Earlier this season my buddy contacted me with a pest problem. His gooseberry plants were covered with small slug like creatures. They were eating the gooseberry leaves and my friend was worried.
I knew right away his infestation sounded like sawflies. A few pictures later and sure enough we identified sawflies trying to eat his gooseberries.
If you are growing your own fruit and berries you probably value knowing what’s being sprayed or not sprayed on your food. My buddy falls into this category as well, he needed help but didn’t want to spray an pesticides or chemicals on his food.
Sawflies can defoliate a shrub or tree within days of emergence, luckily my friend caught them early and we were able to put together a plan to knock back these pests and save his plants and his gooseberry crop.
Below are methods you can use to keep down your sawfly pressure.
Mechanical Removal
Remove the sawfly larve by hand. This might be the most tedious and time consuming method but if you really inspect your plants you can get a great deal of these ‘slugs’.
After removing the sawfly larve you can feed them to your chickens as a high protein treat.
Diatomaceous Earth or DE
DE is a fine powder that is made from fossilized sea plants. In short this powder cuts like razor blades when sawfly larve ‘slugs’ come into contact with it. Sprinkle small amounts on the leaves and around the base of the infected plants. Use sparingly as DE is an indiscriminate killer. DE is a mechanical solution not a chemical treatment, the sawflies must come into contact with it to be affected by it. It will kill things like earth worms and bees if they come Into contact with the DE so use as a spot treatment only.
Encourage Predators
Encouraging predators like your native bird population will also help reduce a sawfly infestation. Place a small amount of bird feed around your infested plants. Your wild song birds will come in short order. Yes they will eat some berries but they will also put a large dent into your sawfly population.
After you believe the birds have gotten rid of the sawfly problem shoe away the birds and inspect your plants. Once you are happy with the results you will need to protect your plants as the birds will come back for another meal of berries if you don’t. If you are worried about the birds eating all your fruit this might not be the strategy for you.
Chickens
One or two chickens can be brought in to feast on the sawflies. Feed one or two slugs to your chickens and they will methodically eat all that they can find. Be sure to keep a watchful eye on your birds as they will probably also find your berries and eat those as well. Limit the time your birds are in your berry patch to an hour or so to limit their destructive nature. Bringing chickens in an active infestation is one of the last resorts. Chickens can be hard on plants, I recommend trying the other methods
One or two chickens can be brought in to feast on the sawflies. Feed one or two slugs to your chickens and they will methodically eat all that they can find. Be sure to keep a watchful eye on your birds as they will probably also find your berries and eat those as well. Limit the time your birds are in your berry patch to an hour or so to limit their destructive nature. Bringing chickens in an active infestation is one of the last resorts. Chickens can be hard on plants, I recommend trying the other methods first!
Dormant Season
When your plants are dormant bring your chickens back in to break the pest cycle. Sawfly larve and other pests will try to overwinter in the soil. Bring your flock of chickens into your orchard and berry patch. Spread grain around the base of your plants. This will encourage them to scratch up any pests living in the soil waiting to re-emerge in the spring.
Using one or more of these methods is a great way to keep those pesky sawflies at off your plants.
Getting these overwintering pests is a major way I keep my fruits and berries healthy and relatively pest free each season!