Question from V.J. in Cobourg, Ont.
How do I get rid of leaf curl on hydrangea or prevent the leaf curling pest on Annabelle hydrangeas?
Beckie’s reply:
There is a good discussion of the pest you describe on the Toronto Master Gardeners website (torontomastergardeners.ca).
According to their research, the curling of hydrangea leaves could be caused by one of two insects. “The hydrangea leaftier larva binds two or as many as four leaves together with strands of silk into a cup form and then feeds and rests between them,” according to the website. Pulling apart the leaves will reveal a half-inch-long slender green caterpillar with a black head.
The leafroller also causes similar damage, but rolls only one leaf, then feeds and rests within the rolled leaf.
Both insects cause unsightly damage, but won’t harm the shrubs. When you see the damage in early spring, remove the infested leaves and squash the caterpillars. Clean up the ground below the shrubs, too, because the caterpillars drop to the ground and pupate of the summer and emerge as adult moths the following spring.
Do you have information to share?
If you have something to suggest, please do so in the comments section below. We know gardeners always have lots of information to share.
4 Comments
I have been trying a pesticide called BTK and getting pretty good results. But you need to be persistent.
I have seen it mentioned by more than one master gardener that the Hydrangea leaf curler does not harm the plant but it does. If the leaf packet is not removed the plant will fall over and die. Even if you do remove them they stamina of the plant is reduced: the stems are shorter, the blooms smaller and fewer. I have been fighting them for about 10 years, They destroyed a 12 foot long hedge and I will be digging all the remains this summer . I need some suggestions for replacements.
U are right, I have them the second year and it made the bushes smaller,last year I pick them all and this year I will have to again,,,seems to me every year I find some new bugs on some things 🙁
thanks for listening
hi–is there a pesticide spray that i can use to kill the worm on curly leafs–thanks