Trouble on Wisteria Lane
Posted Thursday 31st May 2007
Wisteria scale
Experts at Garden Organic, the UK's leading organic growing charity, have identified a new super pest that could wipe out swathes of wisteria, sycamore and even fruit trees; changing the face of local parks, gardens and heritage buildings across the country as well as potentially stunting the billion pound British fruit industry.
The bug, a type of scale, was until recently only found in Asia but has come to Britain through the importing of plants and left to its own devices can take over plants, completely killing infested specimens.
Unlike normal scale, which is flat and brown, this beastie grows a grey sack around itself then lays thousands of eggs underneath it before they hatch and crawl up the plant to feed.
So far cases have been contained to south London on isolated wisteria plants but in other parts of the world the creepy crawly has been known to spread to sycamore and fruit trees.
Sally Smith, head of information at Garden Organic said: “Our team of expert advisors answer more than 5,000 gardening queries every year but when one of our members asked us to identify a pest they'd found we were amazed to see it was Wisteria scale – almost unheard of in Britain.
“Thankfully the bugs don't fly so can't spread too quickly on their own, but birds can act as carriers – a worrying thought for many English Heritage and National Trust properties famed for their beautiful mature wisterias. If the pest does well in our climate and becomes established our sycamore and fruit trees could be in danger too.”
Garden Organic advisors recommend several organic techniques to stop the pest spreading. If found prune out badly effected areas or spray with a soap based on fatty acids. Smaller parts can be removed by scrubbing with a toothbrush or squashed by hand.
Top of pageGarden Organic is the working name of the Henry Doubleday Research Association (HDRA).
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