The only thing that kills these suckers is this supremely toxic chemical crap that I won't touch with a 10-foot pole. We used it the first year we moved in and were almost as freaked out by the chemicals as the sawflies.
Last year we did nothing, partially because the chemicals scare me so I was relying on Eric to take care of it (and he is incredibly good at procrastinating when he wants to). They never really denuded the bush, but there were swaths that were cleared. So, letting nature run its course wasn't really an option.
This year I opted to do some manual pruning. I had to trim back the candles anyway as the bush is slowly growing to the size of a tree. As I was doing that I chopped off any branch that had the larvae on it and dropped it on the driveway. The birds appreciated the free feast and I didn't have to prune as much as I thought I would.
As a result, this year the bush looks happy and healthy - and all without chemicals!
No comments:
Post a Comment