How to stop lilly pilly beetle attack on large hedge?

[Invermay]

My lilly pilly hedge is approx 17m x 1 5m h x 1m w so spraying it and trying to do both sides of leaves is impossible ( I think) Will these leaf chompers kill my hedge eventually? Any use just spaying on side ?

 

[Jason]

Hi @Invermay,

Welcome to Bunnings Workshop and apologies for the slow reply. We're pleased to have you join the community and hope you get plenty of help and inspiration for all your projects around the house and garden from our wonderful members.

Experienced member @Noelle wrote the guide How to diagnose and revive a sick lilly pilly for the Workshop community as they are such common plants for our community members to plant in their gardens. Hopefully Noelle might have some advice about how to combat the beetle attack on your large hedge.

Thanks,

Jason

[Noelle]

Hi @Invermay 

The damage looks a lot worse than it really is, as the adult beetles are not around for all that long normally - just a few weeks. Certainly in that time quite a lot of leaves can be chewed but the damage isn't severe enough to impact on the overall health and lifespan of the trees.

The lilly pilly beetle looks a little like a green ladybird. Until the fairly recent resurgence in popularity of lilly pillies and the introduction of so many new and attractive varieties, it hasn't really posed much of a threat. However, it has increased both in population size and spread from small pockets in Queensland down into northern NSW.  It is still not considered a major pest.

Currently there are no treatments listed for it - that is, this pest is not included on the labels of most common garden insecticides or natural remedies, so we cannot really recommend anything specific to spray. It has been suggested that neem oil and / or an eco oil could be helpful but neither has been trialled here. Unless the damage is so bad all the foliage is looking quite skeletonised, my advice would be to sit it out.

[Invermay]

Thanks Noelle, 

That's been very reassuring and helpful!

Cheers

David ( invermay)