I've just Googled for remedies....RHS recommend spraying - Doff/Provado etc. but GardenOrganics have come up with this rather neat solution which appeals...anyone tried it?
Cultivate beneath the plant and hang some fat balls in the bush to encourage birds to visit and eat up the pupating larvae in the soil.
Also helps to prune off the badly infested branches and dispose of them that way. Works better on a big shrub obviously.
The blue tits adore the caterpillars and spend hours eating them.
Thanks Eric. I've two large infected bushes - and loads of blue tits ;D
So....do you recommend pruning off the most unsightly (infested) parts & leaving the birds to do the rest and forgetting about a bug spray?
Well I am not a big fan of spraying at the best of times, so I would say try doing it by pruning and bird first then if that does not work, then spraying it has to be.
Ta for the advice 8)
I dug mine up cos I didn't know what it was then.