Pest & Disease Control

Hedges in particular suffer from pest problems as they are planted as a mono-culture and natural predators cannot control the sheer volume of pests. Treatment and control of pests is best done as soon as a problem is noticed as once the plant reaches a certain level of damage other disease and pest will attack and the tree will die.

Our treatment options range from spraying, soil drench, to trunk injection. With smaller trees spraying is often the most effective method however for large trees trunk injection or soil drench is the preferred method. We do not use broad spectrum insecticides containing imidicloprid as this will kill all beneficial predatory insects and has been shown to cause colony collapse disorder in bees.

Most recently, Lilli Pilli's of the Syzigium family have been devastated by the Paropsis Calypso beetle. Many people have asked what is eating my Lilli Pilli's and assume that possums are doing the damage. However closer inspection will reveal a small bright green beetle. The damage caused by the Paropsis Calypso beetle is seasonal, with most of the damage occurring in spring and summer. However once the population of beetles builds up they can do enough damage to weaken the tree so it dies. Very often the tops will be chewed so badly that there will be significant dieback. Effective treatment is possible, but it will need to be ongoing as the Paropsis Calypso beetle is highly mobile and re-infestation will soon occur.