Willow tree

Hey lads,

My willow tree is covered in this.. its at the end of the branches, all over the new growth..

What can I get to treat this?

Thanks

GrumpyMe

Aphids or greenfly.
A strong hose spray will get most off, a spray of soapy water will work too or you could buy insecticidal sprays from most supermarkets/garden centres.
Ladybird, hoverfly, wasps and bluetits can help keeping them in check.

looksee

GrumpyMe wrote: »

Aphids or greenfly.
A strong hose spray will get most off, a spray of soapy water will work too or you could buy insecticidal sprays from most supermarkets/garden centres.
Ladybird, hoverfly, wasps and bluetits can help keeping them in check.

Agree with this, and if you can get rid of them by natural means - other insects for example that is great, though if there are a lot it means that natural means are not coping.

However it occurs to me that if you blast them off with water, are they not going to end up all over the garden? Does it work like that, or do they die when you wash them off?

GrumpyMe

looksee wrote: »

...if you blast them off with water, are they not going to end up all over the garden? Does it work like that, or do they die when you wash them off?

I think the idea is more to wash them off as opposed to "blast" and I guess/suppose the soil and stem make enough of an "Everest" like barrier to keep them their previous new shoot residence. It would also make them more available to another layer (or lair) of carnivores.

Oldtree

They shouldn't do that much damage to the willow, unless there are repeated attacks. Squish them by hand. If you use sprays or soapy water that will also kill other beneficial insects. If you could wait and take the damage for now, I would hope that ladybirds would move in to this new food source and sort out the problem for you within 6 weeks. Maby make a home suitable for ladybirds to over winter in too so they are ready to go next year.

Thanks lads,

They've actually been there for 2 months anyway, gradually getting worse, so definitely need to treat it...

Doubt washing them off will work as the branches go down to the ground now, so I assume they could just crawl back on.

Squishing them is not an option as their is too many, at the start I did break off the ends that had them on it, but didnt do the trick, all over it now.

Any pesticide you would recommend? Thanks

Oldtree

soapy water will suffocate them. could try that first.

OK, so just get a spray bottle, with soap and water and spray, very soapy or not?

Thanks...

Oldtree

fairly soapy should do it.

recedite

Have had these, they are not quite the ordinary "green" greenfly, they are quite waxy. If the soapy water doesn't work, a product called "Roseclear" kills them.

OK, sprayed them yesterday evening, will see how it goes, thanks..

Will try Roseclear if it does not work, thanks for the advice

seamusmacc

I used Roseclear on my roses regularly, it killed them off and didn't burn the new growth