This is the Solution to Your Beetle Damaged Lilly Pillys
The Problem
There are so many people in Victoria that are facing this problem in their gardens – their beautiful Lilly Pillys that are being ravaged by beetles.
This beetle problem is quite recent, a decade or so ago this wasn’t an issue at all. Which is why so many people in Victoria were buying and filling their gardens with Lilly Pillys.
But in a way this popularity is what has now led to the downfall of most Lilly Pillys. This is because a beetle that used to always live up in Queensland has now migrated down, and finding such a bountiful feast, has decided to stay.
So if your Lilly Pillys look like this, it’s this slippery migrating beetle that is to blame.
The Solution
Now we’re going to be straight up with you, there is nothing you can do to get rid of the beetles forever and keep your current Lilly Pilly plants.
We know how frustrating this is, you probably spent a lot of money and time growing these bushes to the size they are now. But the unfortunate reality is that the best solution is to remove your current Lilly Pilly hedge and replace it with new plants.
Now you don’t have to abandon Lilly Pillys entirely, there are two varieties of Lilly Pilly that the beetles absolutely don’t touch. The Smithii and Waterhousia are the two families of Lilly Pilly that the beetles don’t eat at all.
Both of these are wonderful, stunning plants that can be planted and trimmed up as a standard or used as a hedge/screen.
Let’s say you’re not in a position to be ripping out your old hedge or plants to replace it with something new. What we would then recommend is to fertilise your Lilly Pilly very well, then in summer spray it with something like confidant once a month for the next three months.
This is not a good long term solution because confidant is a really nasty chemical, and you’ll be forced to fight these beetles every summer. But it’s the best thing to do in the short term to avoid you’re Lilly Pillys looking terrible.
More of a visual learner? Check out our video where we show a living illustration of this problem, and the solution!
