Help with Pests!

This is not my year with the beds in the front of my home... This spring my azelas had lace moths, now I have found bag worms in my two cedars and borers in my viburnums!!!! Please help before I have nothing left in the front of my home!!! What should I spray on them? I tried Sevin a few days ago but the "bags" are still moving so that didn't work. I've already lost two viburnums, I don't want to lose the remaining two--- any suggestions on what I should use?
On a side note: This is the first time we have ever used mulch from a nursery instead of the free stuff from the county. Does this have anything to do with it????
Any help would be appreciated......

Hi Buffettfan, you could have a point about the nursery mulch, when you think of all the plants, some imported from lord knows where, it could be imported bugs you have, but there again it may just be a really bad year for all sorts of bugs due to climate etc, the best thing to do about the bags of bugs on the trees, if pos, pick them off or knock em off with a broom and colect them and burn them, the insectiside wont get to the bugs as they are well wrapped up in their little protective home till they mature and fly away, prob to lay babies in your tree for next year, as for the borers, cant say what they are without a pic, this aint easy for you, but if you get in touch with your local gov department, they should be able to help you with what they are and what to use to get rid of them, as this will be a problem for them also as they will have parks departments looking at the same probs as you, dont be daft and go buy spray and it aint for the type of bugs that you have, and meenwhile the bugs are still destroying your trees and shrubs while you try all the different bug killers, so go to the people who know this prob. wish I could help you more but someone else might come into the forum and be more helpfull than me. good luck, Weenel.

Thanks WeeNel,
I never thought to check with the county on what to do, that will be next on my list. I purchased a $15 tree and shrub pest killer and put that on over the weekend to try and save the last two viburnums but who knows!!!
I just hate to have to start all over next fall.

Thanks for all your help!
Buffettfan

Buffettfan,
I don't know how big your vibrnums are so I don't know how muuch help my suggestions will be. Gardens Alive has injectable nemetodes that are designed to kill borers that have already entered the stems of its host plant. If you are sprayings to prevent them from getting that far, pay special attention to the branch and leaf "croches", which is where the moths initially lay their eggs.

On the bagworms, which tend to form small pine cone sized bags (there are several types of moth caterpillars that form larger "tents"), the most effective and safest is to prune the bags from the branches. Sevin is fairly toxic to you, birds, and other wildlife, and in this case is much less effective than an old-fashioned mechanical intervention.

On the borers, if it is not too much of the plants, you should start by pruning the effected areas, or at least the most impacted areas. You can also look for the holes that borers make in the bark and probe these with a flexible wire (it shouldn't deform too much as you are trying to kill the wee beasties), or inject the holes with parasitic nematodes such as the product daphnecat mentions. After you've done this, you should seal up the holes with some putty. Also make sure you aren't doing anything to cause damage to the bark (like weed whacker damage). You also didn't mention if you have experienced a rainless period or how new the viburnum are, but making sure they are getting enough water helps keep them less susceptible. Finally, I would confirm with someone knowledgeable that these are borers and not something else, unless you are certain.

Generally, it is best to minimize use of pesticides & most herbicides, as these often leave your garden more vulnerable to future problems. Besides harm to humans and pets, they can harm the myriad of organisms in the soil (which both help keep some diseases and pests in check & support plant immune systems), insects that keep other insects and some diseases in check, and birds that hang around to eat insects and help keep their populations in check. You don't need to go organic, and even some common organic practices can have these harmful impacts and are not benign as we are often lead to believe by those selling products. The prudent strategy is to look for a mechanical (like squishing aphids or pruning bagworm bags) or cultural (like not planting plants prone to fungus in the shade in too much shade or giving aphid-prone plants too much nitrogen). These have the least potential for negative impacts. If that doesn't work, then move to beneficial insects or low-impact chemical/biological interventions (like dormant oil spraying or light use of bt or soap fungicides). Only if those don't work, should you consider something more toxic. Also, remember that the point is often not to wipe out a problem, after all if you want a healthy balance that includes critters that control other critters and diseases they need something to eat to keep them around).

Best of luck!
Dave