Pest on snowball tree

15 years ago

I am fairly new to gardening. We moved into a house with an established garden three years ago.

One of the most beautiful trees was a snowball tree but we noticed that, as soon as it bloomed, it lost all its leaves to a pest. The second and third summers we tried spraying it with a pest control product that you hook up to a garden hose. The product didn't seem to have any effect and the tree has been getting worse each year. This year, most of the leaves didn't even come out before they were eaten.

I would love to save this tree, but don't know what to do. I'm hoping someone out there can help. I have included a photo taken yesterday that shows a close-up of damage on the left and a picture of the overall tree on the right. As you can see, there are hardly any leaves left to save this year. Please help!

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Comments (3)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
15 years ago
ok fairly new ....

first.. rarely will a pest kill a tree ... avoid chemicals at all costs.. unless the plant is threatened..

second.. your plant is in severe need of proper pruning ... which for a shrub, would involve removal of 1/3 of the largest branches as close to the ground as possible each year ... google for more info... or try the search function in the shrub forum .. try PRUNING SHRUBS ..... OR PROPER PRUNING OF SHRUBS ...

third.. there is no way you are going to kill this thing... so learn up.. hold your breath.. and take action .. frankly you could cut it all down to ground level ... and have a 4 or 5 foot ball of limbs by fall ... so dont worry about whatever plan of action you decide to take ... and of course.. if you did that .. all the bugs would be at the curb.. on their way to the dump .. without the use of chemicals ....

good luck

ken
rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
15 years ago
Though I can't see the pests, the damage certainly looks like that of the Viburnum leaf beetle. Both the adult and larvae are leaf eaters.

Here is a link that might be useful: Click here
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allentam
13 years ago
Please let me know if you had any success. I have the exact same problem.

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Pest on snowball tree

Comments (3)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7

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allentam

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