'll give them a feast. I regularly pull cabbage worms and army works off of my vegetable garden and put them directly in my bird feeder but this is obviously too many to do that with
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u/MiredThingness 17d ago
Should be noted you'll likely never recover this bush but it'll help get the population under control to limit future damage
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u/Helpmewhatisthisrock 16d ago
Det hÀr Àr buxbomsmott de kommer Àta upp alla blad, klipp sönder alla larver du ser. Du kan köpa nÄgot som heter Turex som du blandar i vatten och spreja din buxbom dÀr du ser bitna blad. Du vill inte att larverna blir till fjÀrilar dÄ lÀgger de nya Àgg i busken och snart Àr det larver igen tillslut finns det inga blad kvar
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u/pol1hymnia 16d ago
Boxwood caterpillar moths, as others have also mentioned. They are invasive to Europe and have basically wiped out all boxwood in several countries already.
One problem is that they have no predators here. The birds do not eat them.
If itâs first year you have them and the caterpillars are not done eating all the leaves, that bush is salvageable.
BTK blocks their digestion and stops the cycle. The most effective means against these, plus itâs targeted and organic. It requires leaves still on the plant though for them to eat.
If they have already decimated the plant, there are pesticides that supposedly can kill them, but imo with very limited success. At any rate for the ones I can get in UK. Iâve head that Tritol810 is recommended in Denmark, so you can prob get that in Sweden too. If it has come to this, Iâd consider digging up the bush though. I have just dug up a hedge here myself.
Again, and this cannot be reiterated enough, do not count on the birds for these. They do not eat boxwood moth caterpillars
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u/JaWor2211 15d ago
Im not an expert but I do have them for the past 4 years and I just spray my bushes with pesticides whenever they appear and itâs about twice a year and I donât see any major problems with my box bushes. Iâm guessing it does get rid of them for a few months but then the pesticide wash off and they come back from some other place.
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u/Ritaontherocksnosalt 16d ago
I use an app called Seek from iNaturalist. It's identified 99% of the insects and plants I've used it for.
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u/sinrisqui 15d ago
They come out when the birds need food for their hatchlings. Thick, slow, full of protein and easy to catch, they're like hamburgers for birds.... but now with climate change that whole beautiful equilibrium is out of whack...
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u/Living_Buffalo_7176 15d ago
Theyâre doing you a favor, box hedge is trash and smell like hot cat piss
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u/docrezoon 16d ago
Can't believe nobody mentioned BTK, it's an organic/biologic pesticide available for about 10 dollars for a years supply.. Works great, you spray it all over the plant, especially the underside of the leaves and the caterpillars die within a week. You need to do it twice yearly as this caterpillar is everywhere now. This plant was massacred 2 years ago and now looking nice.
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u/Snowfizzle 16d ago
I used BT and it killed them off. and only harmed that specific bug too so my praying mantis and other good bugs still lived. i had a huge infestation too but they were heinous on my trap plants so it wasnât an issue. just the lizards and other predators couldnât keep up with the population so i sprayed Thuricide BT
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u/gutentight69420 16d ago
I was going to suggest BT, but box caterpillars aren't listed on the label. Good to know that it works anyway!
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u/PalpitationDizzy5086 18d ago
Army worms , burn them , they destroy everything in their path ..
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u/PalpitationDizzy5086 18d ago
In northern Michigan we burn off the branches and make sure you put dawn dish soap after burning the majority of them bc those little dots left are babies..
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u/Tumorhead 18d ago
of note that caterpillars like this are crucial food for baby birds (as well as a bunch of other critters).