VW's

I found one in my house recently. Hateful things. ! I use Vine weevil killer but it's expensive. I've never found them in the garden, only in pots.

I hope you solve your VW problem

a surfeit of Volkswagens can be a great problem... lol.

I guess anyone in a built up area could spend a fortune on trying to eradicate vineweevils, only to be invaded by more from neighbouring gardens.

Your house surrounded by fields....
that sounds peaceful and wonderful................

VW's conjured up a picture of the Beetle car to me ... lol

I'd need a lot of VW killer to spray those Megan.

Yes. I think you missed my comment. ?

That's encouraging Hywel, if you've not seen them in the open garden then maybe the problem is confined which should make it easier to solve. Glad I'm not the only one to find one in the house, I often find Lacewings and LB's in the house but that's good. I hope someone can help with Nemetodes, they were talking about them on GQT last week but I had visitors and missed some of it.

A excess of VW's (the German sort) would be easier to shift TT but they would make a right mess of my lawn.

hate to give the bad news...but they do survive in the garden.....but the plants in the garden dont seem to be bothered by them. i think they have bigger roots and can survive these attacks...as for nematodes they do work but you can only use them once the weather has warmed up...i use them in my tunnel as i would be devastated if they invaded my big pots of aeonium....armillatox is a great defence but it also kills off good beasties like ladybirds so im very careful where i use it...

A sort of thank you Sandra, I hadn't thought of that, maybe I shouldl just concentrate on the GH and pots.

thats what i do Heron..they seem to be here to stay...even after the cold winters...i was hoeing that they would be killed off in the frosts..but no such luck...

Tt - we must have posted the same thought at the same time - so if we both think of the winning Lotto numbers . . . . . . lol

I was on the same wavelength Terratoonie and Megan my first thought was V,W campers and then I read the blog to realise it was about a garden pest.

VW are my number one enemy! I've had that feeling of seething anger when you pick up a plant and the top falls off.

I've only had one plant chewed in an open border and it was a primula, (VW Caviar) which I moved to another position and it recovered. Larger more established plants in the open soil tend to be able to hold their own. It’s the pots that you really need to sort out. Nematodes do work (well a bit) but you need to apply them when the soil is a decent temperature. Vine weevil killer does work but it is expensive for a lot of pots and it's not great for the wildlife and it stays in the plants system for around three months. I tend to check every pot monthly from March onwards by tipping them out and checking for the grubs. Which I place lovingly on the bird table. The adults are slow moving and a bit dim. Squish or feed them to the birds. Show no mercy. Completely change the soil in the pots with fresh stuff. I find that VW are not so fond of soil based compost like John Innes. It’s the multipurpose I tend to find them in.

One friend swears by chickens, they’ll eat the adults before they get chance to lay grubs. Try bantams they don't scrat about so much in your borders. It can be a bit of a trade off. No VW but a few pecked holes in your cabbages.

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An interesting post Julia with useful advice, I'm especially interested in what your friend has to say re. chickens. After months of deliberation we've decided to have some, three actually. For the last few days I've been building a run and am about to make a coop. We visited the 'chicken lady this morning, she said the ones we like will wander around the garden without becoming a problem. Hopefully we'll have them next week.